Rest, she thought, finally. Urantsog approached the small pond, its outer banks having long dried out judging from the dusty and dry texture. She looked at her reflection and drank heavily from the water. As a human, she would have taken out her pots, scooped the water, and boiled it mercilessly until she was sure that no bacteria remained. Since she was an animal and had drunk from lakes only a shadow of what they once were without any ill effects, Urantsog was confident that she wouldn’t sicken and die.
The pond water was cool and refreshing, quenching her thirst. She shook her mane, spraying water across the more parched areas of grass and on her saddle.
Her hoof still itched, even after two days ago when she galloped across the plain almost a hundred times. Whenever she checked it, it looked like a normal hoof. She had seen horses with various issues, ranging from cracked hooves to cancerous growths. She shuddered as she remembered her favourite mare looking at her mournfully as her övöö examined both of her rear hooves. Urantsog missed her, even though it had been twenty years. Chimeg was faster than even her aav’s greatest stallion, and Urantsog remembered her neck held high, always wild and free in the steppes. She always joked that Chimeg was her sister, given how alike the two were. In more than one way, that was true. Her hoof was an issue. She would check it later.
Looking around with her ears pricked, she sensed no danger. Urantsog located a medium-sized patch of grass and started to chew on it. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was a horse or that was because she had supernatural abilities, but the grass tasted good. Urantsog looked behind her. The cart was intact, her saddle and attached equipment looked like it was prepared for combat, and her dismantled ger was still present. Good, she thought. As much as she liked sleeping under the stars, her ger would have better protection against a Calamity should one arrive. She wondered how her ancestors would have reacted to the Calamities, whether they would have spread further away. She knew that her nagats egch used to live in Ulaanbaatar before the Calamities hit. With the Calamities, many had turned to the lifestyle of their ancestors, assimilating into those that kept to their traditional lifestyle. Ulaanbaatar was still inhabited, but was deserted every time there was an alarm. She had been there. It was stifling, feeling boxed in on all sides, and enough buildings that she felt small and insignificant compared to those towering structures. Urantsog preferred the open steppes, to be able to run wild and without a care.
In other words, absolute freedom.
She told her aav as much, she would settle for nothing less. When she had been younger, she had felt a special kinship with her family herd, envying their free-spiritedness and carefree nature. They didn’t need her family; they could be independent and self-reliant. She had resolved to be the same when she grew older. Archery, wrestling, horse riding, taming those that refused to bend to anyone’s will, she had done them. She had outshot her düü on their respective horses, wrestled her eej to the ground after a long tussle, and outraced her aav with the help of Chimeg. She had been challenged among her tribe and upheld her titles each and every time.
Much to her annoyance, that didn’t apply to her mission. Retrieve her Key from the ghosts of warrior women, find her Gate based off of the location given by her Key…wait for her partner to find their Key and their Gate, or House, or whatever that amulet was saying. No, that would be partners. She gritted her teeth. The success of a once in a lifetime mission depended on two people that she had never met and whose capabilities she didn’t know. Her amulet wasn’t forthcoming on the details, and she hated charging into anything blindly. She could find both Keys, find both Gates, and then enter them. Unfortunately, Urantsog was bound by an ancient bond and couldn’t enter the Gates alone. She needed a partner. If they were slow, she wouldn't help them. They should know how to find their own Key.
Urantsog had some ideas of where her own Key could be. Ghosts could refer to a mass casualty event, a battlefield where the dead were laid to rest where they fell, or a mass grave. She needed to research who the warrior women were. No one in her tribe knew anything about any famous warrior women within their territory or any nearby territories, nor mass graves.
Her hoof still itched. Urantsog would examine it later.
Out of nowhere, her ears pricked up. The sound of roaring thunder reached her. Far into the distance, fissures of lightning snaked across the sky, sending a chill down Urantsog’s intestines. She buried it. Fear had no place in her mind, not when there was a mighty Calamity to fight.
She remembered the gigantic blind worm with jagged teeth crawling within the earth. How it tried to intimidate her family and tribe into fleeing. How she picked up the amulet she had found that day and shouted the words that engulfed her in a cloud of smoke. How she rose to the challenge and defeated the horrid worm with its sickly pulsating flesh, parading its corpse through the settlement. This would be no different. All this was was another opponent to prove her skills against.
She tucked her ger and cart safely away, and checked her saddle. It remained nestled against her. Good.
Urantsog glanced upwards, finding the source of the storm. An azure dragon, its scales gleaming in the evening sunlight. The shadow it casted was larger than the buildings she had seen at Ulaanbaatar, long and sinewy and wriggling. No matter, she would triumph over them all the same.
