Song turned and ran into the clearing, leaving the others in the old man’s care. There, where he had planted the seed, stood a strong, young tree, its silhouette black against the light of the stars. He fled to it, clutching his knife and his box in trembling hands, and stood waiting, all emotion save hatred locked up cold within him.
There was a sharp flap of canvas and Ju-Long dropped onto the summit.
The dragon laughed. “Here is another one. A mere child!” His amusement burst out in a low rumble. “Do you think you can defeat me, puny human spawn? I, who have lived far beyond your comprehension of time and space? I, who came before you? I, who was displaced by you? I, who by all rights should have inherited the earth!”
He snarled and flew into the air. Twisting, he came to land behind Song. The boy whirled, his broken knife at the ready.
“Instead I was bound in torment and in agony in the wood of the Tree. But the heart of men is dishonorable, and I escaped.
“Long have I waited. Long have I gathered strength in the bowels of the earth. Long have I brooded and planned my course of action. My moment is at hand! Tonight, I will call my armies to myself!”
With that, Ju-Long beat the air with his giant wings. High above the mountain, he roared out his summons. Louder than a mighty clap of thunder, it splintered the mountain. The ground heaved, sending cascades of rock tumbling down the cliff face, and still the echoes rang out far across the Kindoli.
Song staggered beneath the assault and fell to the ground, hands pressed tightly to his ears.
Ju-Long landed again, and Song rose unsteadily to face him.
“I am invincible!” the dragon raged. “After I dispose of you, dog, I will wipe out mankind from the face of the earth. Disgusting, powerless men, so favored of the Most High. When I have been avenged upon them, I will rule in their stead!”
Song cowered beneath the dragon’s threats. The monster was huge. He was furious. And he was driven. There was no way a boy could stand against him.
And yet, his ruin had been foreseen in ages past. It had been written. Had Song not seen enough prophecies come to fulfillment to trust this one as well?
New resolve thickened his spine. He was the seed. He was the Chosen One.
He stood, facing Ju-Long, ignoring the tremble in his knees. “It will not be this day,” he whispered. He felt a surge of strength, and his voice rose in volume. He dug deep, focusing all his hatred at the dragon. “It will not be this day!” he declared. “By my life or by my death, I will stop you!”
“Fool!” Ju-Long roared. “I killed your father, and now I will kill you!”
The dragon lunged at him. Song dodged and held up the puzzle box. Ju-Long shied away and snarled. “The Guardian could not hold me before. It will not stop me now!” He aimed a stream of fire.
Song leaped, barely escaping the inferno.
“Song!” Grandfather stood at the edge of the clearing, blue light shrouding the little group he guarded. “Remember the gifts!”
Song held the box in one hand and the knife in the other. He had wood and metal. Sidestepping to the tree, he knelt at its roots and filled his knife hand with dirt stained with his father’s blood. He had earth.
“I have only three!” he called.
“There is power within them. Use it!”
Song held the gifts high. Ju-Long drew back. But the power was not great enough. He was missing two of the five. Nor did he have the lost secret given to Pavu’s son.
The dragon lashed his tail, knocking Song to the ground and scattering the gifts.
“It is not enough!” Song yelled in desperation.
“He lost the knife!” Karina ran out onto the summit. The dragon saw her at the same moment as Song.
“Karina! Get back!” Song screamed.
Karina grasped the hilt. “You will die without it!”
“Then I am dead! Go back to my grandfather!”
“If you die, we all will soon follow!” She threw it, and her aim was true. It landed at his feet and he picked it up.
But Ju-Long’s eyes had turned to thin slits. “So here is one you love,” he hissed. “I will begin with her.”
“You will not!” Song screamed. Blinded by cold fury, he rushed the dragon, slashing at the unyielding scales with the broken dagger.
Ju-Long sent him sprawling with a flick of his tail. Then, with one massive, clawed hand, he swiped at Karina, ripping her, tossing her across the summit. She landed in a broken heap and did not move.
Slowly, Ju-Long advanced toward her to finish the job.
“Song! Throw her the box!” Nori called. “He fears it! Throw it near her!”
But Song was unable to tear his eyes from dragon. They were fixed, dilated. The anger in his chest swelled to uncontrollable malice, and then it was no longer the form of Ju-Long that he saw but the face of Keeto.
The dragon laughed. “You hate deeply, my friend,” he mocked.
“Song!” Grandfather yelled. “He is using your weakness against you! You must not let your heart be consumed with bitterness and anger!”
Song heard the advice, but he was powerless, unable to tear his gaze away and redirect his thoughts.
The dragon laughed again. “He will soon be mine. He cannot avert his eyes!”
But Song could close them.
He shut out the view of Keeto, of the dragon, of the summit, and focused on the memory of Karina’s face. Her beloved face with its beautiful scar and sparkling eyes full of acceptance and forgiveness.
His anger could not stay. It began to drain away. Slowly. Too slowly. He could hear Ju-Long pacing again toward Karina.
Nori broke away from Li-Min and raced onto the summit, coming to rest between the dragon and the injured girl. “I do not fear you!” she screamed, taking up a rock and throwing it at the dragon.
Ju-Long halted, his attention diverted. His pupils focused on her slender form.
“Nor do I fear death.” She threw another rock that bounced off the dragon’s snout. “I have tasted of it tonight already.”
Ju-Long shook his head and snorted out a stream of smoke.
“Song!” Nori screamed. “Give Karina the box! You might still save her!”
Song opened his eyes to watch Nori fly straight at the face of Ju-Long, pummeling him with rock after rock. “I. DO. NOT. FEAR. YOU!”
Song raced to Karina and crouched by her side. She lay as still as death. At the sight, the last of his hatred melted away and spilled out as tears. Nothing mattered but saving her. Gently, he placed the box on top of her.
With a roar of rage, Ju-Long descended on Nori. His jaws closed around her tiny form and he flung her high in the air. With a crash, she landed among the distant trees.
“NO!” Song screamed and raced for the sapling tree, wholly focused on his purpose. Stripping off a branch, he took up his knife and another handful of dirt. Then, with the fourth gift streaming down his cheeks, he faced the dragon.
“You have plagued men long enough, Ju-Long! You have killed my parents and my friends. Today you will meet your doom!”
Ju-Long advanced threateningly.
Song continued, “I have been chosen from generations of my people to destroy you. As it is written, so shall it be!” And with a battle cry that echoed across ten thousand years, he charged headlong at the dragon.
Ju-Long rose up and aimed a stream of flame at Song.
A circle of light, bright as lightning, enveloped the summit. With his own breath, the dragon had supplied the last element. The star was complete.
“By the power of Yong-Zay, Maker of Stars, I call down your ruin!” Guided by some unseen hand, Song shouted out the name given to Pavu’s son and discovered the final secret so long sought by the Wise.
For a moment, all creation hung suspended, holding its breath.
Then a blinding flash crackled on the mountaintop. Ju-Long was cast backward, over the edge of the precipice. His fiery shrieks echoed off the cliff face as he tumbled to his death in the depths of the Chin-Yazi far below.
And Song crumpled to the mountaintop, utterly spent.