The Last Dragon of the East

Chapter 7

7

T he warm winds that come off the Albeion Sea offer the Southern Kingdom of Jian a tropical climate. Its air isn’t arid and thin like that of the Western Wastelands, but humid and uncomfortably thick. Even in these winter months, the moisture in the air clings to my skin in a film. I’m unaccustomed to the thick jungles and the nasty biting bugs that have made the leaves and branches their home.

My new equine friend has taken me far, at least a hundred li. My exhaustion finally catches up to me when the sun centers itself in the sky. I haven’t had a chance to rest since the night before I visited Doctor Qi, and now my bones are weary from travel and the weight of all I’ve seen in the past two days.

The smell of blood lingers in my nose. The screams of dying men rattle within my skull even still. Every time I manage to close my eyes, I’m haunted by the memory of the captain’s lifeless ones staring back.

Deserter!

I wipe a clammy palm over my chest, feeling the hard thud of my heart rattle my rib cage.

What if news gets back to my mother that I’ve gone missing? A-Ma would lose her sanity upon the discovery that her son was sent off and lost to battle; her nerves might not handle it well. First her husband, then her son… And with Doctor Qi dead, there’s no one left to care for her in her condition.

I force myself to take a deep, shaky breath. No. No one, apart from Emperor Róng and Captain Tian—the latter of whom now lies dead, taking with him all his secrets—knows that I’m here. From what I can tell, my name was never officially added to any military roster. I have no rank, no regiment to belong to. I was only at Shéyǎn for a little under a day, so I doubt any of the other soldiers would even recognize me, let alone know that I abandoned them. My mission is a secret, as is my location. The sooner I find this dragon, the sooner I can return home.

My horse slows and veers slightly off the overgrown dirt path, drawn to the sound of trickling water somewhere nearby. We find a narrow stream slithering through the tall grass like a snake, barely deep nor wide enough to get my boots wet. Still, I suppose a short break could do us good.

She cuts through a low thicket of rich green ferns and dips her head down to drink greedily. I slide out of the saddle, sore in places I didn’t think it possible.

I grunt when my feet hit solid ground. “I’m tempted to joke about how badly my misters hurt, but I fear that’s not appropriate for the ears of a fine lady such as yourself,” I say to the horse, stroking her tangled black mane. She snorts in response but appears otherwise unbothered.

I leave her side momentarily to turn in a circle, attempting to gather my bearings while stripping out of my armor, abandoning the heavy pieces upon the ground. If I fail to find food and shelter by nightfall, my chances of starving to death or being eaten by some ferocious jungle creature will rise exponentially. I would prefer not to die before I’ve even managed to catch a whiff of where this legendary beast could be lying in wait.

If, that is, it exists at all.

Now that I have, by some miracle, made it past the border into the Southern Kingdom, I must admit that I’m at a complete loss. I wasn’t lying to His Imperial Highness when I said I have a lousy sense of direction. Even if I could tell north from south, I have little knowledge of this region, having spent all my life in Jiaoshan. The nearest town could very well be around the bend, or it could be several days of travel from here. I have no maps, no sense of the terrain. And where is this huntress that Doctor Qi spoke of? I would much prefer not to wander aimlessly through this jungle, but I have no clue where else to begin.

Despair creeps up on me.

But I can’t just turn around and go home. Even if I somehow made it back past the massacre in the mountain pass, if I return home empty-handed, I will certainly lose my head and might even be risking my mother’s.

My gaze mindlessly wanders down to my hand. The fraying gray thread around my finger hasn’t moved since the battle earlier this morning. Could it have been a fluke? Perhaps machinations of my mind to distract me from my near-miss with death? No, that’s not it. It was only for a second, but I have never been more sure—I was closer to my Fated One than I have ever been. I sensed them, which means maybe—just maybe—they were able to sense me too.

It’s an exciting, terrifying thought.

“What do you think, my friend?” I ask my horse with a weary exhale, patting her neck. “I would wager all the emperor’s coin that my beloved is the most beautiful being in all the realms.”

My horse whinnies, lifting her head now that her thirst is thoroughly quenched.

“I hope they love to laugh,” I continue to muse aloud while adjusting the straps of my saddle. My grumbling belly demands that we be on our way, and soon.