And so she charged ahead.
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“Hehe⁓oh that tickles!” Mihira giggled as the blue-green crystal burrowed snugly into her wings. For the past few days, it spent more time with her than Hua-san and the other crystals, always tickling her or wrapping itself in her wings. Hua-san told her that it was harmless, so she let it be. It was a nice companion. She wanted to name the crystals, but she couldn’t think of names for them. For now, this one was dedicated to soaring with her in the air next to Hua-san. Sometimes it would blow puffs of wind in her face to tease her.
Above the sky, she had never felt so carefree and happy. The wind was still there, occasionally whistling and imploring Mihira to “find the land that resists the sea.” She still didn’t know where that was. Hua-san had a few ideas but most of them were far away, like America or Europe. They confirmed that it wasn’t in East Asia after searching along the coastline. Hua-san thought it was referring to a saltwater dam or something along the coast.
“What’s on your mind?”
Mihira turned around, the blue-green crystal disentangling itself from her wings. Hua-san’s massive head was craned towards her back, where Mihira was lying on.
“Nothing, but thank you for asking!” Mihira paused. “Is there anything on your mind?”
“Me? Not at the moment.” Her head turned towards the storm behind them. “Other than the Calamities. Was your furred beast causing the Calamity? I remember you mentioned that it was hidden among the clouds. Did you notice it forming hail within its mouth or its paws? You also mentioned…”
Hua-san asked more about the beast that Mihira saw, but all Mihira could think about was her beautiful green-tinged blue eyes and how they shined whenever she talked. Her antlers were gorgeous and so shiny, and when she was a human…Mihira had seen elegant women in her favourite anime, but she had never thought she would experience how graceful and kind Hua-san was. She was so successful too! She was in charge of running satellites that monitored the world for Calamities! She was so mature and willing to listen to Mihira talk about anything. And she was so strong, with her power over storms and the weather. She was very knowledgeable about Calamities, too. Hua-san had explained to her about the classifications of Calamities, how measuring the strength of a Calamity worked, and how the satellites functioned, but all Mihira could think about was how her movements were so refined and soft. It made Mihira wish that she had been there on that Friday afternoon. She also loved her fish, so much so that she brought him along with them.
Ménmén stared at Mihira through the glass container. Hua-san has good taste in fish, she thought. He also looked beautiful and healthy. Hua-san set out a list of instructions of when exactly to feed the carp and what to feed Ménmén. So far, Mihira had followed the instructions to the letter. Sometimes, when she was napping on Hua-san, she could hear Hua-san conversing with Ménmén. Ménmén must be a special fish, she thought. Maybe he had secret powers, or he was advising Hua-san on what course to take. Kaede would love Hua-san. They could talk about Calamities and satellites and such.
Meanwhile, Mihira had no clue where they were. The last time she had asked, they had been close to Tibet.
“...Tenhou Mihira?”
“Oh Hua-san!” She blushed. Oh no, did she catch her not paying attention? “Sorry about that!”
“It’s fine. I wanted to ask you more about the Calamity you faced and the being within. So you managed to talk them down?”
Mihira nodded.
“I see. There’s a morphological and possibly psychological difference between the beings we encountered. If the others had encountered other creatures, then we can pinpoint if their appearance and the Calamities are connected. Based on us, that would be true, but I would like to meet others.” Hua-san looked behind her again, the antlers catching the glow of the Sun. “That only started when I started thinking about, hmm…something I’ll tell you later. Another thing: Who would you want to meet?”
Mihira thought about this. She would want to meet the Dog, since they were supposed to be her partner. She also liked Hua-san, so maybe they could both be her partners? She would have to consult Kaori on this. Kaori was an expert on relationships. She was dating three boys at the same time; surely she could help Mihira with this dilemma.
“The Dog? She’s supposed to be my partner,” Mihira answered.
“Oh.” The air was still. “I don’t know anything about my partner or the Western zodiac, but I would like to meet the Snake.”
Mihira was surprised. She thought Hua-san would pick a cool or beautiful animal, like the Tiger, the Rabbit, or the Horse. “Can I ask why?”
“Well, the Snake is sometimes called the little Dragon in Chinese culture, so I thought that we would get along. My lǎolao always said the Snake was associated with intelligence and cunning, which is what we need to solve the origin of the Calamities.” Her voice sounded more determined. “Although we both need to find the locations of our Keys quickly. If they are the solution to breaking the stranglehold of the Calamities, then we have to find them and our partners.”
