The Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao

Author:Katie Zhao
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

CHAPTER

16

A vaguely familiar Mandopop song played in the elevator. The bellhop, a squat man with a disproportionately large moustache, hummed along to the soft tune, ignoring the panicking kids with him.

“We have to head back to San Francisco,” Moli said, waving her sword through the air and slicing off part of the bellhop’s sleeve. His expression remained serene. “My father’s there.”

“Okay, let’s think calmly about this—” I said.

“My father is in danger, Faryn! How am I supposed to be calm?” Moli turned on the bellhop. “You! Where’s the nearest army? I need it dispatched to San Francisco, stat.”

“Army? Haven’t got one. We have complimentary herbal tea and eye masks in the lobby, though,” the bellhop told us with a bright smile. “Enjoy your stay.”

We reached our floor with a ding. The doors slid open. Ren and Alex stood in front of us, still chewing on some dumplings. Alex’s hand hovered over the elevator button.

“Oh, hey,” my brother said. He raised a brown paper bag in one hand. “We were just about to bring you some of this foo— Whoa, what’re you doing?”

Moli dragged him by the sleeve down the hall. “Vacation’s over. We’re returning to the Jade Society. Now. San Francisco’s in big trouble.”

Once I explained what Moli and I had seen on the TV, Ren’s eyes widened. “We’ve gotta go back and rescue your friends, then.”

“They’re not my friends,” I said quickly. “And we can’t just abandon this quest. Did you guys find the fallen beasts?”

“No,” Alex admitted.

I turned to Ren. “And what about your curse?”

“Some things are more important than that. Like saving people’s lives.”

I hesitated, even though my head screamed that Ren was right. Nothing outweighed saving people’s lives. But what if saving some lives came at the cost of other people’s lives?

Ren grabbed my hand. “C’mon.”

Shaking my head, I allowed Ren to pull me along. Ye Ye would’ve been furious to find out I’d even considered abandoning the warriors in their time of need. But I was the Heaven Breaker. I had to fulfill my quest.

We barreled past servants and scholars who gave us disgruntled looks as Moli all but pushed them out of the way. She rounded a corner—and stopped, nearly causing me to run right into her.

“Chuangmu,” Moli said, kneeling down.

The goddess wrapped a red robe more tightly around herself as we paid our respects to her on our hands and knees. “Going somewhere?”

Alex stammered, “J-just headed over y-yonder, back to the—”

“Home,” Moli interrupted. “San Francisco’s in trouble. We have to save our city.”

Chuangmu’s smile widened, her white teeth glinting in the light. “Surely you can stay a little longer, warriors. You’ve just arrived.”

“Yeah, Moli,” Alex urged. “Maybe we can stay a—”

“Thank you for your hospitality, but we’ll be on our way now.” Moli rose to her feet and made to push past the immortal beings.

“In that case, allow me to give you a goodbye present. A hóng bāo of sorts, if you will.”

Chuangmu snapped her fingers. Two female servants floated down on either side of the goddess, grasping something behind their backs.

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