“I wonder how they pass their time. Do they enjoy singing? We would be well suited, since I can’t carry a tune.”

My horse stomps her front hoof.

“Not one for conversation, either?” I mumble. “Good thing I don’t mind my own company.”

Somewhere behind me, a twig snaps.

I whip around, alarmed.

There’s nothing there.

I scan the thick jungle, searching for any movement. There’s a chance one of the Imperial soldiers could have followed me, but I was careful to check for pursuers as I dashed away. Perhaps an animal, then?

Or… something worse?

The traveling merchants used to tell me all sorts of tales about the wild and dangerous animals that roamed the jungles south of the mountain border. I was only a boy when they filled my head with stories about fierce fox spirits who were said to have nine tails and bewitch their prey, luring them in so they could feed on their victim’s life essence.

My favorite tales were about the yaoguai—creatures who were once Gods but were banished to the mortal realm for violating the laws of Heaven. It’s said that they are unfathomably hideous beasts, intent on consuming everything in their path. If the dragons of lore are in fact real, it stands to reason that other monsters may also lurk in the shadows.

I search the jungle canopy, paranoid. Still nothing.

“Let’s go,” I whisper to my horse before climbing back into the saddle.

I am terribly, hopelessly lost.

The dirt road we were following ended almost two li ago. I’m convinced we’re going in circles. It doesn’t help that every tree I choose as a waypoint looks exactly like the last.

The sun will be setting soon. While I’m not concerned about temperatures dropping to unbearably low levels, I am concerned about starvation. I know the basics of pitching a tent, but hunting? Starting a fire without flint and a striker? Those were things A-Ba failed to teach me before he passed.

Snap.

I throw a look over my shoulder. A cold dread freezes my marrow. Something is out there, watching and waiting. I hold my breath and try not to panic. The last thing I want is for my horse to spook and toss me off.

Something rustles the leaves.

“Who’s there?” I shout, praying my voice will scare whatever it is that’s been stalking me. “Come out where I can see you!”

All of a sudden, something tugs my thread.

The air is knocked from my lungs. There’s enough tension in the thread to keep it taut. My Fated One is near, but when I follow the direction of the thread—

It points straight up into the skies above my head.

Bitter disappointment stings in my chest, and my confusion knows no limits. How can this be? Surely it’s some sort of mistake. I have long suspected my thread of fate to be broken, given its ashen color and frayed thinness. The impossible direction that my thread now points all but confirms my worst fear.

Is there something wrong with me?

Am I destined to be alone?

Out of the corner of my eye, something moves. Its silhouette is large and unfamiliar, shifting in front of and behind palm trees just to my right. Whatever it is, it moves with alarming speed. I’m only able to catch a brief glimpse at a time.

The winding tail of a serpent.

The body and legs of a stag.

The sharp, twisted horns and head of a bull.

The single red eye at the very center of its face.

An abomination.

My horse neighs frantically, tugging against her reins as she anxiously shifts her weight. The creature crawls forward from the underbrush, its dreadfully pointed teeth and razor-like claws now in full view. Its growl is deep, so loud that it feels like it’s shaking the earth on which we stand. The beast steps forward slowly, its unfeeling eye trained on me.

“Hu… man…,” it rasps.

I’m frozen in fear. It can speak?

“Filthy… human…”

If I run, it will give chase. If I stay, I’ll be devoured. The only option I have is to fight, but the monster is twice my size and no doubt thrice as strong. My heart springs up and lodges in my throat when the beast gets low to the ground, preparing to pounce.

I’m trapped. There’s nowhere to run.

A part of me wonders bitterly if my luck has run out. If I have used up all my good fortune surviving the battlefield, and now my time is finally at an end.

The beast lunges toward us with a snarl, fangs and claws bared for a killing blow.

I bring an arm up to protect myself. Its teeth pierce my forearm, jaws snapping shut like a spring trap, dragging me off the back of my horse. I land with a harsh thud against the jungle floor. Branches snap under me, their splintered ends jabbing my back. A scream rips from my chest as I feel skin and muscle tear, the sticky warmth of my own blood soaking into my clothes and staining my flesh red.