Mihira nodded. She wanted to meet more people. Maybe she could befriend them, and she could invite them into the Seventh House. That required her Key though, so that should take priority. Also, the wind had told her to go find it. She laid down on Hua-san’s azure scales, her wings outstretched and draping over the scaled body.
“Hua-san? Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“When’s your birthday? I told you that mine was the twenty-eighth of September, but you never told me yours.”
Hua-san’s head turned forward. “Another day.”
“Alright.” She was left to wonder in silence.
Mihira peeked below the clouds. Rolling plains full of short grass stretched out before her. The land was sparse, with little to no water in sight. There wasn't much wildlife either, not from her vantage point. The sky was a clear blue, and some of her feathers were scattered in the light breeze. Below, there wasn’t much else—except there was a horse.
Mihira stared at it before taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes. The horse was galloping across the plains, leaving a trail of dust behind it. Mihira wondered if it was wild or a runaway domestic horse. There was something bright on its back, too indistinct to see. What if it was hurting the horse?
Kaori should have been here, and Hina, and Kaede…she missed them. If Kaori was here, she would have demanded Mihira to pet the horse and save the horse from danger. Mostly the petting part. Since Kaori wasn’t here, she should save and pet the horse for Kaori’s sake.
“Hua-san, there’s a horse down there!” Mihira pointed out the dark smudge charging across the field. “There’s something on its back! Can I take it off?”
Hua-san peeked down. The red crystal near her moved closer. “It’s a horse in the middle of nowhere. I doubt it’s a domesticated horse. A wild horse can easily harm you, even with your gifts, so that would be a no.”
“Please? I know how to take care of myself! And I’ll be careful! I know how to take care of myself around a horse!” That was a lie, but Kaori would tell her to lie for any reason.
“I sincerely think—”
Mihira stared at Hua-san with her sad eyes. The blue-green crystal nudged Hua-san’s snout. “My friends would have done the same thing.” Kaori always told her to use her eyes whenever she wanted something from other people. She felt bad using it on Hua-san.
As she sighed, steam rolled out of Hua-san’s nostrils. “Sure, but to be clear, if you find yourself in trouble, I need to keep watch over you. Your safety is my priority.” Her head tilted downwards. “I will be in the sky.” Her eyes flickered with compassion.
With that, Mihira dove off of Hua-san’s body into the cool air. Her wings lengthened and stretched outwards, letting white feathers fall off into the air. The breeze caught her and the blue-green crystal as she drifted downwards towards the horse.
The horse appeared surprised by her sudden appearance. Mihira hoped that she hadn’t spooked the horse. She hadn’t brought fruit; there was only the crystal and that was inedible. Mihira didn’t have any sugar cubes on her either. She supposed she could summon the raspberry scented wind, but that wasn’t real food. Kaori would know more about how to talk to a horse. When they were younger, Kaori’s dreams had been to own twenty horses and two stables. She blew her limited allowance on horse care books and how to ride a horse before her parents forbade her from buying any more hoof care supplies and telling her they couldn’t afford a single horse, let alone a stable.
The horse was gorgeous, with its long silky black mane and its lustrous bay coat. It seemed cautious, which made sense.
Mihira couldn’t help herself but imagine putting lolita style frills on a horse. No one had done it before, she remembered, and if the opportunity had arisen, she would have done it in a heartbeat. Would the horse appreciate it? She should try and think of what colours would work well with a bay horse. An elegant gothic lolita horse? She hadn’t worked with that style before. Black and white? Would she accessorise the saddle as well? It had a pretty saddle. The bright yellow and red fabrics complemented the coat and mane of the horse, and there was some tube-shaped device in the shape of a horse’s head coloured in yellow and red. The mouth was opening up with its teeth showing. Hard to accessorise that. Maybe she should remove it, since it seemed heavy. Wouldn’t the poor horse be struggling?
Mihira thought about what Kaori said about mounting a horse. There were procedures, but she couldn’t remember. People mounted horses on the side, or at least that’s what she remembered from Kaori.
She moved to the left side of the horse, but the horse turned to face her. Moving the right side accomplished the same thing, the horse staring at her strangely. Mihira blew herself to the horse’s back, only for the horse to rapidly rotate, its nostrils flaring. What did that mean? She tried to recall what Kaori said, but that was a blank space in her mind.
Mihira was at an impasse. How could she mount this horse? Oh right, wings! She could fly over the horse!
