“Are those knives?” Jordan gasped.
“It’s the Mountain of Knives,” Moli said gravely. “Sinners who have killed sentient beings with knives are trapped walking up and down it forever.”
I shuddered, turning away from the sight of miserable-looking groups of men and women traipsing up and down the mountain. Beside me, Ren was turning green. For a startled moment, I thought he was turning into a dragon like he had several times during our quest of the Lunar New Year, but then I realized he was probably green-faced from the sight of the grisly mountain.
“What was it like, being at the palace?” I asked Ren.
Ren ran a hand through his white hair. “It was … amazing, at first. It took me only half a day by taxi to find the entrance to the underwater palace of the Dragon King of the Center Sea, and then once I did, I was able to swim and breathe underwater. It’s hard to explain. I just … knew where to go and what to do, you know?”
I nodded like I understood, even though I couldn’t even navigate Manhattan’s Chinatown without Google Maps.
“So many dragons.” Ren’s face lit up. “Some were even like me. Half-dragon, half-warrior. We trained for eight hours every day, and we feasted on all kinds of fish at night. I almost didn’t want to leave. Except … I got bad vibes. Not from the other dragons—from the Dragon Kings. They … well, at first they were divided on which side to support, but they had a meeting to make it official.” His shoulders slumped. “They’re going to stand by the Jade Emperor.”
“Oh.” I was disappointed but not surprised. The Dragon Kings answered to the Jade Emperor, after all.
“Yeah. Plus, my mother wasn’t there, and I still want to find her.” Ren shrugged with forced nonchalance.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t really think she’d be there,” Ren said with a soft, sad smile. “Anyway, then I had that vision about you all, plus I wanted to come here … to get some closure about—about my mother. I’m pretty sure now that … that she’s …” Ren’s eyes welled up, and he turned away.
I could fill in the blanks myself. Any logical person would conclude that, since Cindy You hadn’t been seen or heard from since before the Lunar New Year, she was dead.
I put my hand on Ren’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find your mother,” I whispered. Maybe mine, too. My head was still swimming with heavy thoughts when I heard a high-pitched scream.
CHAPTER
17
The scream belonged to Ashley. “Look!”
We’d moved away from the base of the Mountain of Knives, but the Underworld seemed to have shifted while I’d been talking to Ren and not paying attention to my surroundings. We stopped in front of a huge, glassy building with double doors. It didn’t look particularly dangerous from the outside, but I was certain there was something terrible on the inside, like fire-breathing demons or green-bean casserole.
“It’s the Chamber of Mirrors,” Moli said in a hushed voice. She backed away from the building.
I wasn’t sure why she was so freaked out. “That doesn’t sound so bad. Much better than Mountain of Flames.”
“Or Mountain of Knives.” Ren cringed.
“You don’t understand. The Chamber of Mirrors messes with your mind.” The petrified expression on Moli’s face was so intense that I got the feeling she was speaking from personal experience. “It shows sinners their crimes, their regrets, their deepest fears …” She shuddered. “It shows them their true selves.”
I had no idea what that meant. Would the Chamber of Mirrors show that pimple I’d hidden so painstakingly with concealer? I looked at Ren. He shrugged.
“Fine. We’ll just avoid the Chamber of Mirrors, then,” Jordan said. “Piece of moon cake.” He stepped around the building. As we all followed him, I heard a low growl come from off to my left. I turned—and suppressed a scream.
Demons. At least ten had snuck up on us, and now the multicolored, snarling beasts were fast approaching with pointy, lethal-looking weapons in their hands.
Drawing my sword, I looked right. Even more demons poured in from that side. We were surrounded.
“Um … guys?” Jordan said. “H-how ’bout that Ch-Chamber of Mirrors?”
“Sounds good to me!” Ashley yelled, already sprinting for the doors.
The demons lunged at once with a horrific collective shriek. Ren, Moli, and I kept the wave of demons at bay as the siblings headed for the building.
I sliced the first demon clean through its midriff and kicked a second one in its chest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a third demon swipe at me with its sharp claws.
“Faryn!” Ren grunted.
I ducked at the last moment. My heart pattered with fear at the air swishing above my head.
As if giving me strength, warmth traveled from my sword down to my fingertips. My weapon lightened and vibrated until it felt like an extension of my body. With grace that I didn’t even know I possessed, I drove the point of my sword upward into the demon’s chest. It wailed, and with a puff of dust and smoke, it disappeared.
“Ew.” I coughed, waving the particles away from my face.
Moli yelled, “Run, Faryn! Ren! And, uh … what’s-your-face!”
“My name is Jordan!” shrieked Jordan.
Lunging blindly with my sword, I managed to connect with demon skin as I turned toward the sound of Jordan’s voice. He was holding open the door to the Chamber of Mirrors and waving wildly at us.
I didn’t check to see how many demons I’d managed to defeat or how many more were hot on our heels. Sprinting faster than I ever had before, even to the dumpling table during the Lunar New Year, I followed Moli into the Chamber of Mirrors.
Jordan ducked in behind me and slammed the door shut. And not a moment too soon. A split second later, the demons collided into the door with a barrage of thumps.
“That was … too close …,” Ren panted.
“No … kidding …” I gulped for air, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Only now that we were out of the way of immediate danger did I realize my right arm was throbbing in pain. Gritting my teeth, I dabbed at my arm gingerly. My hand came away wet and sticky with blood. One of the demons must have gotten a good swipe at me after all.
“It’s so dark in here,” Ashley murmured.
“This is the Underworld. It’s dark everywhere, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Jordan said.
I could just barely make out the outlines of my friends, as well as the glimmer of something shiny deeper within the building—the mirrors.
Moli drew in ragged breaths.
“You okay?” I asked.
“F-fine,” she stammered. “Just … bad memories. Be careful, okay? This place can be even more dangerous than the other places we’ve seen.”
“Whoa, guys, come here! These mirrors are wild,” Jordan called, his voice ringing in the room. “Ashley, I see everyone from the New Order! There’s Xiong, Ah Qiao, and …”
“What? That’s impossible.” Ashley whirled around and darted after her brother.
“The mirror is tricking you! Those people in it aren’t real,” Moli yelled. “The mirror is just showing your deepest fears and regrets.”