Finally, the ground stopped shaking, and the air grew still.
Mulan coughed and kicked her way out of the drifts. The others were doing the same. Mushu plucked Cri-Kee, their lucky cricket, out of the snow.
Mulan caught her breath. The sweat on her temples and neck had frozen, and she wiped the frost from her face and shook the snow from her uniform. She patted Khan’s head, then turned to face her comrades. Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, and even Chi Fu, the Emperor’s arrogant adviser—she could hardly believe they’d all survived. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“Well, we couldn’t let you die,” Yao said, smiling.
Ling raised his fist in agreement. “You’re the bravest of us all!”
Mulan exhaled, and slowly, her shoulders relaxed with relief. She and Shang had made it out of the avalanche alive.
Shang!
At once, her good spirits faded. She moved toward the captain, whom Chien-Po had managed to keep out of the snow. Shang’s face was even paler than before.
“He’s still unconscious,” Chien-Po said. Outwardly, his expression was serene as always, but Mulan detected a hint of worry in his voice.
“He’s wounded,” said Mulan. “He needs medical—”
Shang stirred, clutching the cape wrapped over his chest.
Chien-Po brightened. “Look, he’s waking up.”
Shang coughed and wheezed, and Mulan squeezed his shoulder. “Easy, easy.”
The captain blinked, then let out a labored breath. He turned to Mulan, his thick brows furrowing into an unreadable expression. “Ping,” said Shang, trying to sit up.
Mulan straightened, preparing for a rebuke.
“Ping, you are the craziest man I’ve ever met.” He paused. “And for that I owe you my life. From now on, you have my trust.”
A slow smile broke out on Mulan’s face.
“Let’s hear it for Ping!” her friends cheered. “The king of the mountain!”
Shang opened his mouth to join in the cheer, then winced and exhaled harshly.
Mulan caught him by the arm. “Shang?”
“I…just need to…sleep.” Shang closed his eyes.
Mulan shook his shoulders. “No, stay with us. Shang?”
But Shang didn’t hear her. His hands, which had been clutching his cape, went limp, and he collapsed back onto the snow, unconscious.
“Shang!” Mulan cried. “Wake up!”
“Captain?” Yao said, nudging Shang’s arm.
Shang lay still.
The soldiers looked at her hopelessly.
A lump hardened in Mulan’s throat. Pleading with Shang to wake up wasn’t going to do anything. It wasn’t going to save him.
Mulan knelt beside the captain and touched his neck to search for a pulse. He was trembling.
“He’s freezing,” said Mulan urgently. “Someone, get him a blanket. We need to start a fire, keep him warm.”
“Our supplies are buri—”
“There’s a blanket on my horse,” she interrupted.
Ling nodded and rushed toward Khan. When he returned, Chien-Po lifted Shang off the snow and carefully set him down on the blanket.
Kneeling beside him, Mulan gently drew back Shang’s cape. The soldiers gasped, and Mulan stifled a cry. There was a long, deep gash across Shang’s abdomen, below his armor. Blood seeped through his uniform and dripped onto the snow, bright as his scarlet cape.
The color drained from Mulan’s face. She stumbled back, barely noticing Mushu climb up her back and hide behind the green scarf over her armor.
“This is my fault,” she whispered. “Shan-Yu was attacking me, and Shang took the blow.”
“Hey, hey, it could’ve been worse,” Mushu replied. “It could’ve been you, not him. At least you’re still alive.”
Mulan gave her guardian dragon a reproachful look. “You’re not helping.”
“What’d I—”
Mulan ignored him and untied her scarf. “Everyone, give me your scarves. We have to stop Shang’s bleeding.”
One by one, the soldiers passed her their scarves, and Mulan knotted them together into a long bandage. Carefully, she lifted Shang’s armor, opened his tunic, and started wrapping his wound. His blood was warm, but his skin was cold—beads of frost dusted his cheeks and neck. When she was done, she reached to take his pulse again. Her hands shook.
Shang’s pulse was faint. Too faint. But he was still alive.
“We need to make camp,” she said finally.
“We need to go to the Imperial City,” Chi Fu corrected her. The Emperor’s adviser slid out of his corner by the rocks. Frost covered the tips of his thin mustache, making the hairs droop like whiskers on a catfish. He wrapped his robes tightly about him, clearly unhappy to be out in the cold and showing no gratitude that they were still alive. “We must inform the Emperor that the Huns have been defeated.”
“We can’t travel with Captain Li like this,” Mulan argued. “He needs to rest.”
Chi Fu gazed at the captain and wrinkled his nose. “He won’t survive a wound like that. The captain is a man of honor. He’d understand.”
“We’re not leaving him,” Mulan said firmly.
“Your duty to the Emperor comes first, soldier.” Chi Fu frowned at her, his beady eyes unblinking. “Or must I document your insubordination?”
“Leave Ping alone,” Yao growled.
“Yeah,” Ling chimed in. “If not for Ping, we’d all be dead. He saved us all.”
Chi Fu harrumphed and turned to face the group. “All this is Ping’s fault. If not for his foolishness, your captain would still be alive.”
“He is still alive,” Mulan insisted stubbornly. “We’re not leaving him behind.”
“Who put you in charge?” Chi Fu retorted.
“No one,” she replied. “But Captain Li Shang is our commanding officer.”
“And the Emperor is our ruler!”
“Then we’ll…we’ll take Shang with us.”
The other soldiers nodded in agreement.
“Impossible,” Chi Fu snapped. “We don’t have enough supplies to take our time. The longer we wallow in this…this blizzard, the sooner we’ll all die. Besides, he wouldn’t survive the journey.”
“He will,” said Mulan fiercely. “I’ll care for him.”
Chi Fu scoffed. “Lunatic boy.”
“I will, too.”
“So will I.”
One after another, the soldiers pledged to help their captain.
“Order, people, order!” Chi Fu crossed his arms, and a crooked smile spread over his mouth. “Very well,” he announced, “Ping will take care of the captain during the journey back. But if he falls behind, we won’t wait for him. Getting to the Emperor is our top priority. If anyone else tries to help Ping, I’ll report his name to the Emperor for insubordination.” Chi Fu paused so his threat could sink in. “Understand?”
Yao opened his mouth to argue, but Mulan was quicker. “I understand,” she said. “Captain Li will be my responsibility. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.”
“We can’t let you do this alone,” said Chien-Po.