The beast is close enough that I can smell its rancid breath. It yanks and it shoves, attempting to wrest my arm free from its socket. Death seems determined to claim me this day. The more I struggle, the more my vision blurs around the edges, giving way to murky darkness.

And then something even more terrifying happens.

Above, a deafening roar.

It frightens the birds from the trees and sends small critters skittering away. The sound spooks my steed, who rears back with a panicked whinny and kicks wildly at the beast before us with her front legs.

A shadow falls over everything around us, and something plunges from the sky.

The air whips through my hair and slices my cheeks as a great hulking creature arcs down and snatches the beast by the throat, pulling it off me. The red-eyed beast struggles only for a moment before its body goes limp. It dies with a pathetic whimper, suddenly lifeless on the jungle floor. Standing above it, its hunter feasts on steaming flesh, ripping through pelt and muscle and bone with rows of jagged ivory teeth.

The silence that follows is fragile.

I can’t stop shaking, every inch of my body trembling. My racing heart pounds loudly in my ears. What was that bull-like creature? Have I gone mad? Slowly, I sit up, finally registering what just happened. I’m unprepared for the majesty of what I see.

My savior is serpentine in form, with four strong legs and five claws on each foot. The scales that cover every inch of its body are a rich emerald green that shimmer beautifully in the golden light of the setting sun. The mane that lines the back of its head and trails down its back looks as soft as springtime grass, flowing gently in the passing breeze. Its body is so large that it rivals the height of the trees, practically shoving them out of the way to make room for its intimidating presence.

A dragon.

My mouth drops open, but I can’t find the will to speak. Especially not when I spot something peculiar wrapped around the divine creature’s claw.

A thread of fate that is gray and fraying—its end connected to mine.

The dragon stares at me, an unmoving statue. Its eyes are a breathtaking emerald, hints of gold and amber flecks visible in the quickly fading light. I should be at my wits’ end. For all I know, it could still choose to make a meal of me, and yet there’s something… familiar about its gaze.

I can’t explain it, this warmth that unfurls in my chest. I’m strangely at ease in the dragon’s presence. This, despite the crimson dripping from its lips and the angry flare of its nostrils. Of all the things I could be feeling, safe and sound should not be among them. And yet…

And yet I know it will not harm me.

I slowly and carefully take a single step toward the creature. It hisses, flashing its teeth and flicking its long tail—a warning. I put my hands up cautiously as I approach.

“Easy, easy,” I say gently. “I mean you no harm.”

Genuine surprise washes over me when the dragon allows me within three paces of it. I extend my hand, the sensation of its breath tickling my palm a quiet marvel. We watch each other with an intense mutual interest, staring into each other’s eyes as if all the answers from the Five Kingdoms to the Heavens above lie behind our gazes.

I know this soul, though I can’t explain how.

I’m whole and complete and home .

But the cold, frightening realization washes over me. The dragon I have been tasked to hunt on behalf of the emperor, and my Fated One…

They are one and the same.

“How can this be?” I whisper, more to myself than to the dragon, my words soaked up by the surrounding foliage.

My questions are endless, but time isn’t on my side. Honestly, when has it ever been?

Something behind us shifts in the underbrush, startling the dragon enough for it to roar. It bares its fangs, jagged like a serrated blade and just as terrifying. I turn, alarmed to find a lone huntress with a spear in hand.

“Get back!” she shouts, emerging from the underbrush. She winds back her arm to throw the weapon.

“No!” I cry, but it’s too late.

The spear flies right into the dragon’s front thigh. The creature bellows, whipping its tail violently to raise dirt and dust into the air. It launches itself into the sky without warning, disappearing into the inky gloom above.

My chest aches as I watch it go, my thread of fate shifting as it ascends into the night.

“You!” the woman shouts at me. She’s a wild, bewildering thing. She pulls a knife and waves it before my face. “What do ye think yer doin’? Ye scared the blasted thing away!”

“Please,” I mutter, lightheaded. “My arm… I need—”

“Oh, fer fuck’s sake. Come with me before ye bleed out.”

“Thank you, good madam.”

She snorts. “There’s nothin’ good about me.”

“Then what am I to call you?”

The woman shoots me a pointed look. “My enemies call me the huntress, but ye can call me Feng.”