Phoenix In The Mist

Chapter 7: Ying Long

"Psst. Hey, wake up! Yes, you! I'm talking to you."

My eyes fluttered open at the foreign voice.

"You're going to have to be alert faster than that if you want to have any hope of surviving the army."

A smooth, curved object tapped my nose.

My vision cleared and I scrambled back, screaming. Bumping into Khan, I fumbled for the sword attached to the saddle. I pulled it out and levelled the blade at the creature, my arms trembling.

The creature crossed its arms, light winking off its polished blue scales. Its barbed tail curled around its legs, and its snout wrinkled as it sniffed. It looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"Put that away, Mulan."

"How do you know my name?" I questioned, glaring at the serpent, and forcing myself to steady my arms.

"Don't you know me? How can you not know me? See, even your horse recognizes me!"

I risked a glance behind me only to see Khan calmly grazing, rolling his eyes at my wariness. It's all fine, he seemed to say. That thing is no danger to you.

My gaze darted back to the creature. Licking my lips nervously, I readjusted my grip on the heavy but well balanced steel sword.

The creature sighed. "Maybe this will help," it said, dropped onto his haunches, much like a puppy. It raised its pointed tail slightly off the ground, and bared its fangs in a toothy grin. Translucent wings unfurled from its back, multicoloured veins webbing the four dragonfly-like wings.

All of a sudden, the image clicked. The stone dragon at our family shrine held exactly the same pose, had exactly the same features and size. There was one main difference though.

"You're our family Guardian. But you're no longer stone."

The dragon stood and threw up its arms. "Yes! Now she gets it. Now, if you would just put the sword away..."

Slowly, I rose to my feet, and, turning slightly to reach the saddle on Khan's back, slid the sword back in its sheath.

Letting out a slow breath to calm my nerves, I asked, "Mind explaining how and why you are here?"

The dragon bowed. "Ying Long at your service, Hua Mulan. I'm here because the Seer awakened me and charged me with your well being."

"Awakened? So you weren't always stone?"

"Nope!" Ying Long shook his head emphatically. "In ages past, I was as I am now, guarding the scions of the Hua family. Until ..."

"Until what?" I leaned forward, curious.

"Until the fall of the Fire Birds. Having failed in my duty thrice over, I decided to go dormant until I was needed once again."

"I don't get it. Our family is a nature family. Why would we have a dragon, whose affinity is for water, as our Guardian? Why would you even be looking after a Feng Huang?"

Ying Long was disturbingly quiet. "That's another story for another time."

We were silent for a while. "Oh," I awkwardly said, sensing the pain in his voice. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. But I will not fail you."

I crouched down in front of Ying Long. "That's nice, but I cannot let you dissuade me from taking Baba's place in the army."

Ying Long snorted. "Girl, I'm not here to do that. You're a Phoenix, you'll be fine. I'm here to help you, and we can start with this."

Jumping surprisingly high for his short stature, he knocked the hood off my head, shaking a clawed finger at what he saw.

"The hairstyle's all wrong. You want to pass for a boy, you gotta dress like one. At least you got the outfit right, that's one less thing to worry about."

Biting my lip, I murmured, "I was planning to do it closer to camp."

Ying Long shot me a look. "Really? How much closer do you want? You're barely an hour's ride away from Er Shan, and the route to camp from there is quite narrow. There'll be lots of men travelling that area, and you want to risk your disguise there?"

I sighed. What he said made sense. Drawing my dagger, I swept my hair over my shoulder and prepared to hack through the strands.

"Let me," the little dragon said, and with a flap of his wings, hopped onto my shoulder. He pushed the blade away, and gathered my hair at the small of my back.

"Now hold still, or you might get hurt," Ying Long commanded, and with a swipe of his claws, he sheared my hair to shoulder length.

I shook my head. It felt so much lighter without the long tresses. Fingering a lock of my hair, I asked, "What now?"

"Hold still!" came the barked reply. Another slice of his claws, and I could feel the stiff collar of the chang shan being neatly separated from the rest of the garment. Moving to the back of my head, he twisted my hair into a tight bun and secured it with the strip of cloth sliced off the hem of my clothes.

"There," he said, alighting in front of me once more. "You're now passable for a young man of maybe sixteen or so."

I smiled. "Thanks, Ying Long. You're a great help."

The dragon hissed, and it took a while before I registered that it was his way of laughing. "There's one more part we need to correct before we go, though. Your voice. You need to lower it."

Clearing my throat, I tried, "Like this?"

Ying Long rolled his eyes. "God in heaven, no! You sound like a frog. Pitch your voice slightly below what you normally sound like, and you'll have a nice tenor."

"Better?"

"Yes. You're ready. Now, get on your horse! You can't be late for reporting." Ying Long made a sweeping motion with his hands.

Obediently, I tightened the girths on Khan's saddle and climbed onto his back. "What about you?" I asked. "How can I hide you from the other soldiers?"

"I'll just sit on your shoulder," Ying Long said, flapping up to me. "They won't see me unless I want them to, I promise."

"Okay," I said, and with a kick of my heels, we were off.