Deciding on that, Mihira gathered wind and released it into the ground. Shooting over the horse’s head, she managed to leap over the horse’s head and jumped onto the saddle. There were a few issues though.
The saddle was uncomfortable to sit on. All Mihira felt was a large amount of metal and gear than anything comfy for a human to sit on. She was about to take it fully off, until something else dawned on her.
The horse was mad.
Before Mihira could fly away, the horse’s nostrils flared once more before bay coloured smoke started shooting out, causing Mihira to panic and jump from the saddle. The horse reared upwards, its front legs arching above the ground. It planted its hooves into the ground, snorting, before charging at Mihira at full speed.
Mihira dove out of the way quickly before the horse could run her over. The horse was about to charge at her again, but suddenly, an onslaught of rain poured onto the field. The bay horse snorted and reared at the dragon above.
“Hua-san!” Mihira yelled.
Hua-san was more focused on the bay coloured horse, her long body just barely touching the ground. The horse wasn’t deterred by Hua-san’s appearance, only pawing at the ground and snorting more smoke out of its nostrils. Its eyes sparkled with what could only be described as something intelligent. Mihira worried for Hua-san’s safety, and equally realised how much danger the horse had put itself in. She tried to create a wall of wind, only for the horse to ignore it and start charging at Hua-san.
Hua-san simply ascended rapidly, slapping her tail against the horse hard enough that the horse flew backwards. To her surprise, the horse regained its balance and pulled at a brown string next to its mouth. The device attached to its saddle glowed for a few seconds before launching the horse into the sky.
She blinked. Was that common with horses? She would ask Kaori the next time they saw each other.
The horse whinnied before landing behind Hua-san’s head. Hua-san descended quickly to the ground before abruptly turning and shooting straight up. Around Mihira, peals of lightning quickly enclosed the area as dark clouds started gathering. A quick snap of Hua-san’s tail and the horse was sent flying into the air.
Mihira summoned a whirlwind to soften the horse’s landing, for which the horse thanked her by snorting and running towards Hua-san. For a split second, Mihira saw something dash quickly, but she ignored it. The horse was going to get hurt, or even Hua-san. The only issue was that she couldn’t talk to animals. Would it respond to Hua-san? Hua-san wasn’t in the mood for diplomacy, judging by her demeanour and the fact she hadn’t talked to the horse yet.
What should she do? Step in? That sounded like a good idea. The blue-green crystal nodded, based on its enthusiastic bobbing up and down. Mihira willed the wind to push her forward, and the blue-green crystal pulsated. The wind coalesced around her back before billowing hard, propelling Mihira and the crystal to the centre of the conflict. Hua-san completely encircled the horse in a rainstorm.
“I have no quarrel with you, and neither does the girl who tried to mount you. As long as you don’t attempt another charge, we can leave you in peace.” Hua-san stared at the device on the horse’s saddle. “That device...I’ve seen those before. I know what you are.”
She was going to move closer, only for the horse to blow her off with a massive cloud of smoke. Mihira shielded her eyes and her wings while the little crystal drew closer to her.
Come here⁓
The wind was speaking to her? “Can you help me? I’m trying to find a way to stop Hua-san and the horse from fighting.” She dove in, close enough to the cloud of smoke. “Horse, I’m sorry that I scared you, but you don’t have to fight the dragon. She’s not trying to hurt you, she just thought you were going to hurt me, so she stepped in. I hope you can hear me.”
You must be tired, flying in the midst of a storm⁓ You should rest⁓
Rest sounded good, but she couldn’t leave Hua-san. Hua-san could take care of herself though. A wistful melody coursed through Mihira’s body. She looked towards the area where bay smoke intermingled with grey clouds and the air was peppered with the occasional cries of a dragon and the neighing of a horse. Maybe she should rest? The blue-green crystal burrowed tighter into her wings. She petted it and touched the grass.
Good⁓ You need your rest⁓ The big dragon can take care of herself, hmm? She doesn’t need anyone to look after her⁓
Of course! Hua-san was powerful enough. Mihira could have done only so much. The crystal kept vibrating rapidly against her wings and counter to the harmonic sound. Mihira clamped her hands down on it. Hua-san never explained to her how the crystals worked. Maybe it was reacting to the fact that Hua-san was in a fight?
Listen to the melody inside you, that sweet heartbeat⁓ Just relax, hmmm? Take it easy, slowly⁓….
Mihira closed her eyes. It was a long day after endless travelling. The crystal was quivering inside her wings. She swore she heard something move, but she dismissed it. Hua-san was here, if anything happened, she could rely on her.
