“You—can’t—win—Alex.” I hoped he’d listen. That he’d remember how we’d always fought on each other’s side. That he’d want to keep fighting on each other’s side.
His eyes narrowed, a light dancing inside them. Taunting me. “Go back and tell Ba—I’ve—already—won!”
Sun Wukong slammed Alex in the side with his Ruyi Jingu Bang. The combined force of both our attacks was more than enough to take Alex down. With a cry of pain, my brother fell off his cloud, plunging downward.
“Alex!” I screamed. Without thinking, I dove to catch him before he hit the ground, but a force dragged me back.
“Let the foolish boy fall,” Sun Wukong sneered. “He deserves it for trying to invade my mountain. Oh, don’t start crying. Your brother, Andrew—”
“Alex!”
“Amanda, whatever, he won’t die. He can’t. He’s the Jade Emperor’s Heavenly General—he’s immortal now.”
“Still!” I protested. Did it hurt immortal beings when they fell out of the sky? Had Alex at least remembered to wear his kneepads to battle? I had no clue.
Jerking away from the Monkey King, I turned again to face the spot where Alex had fallen—only to realize that far below, a new nightmare had unfolded.
A huge fissure had opened in the ground, and the spirits were being sucked inside it. I watched in horror as Cixi and Hongyi whizzed into the dark crack in the earth, taken in by an unseen force. Cindy You followed, frantically waving goodbye to us. Then Moli, eyes wide with shock, shouted, “G-goodb—!” but the rest of her farewell was torn away by the wind.
“Cindy! Moli!” I cried, but they were already gone.
Nai Nai was the last to go. Her eyes met mine, and she opened her mouth. I barely heard her over the howling wind. “Faryn, your mother—betrothed to a Demon King— Underworld—!”
“My mother? Betrothed? What does that mean?”
I lunged forward to grab Nai Nai, but it was too late. With her arms still stretched out toward me, my grandmother disappeared down into the fissure as well.
“Nai Nai!” I screamed. “Wait!” I urged the cloud beneath my feet to travel down to her, but Sun Wukong held me back.
“No! If you go down there, you’ll be sucked in, too,” he shouted.
“What’s happening? Where are they all going?”
“Back to Diyu, of course. This must be King Yama’s doing. Bet he didn’t like the fact that those spirits came to my mountain to aid me. He’s had a grudge against me for centuries, the old coot. All I did was nearly destroy the Underworld once. Jeez.”
I let out a slow, shaky breath. Even if King Yama had taken my ancestors back to Diyu, I could still see them again. Somehow. I had to see them again. Plus, if I understood Nai Nai’s words correctly, my mother was still in Diyu, betrothed to a Demon King. It sounded like she was in deep, deep trouble—and I had to rescue her. I hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye.
“More importantly—my monkeys!” Sun Wukong yelled, his voice trembling with fury.
Before I could turn to see what he was talking about, the cloud dipped beneath my feet. A scream clawed its way out of my throat. My stomach swooped until it just about dropped through my body. We came to a jarring halt that churned the contents of my stomach again in front of the Heavenly warriors, who’d bound the monkeys with their rope. Ren, back in his human form, had also been tied up, along with Jordan. They struggled and kicked against their rope.
“Guys!” I jabbed the Ruyi Jingu Bang at their captors, who dove aside. Before I could free my friends, more Heavenly warriors stepped up to replace their comrades. They slashed their spears at me. I staggered back to avoid the point of their weapons.
Sun Wukong’s fury turned his eyes a flaming, brilliant red. His body began shaking violently. With a whoosh and a flash of light, yellow flames enveloped his fur.
“Let my monkeys go!” he commanded. The Ruyi Jingu Bang shifted to thrice its normal size in Sun Wukong’s hand. He swung it in an arc, knocking away several warriors.
A large, bronze-armored man with green skin warned, “You should be more concerned for yourself, Monkey King. And your monkeys.”
“What?” snapped Sun Wukong.
The Heavenly warrior nodded toward the sky. “Look up.”
Sun Wukong and I followed his gaze. I gasped.
The Monkey King shouted, “No!” and launched himself skyward, disappearing in a flash.
Alex. My brother had climbed to the very top of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, where the mossy surface of the mountain was illuminated by the light of the moon. He raised Fenghuang above his head.
“What’s he doing?” Jordan cried.
I had a horrible feeling I knew what Alex would do, the moment before he followed through with it.
Sun Wukong reappeared right next to Alex—just as my brother slammed the glowing white tip of Fenghuang onto the mountain. A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Rain poured out of the clouds overhead, steady at first, then faster and harder. With a boom, a ring of pulsating white energy shot out of the spear and enveloped the whole mountain.
Monkeys and people alike screamed. Alex’s army dove for cover in the sky, riding their clouds far away, abandoning their prisoners. Sun Wukong dove toward his monkeys.
I tossed the yuán onto the ground. It turned into a chariot. Without pausing for breath, I yanked Jordan and Ren to their feet. “Go!” I shouted. They didn’t need me telling them twice. Hands and feet still bound, they dove into the chariot. I followed a heartbeat later, commanding the stone lions to get as high and far away from the crippling blast as possible.
White-hot energy sizzled above me, slicing off some of my hair. I screamed at how close the heat was, but we made it just in time. The stone lions climbed higher and higher into the air, closer to safety.
After we’d put a safe distance between us and the mountain, I chanced a look back. I stifled a groan.
“Oh my gods,” gasped Jordan.
“That’s not good,” Ren added.
Below us, the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, home to the Monkey King and so many legends, was crumbling. Huge chunks of rock broke away from the surface. I was so transfixed by the chaos below that I almost missed someone whizzing by us. By the time I looked up and realized who it was, it was too late.
“Alex!” I called. “Wait!”
If he heard me, my brother gave no indication. I thought I heard Alex laughing. But maybe it was just the wind.
Alex was there one moment, Fenghuang held high in his hands. Then, with a spark of light, my brother simply vanished.
CHAPTER
28
I don’t know how long I stood there on a cloud, struggling to comprehend the events of the past hour or so. Erlang Shen had betrayed us. Alex had almost returned to my side—and then changed his mind.
Xiong had warned me before I left that I’d lose someone dear to me yet again. Now I knew what he’d meant. I was sure, even if only for a second, that I’d had Alex back—and then he left me once more.
After what might have been moments or hours, I felt a familiar warmth near me. Guanyin. I knew even before looking up into the goddess’s kind black eyes.