“Take that, you evil hún dàn!” she squawked.
Ren climbed higher into the air. The wind whooshed past my face, whipping my hair around my head. A Heavenly soldier wielding a red spear sped toward us on a cloud. I batted him away by parrying his attack. I thrust upward with my sword, knocking his weapon out of his hands. Unfortunately, the warrior wasn’t alone. At least a dozen Heavenly soldiers rushed toward us in his wake.
Ren gave a low, ominous growl. The sound seemed to come from his core, and it shook his scaly body from head to tail.
Got one more trick up my sleeve, Ren said. A column of water burst forth out of his mouth, blasting the Heavenly warriors. They didn’t have a chance to scatter before the full force of the water hit them. Down they went, tumbling through the sky.
Wow. I gasped once the water stopped coming out of Ren’s mouth. The Dragon Kings taught you that, too?
Oh, I’ve always been able to do that. The Dragon Kings just taught me how to control and aim. Unfortunately for them.
I grinned. Now that the Heavenly warriors were out of our way, Sun Wukong came into sight. Only now I realized the flashes of color that I’d thought were afterimages of his speed were actually clones of Sun Wukong. There were three of them, and all three were holding their own against the many Heavenly warriors. But with each passing moment, Heaven’s soldiers slowly pushed the Sun Wukongs back to the ground.
One of the black dragons dove toward the Sun Wukong in the middle, whose attention was focused on the warriors he was battling.
“Look out!” I shouted.
The middle Sun Wukong dove out of the way just in time and swung his Ruyi Jingu Bang in an arc. The weapon landed a painful blow against the dragon’s head. Roaring and shaking, the dragon fell back.
The three clones reverted back into the original Monkey King. He spun the Ruyi Jingu Bang in a circle and let it go. The staff whizzed around Sun Wukong of its own accord, knocking weapons out of the warriors’ hands and causing them to scatter.
“I thought I told you to leave!” boomed Sun Wukong, glaring at us as he kicked a Heavenly warrior in the gut.
“You might not want to accept our help, but you need it,” I retorted. “Face it, dà shèng. This isn’t like before. You can’t take down all of Heaven by yourself.”
“I certainly don’t need help from a bunch of mortal warriors,” he spat.
I willed myself not to lose my patience. “Really? Because it sure looks like the mortal warriors and spirits are the ones saving your mountain.”
Sun Wukong’s expression scrunched up in anger. Before he could respond, the second black dragon shot toward him.
“Ren, go!” I shouted.
Beneath me, Ren’s body lurched, nearly tossing me off. I grabbed hold of his neck with both hands, just barely keeping a grip on my sword.
Ren let out a mighty roar as his body slammed into the black dragon. I gritted my teeth against the impact. Then both dragons were roaring, claws tearing at each other as they tumbled through the air. I squeezed my eyes shut, hugging Ren’s neck even more tightly. Forget trying to fight. It was all I could do to avoid getting thrown off.
When I dared to open my eyes, Ren had managed to knock the black dragon into a nearby tree. The dragon bellowed and clawed at the tangle of leaves and branches, trying to get himself out.
“I could’ve handled that dragon on my own!” Sun Wukong sliced with his staff, taking out two more warriors.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” I yelled back. “Work with us. We can help each other!”
Sun Wukong didn’t respond, possibly because he had to duck as a warrior launched his spear at his head. Another warrior swung his curved sword at me, but I blocked with my sword at the last moment. Ren batted him away with his tail.
“You … mortal, you can wield the Ruyi Jingu Bang, can’t you?” Sun Wukong asked reluctantly. “Since you were the one who brought it to me earlier.”
I didn’t let my expression reveal my surprise at the question. “Yes,” I shouted over the wind and chaos. At least, I hoped I could still wield the mighty weapon.
“Here, then! You can’t expect to help me using just that pathetic sword of yours.”
I watched as Sun Wukong split the Ruyi Jingu Bang in two. He tossed one of the staffs to me, and I nearly fumbled the catch in my shock. I sheathed my sword.
Sun Wukong’s eyes were grave when they met mine. Even if he didn’t look it, I guess the Monkey King felt more cornered than I’d thought. That was the only reason he’d willingly let me use his weapon.
I raised the staff in my hand. A wave of energy crackled from the body of the weapon into my palm. Just like the first time I’d held Fenghuang, I felt powerful.
“Not so fast, kiddo!” bellowed a deep, oddly familiar voice.
A huge force slammed into me. My body twisted from the impact, and I barely held on to Ren’s back. I caught sight of my assailant’s weapon—a gleaming three-pronged spear.
Erlang Shen.
Relief flooded through me. I lowered my weapon and grumbled, “In the future, if you ever need to get my attention, please tap me on the shoulder instead of almost killing me—”
“You warriors are getting easier and easier to trick, you know that?” Erlang Shen interrupted. “Gods too. So naive.”
“What are you talking about?” I paused. Something was wrong. The two gods I’d grown used to seeing beside Erlang Shen weren’t at his shoulder. “Wait. Where are Guanyin and Nezha?”
“Ahhhh. You won’t be hearing from those two for a while.”
“Huh?”
Quick as a flash, the warrior god whipped around his spear and slammed it into my gut.
Pain shot up and down my body. And then I was tumbling through the air, falling toward the ground.
CHAPTER
26
That might have ended tragically if someone didn’t fly by and snatch me out of the air. With a thud and “oof!” I landed on a cloud, wobbling on my knees. I looked up toward my savior—Sun Wukong.
“Get up and fight,” barked the Monkey King. “There’s not a moment to waste!”
“But—but Erlang Shen, he—he betrayed—”
“Erlang Shen betrayed no one. He has always been the Jade Emperor’s right-hand servant and spy,” the Monkey King explained. “Have you opened your eyes now, warrior?”
The truth was almost too awful to bear. “So he … Erlang Shen … was never on our side?” I thought back and remembered how I’d found it odd that Erlang Shen was giving us another riddle to solve—as though he wanted to stall for time. Maybe he had. He’d been shady all along, and I’d ignored the signs.
“Of course he wasn’t on your side. And you’re all fools for thinking otherwise. Now, stop sniveling and get up. If you want to teach Erlang Shen a lesson, we’ll have to work together. I owe him a good pounding,” growled the Monkey King.
Sun Wukong was right. We were in the middle of a battle. This was no time to let the truth of Erlang Shen’s allegiances shake me.
I took in my surroundings, counting the opponents who circled us. I stopped after ten, because it was too depressing. High above, Ren was locked in battle with both the black dragons.