Suddenly, the crystal shot upwards, glowing a bright blue-green colour. Mihira tried to grab at it, only for something to slither up her arm and surround it. Before Mihira could summon the wind, it bit her on her wrists. She felt a loss of sensation in her wrists, her elbows, until it reached her arms. Soon, she couldn’t feel her entire body or her wings, no matter what she did. There were black scales surrounding her, like a snake. From what she could see through her eyes, the scales were iridescent, teal streaks glimmering in the evening light. The taut scales all led to a woman’s upper body. Black hair with red orchids decorating the sides framed her face and beautiful teal eyes stared at her with a look of indifference. The woman was holding a violin and a bow in her hands. Mihira tried to read what she could see of her expression, but to no avail.
“I must apologise for the dramatics, but I wasn’t sure what you or the dragon were up to.” The woman said. “The horse was a known quantity, but it would have been hard to subdue her. The rocket launcher on her saddle would have made for a messy situation. The dragon is powerful, and that’s why I did not want to provoke it. You, on the other hand, were malleable.” Her voice was completely monotone, Mihira thought, no inflections or tone change. “Since it seemed like you were allied with the dragon, it was best for us to talk. Alone. The venom should wear off in thirty seconds. We have thirty minutes until your ally realises you’re no longer with her.” The woman leaned in closer. “We should begin soon.”
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If anyone told Urantsog that she was going to be fighting a dragon with weather controlling powers, she would’ve laughed it off as the result of too much airag. She had fought off a giant worm with teeth the size of a horse a week ago, so this wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
The dragon in question was a fierce and mighty opponent. Despite her attempts to gain the higher ground, the dragon shrugged her off. Now, she was trapped between the dragon, the storm, and possibly the girl with the massive wings. She didn’t expect an ally to a dangerous being, but she should have anticipated it. The worm had shown signs of intelligence too, the way it planted false burrows for her to smoke out and waste her time while it ravaged the plains. That meant she had to overcome this creature’s capabilities.
She galloped around in circles, watching for a weak spot. In a few seconds, Urantsog noticed that the dragon was always curling around a spot closer to its hind claws, where there was some clear box attached to it. If it was circling it, that must mean it must be a part of its body which needed to be protected.
Pulling on the reins attached to the rocket launcher tightly with her teeth, Urantsog aimed it so that the rocket would have a slightly sloping upward trajectory. Pointing towards the dragon’s weak spot, she fired the saddle cannon. The dragon noticed the missile heading for its weak spot, so it lifted its body upwards. Urantsog fired more shots at the dragon, but they never hit its weak spot. The dragon was slowing down though. She bit her lip in subconscious concentration. If Urantsog could shoot it in the head, that would take it down. Thankfully, the rocket launcher had unlimited rockets, so she didn’t have to worry about running out of them.
Hail and sleet started pouring down on her, so she focused her efforts on dodging those pellets. A few hit her hindquarters, making her wince in pain and slowing her charge. No matter what, Urantsog aimed her saddle cannon at the dragon’s head and fired. She watched as it hit its mark just underneath the blue antlers, causing a cry of pain from the dragon.
Good, she thought, while it’s disoriented, attack its weak spot. She fired along its body, getting ever closer to the protected weak spot. The dragon winced and bellowed in pain.
At last, it caught sight of the one that brought it pain through the smoke and it charged at Urantsog. Urantsog fled immediately, but her power wasn’t going to sustain her any longer..
“Stop! I know what you are. Your amulet told you that you have the powers of the Seventh Gate?” the dragon called out.
Urantsog stopped sprinting and halted. How would she know this?
“I suppose that not all of us are gifted with speech as animals so I have to ask something of you. Transform back into your human form now. That wasn’t a request.”
Urantsog snorted. As if she wanted to do such a thing.
“Do it now.” The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “Or do you want a snowstorm freezing you from the inside?” A black crystal floated by the dragon’s claws as it—no, she—was speaking.
Urantsog gritted her teeth as she imagined herself as a human. Slowly, her hooves split apart into fingers as she began to stand upright on unsteady feet. How long was she as a horse? A week, more than a week? However long that was, Urantsog preferred being a horse over this gangly mess of a body. Her ears were upwards and her smoky black tail swished against the howling gale.
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“You wanted me to transform? Do it yourself.” She grabbed the cannon in her hands and aimed it at the dragon’s head. “Prove that you aren’t one of those monsters blessed with a smidge of intelligence.”
The dragon appeared unbothered by the cannon pointed at her face, but Urantsog noticed that the long body was contracting. The clear box that she thought was the dragon’s weak spot turned out to be holding a silvery fish of some kind. Was the fish special or something? Why would a dragon have a pet fish otherwise?
After the transformation was finished, Urantsog was greeted with the sight of a woman dressed in ancient Chinese clothing and holding an azure coloured umbrella. Blue antlers sprouted from her head and there was a long tail of the same colour sticking outside of her clothing. She noticed that there were a few bruises on her neck and face, so she lowered her cannon.
“My name is Huá Yǔfēi, and I have an amulet as well.” The woman held out a medallion identical to Urantsog’s amulet, but with different symbols on it. The only symbol they had in common was the one on the right that translated into Yang in Chinese. “As you have noticed, I’m the Dragon who is bound to the Fifth Gate. No, I’m not one of those creatures that infest the Calamities, but I’m looking for a solution and I’m willing to cooperate with you, as long as you don’t shoot me again.”
“It wasn’t that obvious.” She sighed. “I understand what you’re saying. My aav forced me to learn Chinese in my childhood. I’m Urantsog, daughter of Khangal. You don’t interfere with what I do, and I won’t shoot you. I’ll give you this: You put up a good fight.”
Yǔfēi nodded. “Now that we agree, we should— Wait.” She turned around, glancing at the four crystals. “She’s missing.” With that, the woman in blue turned into a dragon and tore through the sky.
Urantsog tried to think of who could be missing. Interestingly, the pain in her hoof or hand vanished. One less item to deal with. There was the dragon, the winged girl— Oh it had to be the winged girl. The one who tried to mount her. She sighed and transformed back into a horse. If someone violated her personal space, she would not look for them, but since it was either that or risk the wrath of a weather controlling dragon, she decided that she could make an exception.
Letting the smoke course through her veins, Urantsog took off in a blaze of smoke, jumping over a large hill and down an abandoned dirt path. Above her, she heard the telltale swishing of the dragon parting the clouds. A winged girl with a fancy dress shouldn’t be hard to find amidst the barren plains and low scrubs. Urantsog charged up a hill, and then another, and then another. Still no sign. She could hear Yǔfēi calling out for the girl. Scouring the hills did nothing, and neither did flooding the plains with smoke. Why wasn’t it working? She couldn’t have flown far unless she was like the dragon. Speaking of which, that dragon was still frantically calling for her until she suddenly saw her diving in a particular direction. She followed shortly.
There, she came across a prone girl with outstretched wings and a snake-like creature. Yǔfēi was encircling the snake in the air and was…talking to her? The snake was talking back, but Urantsog couldn’t make out what she was saying. Galloping closer, she noticed that the snake girl had her tail twisted around the girl with wings, who didn’t seem to be moving. Her eyes were wide open, but her glasses were falling off her face.
“Let the girl go,” the dragon stated.
“Oh? Is that all?” The snake had no change in tone when she spoke, other than the required inflections. “I knew what you and Náa Urantsog were doing. I wanted to have a private chat with Mihira before you found us.” Why wasn’t her expression changing?! “We’re on the same side, there is no reason to fight here. Of course, if you decide to unleash a storm, don’t forget that Mihira is with me.” Her tail nudged Mihira, who was still not moving. “I won’t harm you or Urantsog.”
What?! How did the girl know her name? She was about to aim the cannon at the snake girl until she realised the other girl was at her mercy.
“Oh, Khangal Urantsog. How nice of you to join us.” Did this girl have a flat voice or what?! “You don’t need to shoot me. I was going to let the girl go. You both don’t need to be wary of me. Taking Mihira here was a mere precaution. I do apologise for your hoof, Náa Urantsog. I have my days of indolence.” Wait—how long had she been underneath her hoof?! “I will let her go, as soon as you lower that cannon. We don’t want that rocket of yours causing collateral damage, do we?”
Urantsog grumbled and lowered the cannon. The snake girl did what she promised and released the girl entangled in her embrace. The other girl, Mihira, was on her feet instantly. Steadying herself, she walked towards the snake girl. Urantsog watched as they exchanged glances before Yǔfēi scooped Mihira up into her claws.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
“I wasn’t hurt! We just spent some time alone together, that’s all.” Mihira looked behind her. “You didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“No, I wouldn’t have.” Urantsog couldn’t tell whether that was the truth or a lie. Her eyes betrayed nothing. “I would gain nothing from hurting you, Náa Yǔfēi, or Náa Urantsog.”
Lightning flashed across the sky. Yǔfēi looked at it and took out her amulet.
“The lightning wasn’t from me. The readings indicate an atmospheric Calamity, the most likely classification being a Class D storm. I can neutralise it. Tenhou Mihira, I’m leaving Ménmén with you.” Yǔfēi put the crystal box in Mihira’s arms. With that, she took to the sky again, hurtling towards a collection of patchy grey and white clouds.
“We should find shelter while Hua-san is out here,” Mihira mentioned. “Khangal-san, can you help us find shelter?”
Being referred to by her aav’s name sounded strange to Urantsog, but she couldn’t correct the girl with pleading eyes. Despite her misgivings, she had to grant shelter to the two girls. One was under the protection of a massive shapeshifting dragon with weather-controlling powers, and the other was too crafty to leave alone.
With a snort, she raced the snake girl and Mihira to where she left her ger. Both kept pace with her, which somewhat endeared them to Urantsog. The snake girl was surprisingly agile even with the violin and the bow. Mihira was to be expected. She could fly.
Once they reached the disassembled ger, Urantsog transformed back into a human and began assembling the ger. She gritted her teeth as she pulled a knot familiarly tight. She could tell just by looking at the two girls and their soft unlined hands that none of them knew how to assemble one. The snake girl started to play a lively melody while Mihira watched her, entranced by the music.
“So,” She lashed the wooden walls together and set up the two central columns. “You speak Chinese? Both of you?”
“Yes,” the snake girl responded. “I speak Mandarin Chinese fluently.”
“I understand you, and Hua-san, and—what’s your name?” Mihira asked.
The girl only stared. “I will tell you later.”
Urantsog started to stretch the white felt cover around the wooden frame with raw irritability. “How long have you been underneath my hoof or my hand?”
“Since you passed by the Himalayas. I needed a faster mode of transportation, and you seemed perfect for the task.”
She finished tying off the inner felt to the wooden frame. “You should have said something.”
“You would have only reacted in fear, not with reason.” The snake girl switched to a more mellow symphony. “Most people react in that manner. I wouldn’t blame you if you were startled or scared.” She was surprisingly right, although she would have reacted out of annoyance or fury.
“Are you from the Himalayas?” The outer felt cover was almost around the ger.
“No, I wasn’t. I travelled by plane to the Himalayas. The eastern border of Nepal to be exact.”
Mihira gasped. “You could afford air travel? How was it?”
“It wasn’t bad. There were a lot of papers and forms to fill out beforehand. I had to announce my flight plan, where I was going, and any further connecting flights.” She switched again, this time to a soft and gentle harmony.
That reminded Urantsog. “You there with the wings.”
Mihira flinched. “Yes?”
“Don’t mount me, don’t touch the equipment on my back, don’t do anything to me without my permission. Got that?”
Mihira nodded. “Sorry, Khangal-san, I won’t do it again! I’m sorry I put you through stress, I should have asked or thought about it more carefully. Do you want me to do anything to make it up to you? I can help set up the yurt!”
Did she know how? If she wanted to wreck her ger, she would have asked her düü. She scoffed as memories of her düü came back to her. “If you can help me set up the ger, that would be fine. Listen to what I tell you.” Mihira seemed young. She could learn. “Okay, hold the chair. We’re going to set up the interior together and don’t call me Khangal-san. That’s my aav’s name. Just call me Urantsog-san.”
Mihira looked surprised. “Where does this chair go?”
“Left of the door.”
With the help of Mihira, Urantsog managed to finish setting up the ger in record time. It almost made her think…no, she was an independent woman. This was only temporary, and besides, Mihira tried to mount her. Although she acted like her düü whenever they play-wrestled in their youth—
“Hmm.” The girl stopped playing. “She’s not here.”
“Who?” asked Urantsog.
The girl with the violin turned to Mihira. “Your friend the Dragon.”
Come to think of it, Yǔfēi had been gone for a while. The little silver fish was swimming around frantically in its tank. The storm was gone, but no sign of the azure dragon in the clear skies above. Trepidation sank to her intestines. What could fell a dragon? Whatever reason Yǔfēi had for not showing up, Urantsog readied her bow and thirty arrows.
“Hua-san!”
Mihira’s wings expanded as the wind swirled around her before she took off east. The snake girl shrugged and followed her. Urantsog transformed back into a horse and shot her rocket launcher into the distance, letting herself pick up speed.
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Her umbrella was beginning to burst under the pressure, but Yǔfēi held it together. The storm she had captured was an atmospheric Calamity. The heavy rainfall pattern would have been enough to devastate the arid ecosystem here and any burgeoning plant life, so she opened her umbrella and imprisoned it. It was struggling against her grip and her head still hurt from being bombarded with missiles from Khangal Urantsog. She questioned why the other woman was deeply antagonistic to her, especially since she held an amulet as well. Either way, her vision was swimming and she found herself losing consciousness every few seconds as she flew above the steppes.
Yǔfēi wondered about the mysterious Snake…she didn’t feel like condemning would make sense. Her mind worked differently than hers... If she did mean harm, she would have targeted Khangal Urantsog…why the need for secrecy?
Her eyes blinked, and within seconds, she plummeted out of the sky. The contusions and the bruises made it too hard for her to maintain flying. She tried to wrest her eyes open, but they refused to obey her commands. The black crystal tried to pry her eyes open, but it failed. Her umbrella and antlers felt like a dead weight slowly sending her to the earth. Some part of her grip was loosening on the umbrella, but she clutched as tightly as she could. She had to keep it contained, no matter what. Despite fighting the instinct with every fibre of her being, she eventually loosened her grip on the umbrella. Her azure claws were turning back into her human hands, and she felt her antlers disappearing. I’m sorry, she thought faintly, on the verge of losing consciousness. At least Ménmén was safe with Tenhou Mihira…
Someone was calling for her and she heard thundering hooves across the plains. She struggled to open her eyes. All she could see was a white blur and the sound of wind blowing hard across the plains. It wasn’t her, so—Mihira?!
She didn’t have the energy to make a sound, let alone scream. Note to self: Make sure Tenhou Mihira stayed where she was at all times. She was still falling, her umbrella couldn’t be opened, and the wind was faltering. She tried to open her eyes fully to no avail.
“I got you!”
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Mihira conjured up a current of wind, enough to hold Hua-san’s body until she figured out a better solution. Would the others be able to help? She didn’t think that Urantsog-san could help with her rockets. Hua-san might be even more injured than she was right now, and she needed that energy to help close the umbrella. Mihira floated above her. What would Hua-san do…
She would assess the situation first. They were falling, and Hua-san was shifting rapidly between her human and dragon forms. Mihira briefly caught a glimpse of the Calamity struggling to break free, so she sent a whirlwind to close it shut. That worked for now. She summoned more updrafts to slow down her body, but they were still descending. What should she do, what should she—
There was no time to move. Before Mihira noticed it, a stray lightning bolt escaped from the umbrella and launched itself into the air, striking the middle of her back.
So she went tumbling, tumbling….
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Both Yǔfēi and Mihira were descending rapidly now, passing through several clouds and the pale ground coming ever closer. She made out two dark dots, the Snake and Khangal Urantsog. She wanted to call out to them, but the strength to yell never came. Tenhou Mihira was falling slower than her, the wings adding additional drag to her descent. If Yǔfēi could control the descent—she had to risk it. She loathed this decision, but she would rather have a Calamity run amok than for Mihira to fall to her death.
Yǔfēi opened her umbrella, unleashing the Calamity. She waited for an infinity—
Nothing. There was no crackling of lightning, no downpour of rain, no dark skies. Yǔfēi felt that her body was larger now, and the ground closer. She flexed her hands—her claws? She was a dragon, but she couldn’t ascend and Mihira was still falling. She tried to grab hold of Mihira, but the ground was closer than she expected.
The unimaginable searing pain awoke Yǔfēi, but Mihira was still falling. Before anything could be done, her body fell on Yǔfēi’s back with an audible CRACK.
It was at this point that Yǔfēi’s eyes finally closed.
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The dust flying in the air surprised Urantsog. She had to transform back into a human to clear the small rocks, fine dust, and some bits and pieces of small grass from her eyes. There weren’t any small pools of water to wash out her eyes, so she settled for squinting at the other person beside her. The girl with wings, Mihira, was covered in fine dust and one of the wings was twisted at an awkward angle to the point where Urantsog wondered if it was going to fall off. Her glasses were mostly intact, other than one of the arms breaking off. She was light enough to carry in her arms, all things considered, but Urantsog wouldn’t be surprised if she had a few broken bones. Urantsog had once broken her femur trying to jump onto her eej’s favourite mare from another horse, and that took a year to recover from. From what she could tell, there was bruising on Mihira’s legs, arms, and back. Most of these were swollen and soft to the touch.
The snake girl had no expression, but Yǔfēi seemed to be in about the same predicament as Mihira. Both of them were unconscious and the only reason Urantsog knew Mihira was alive was because her chest was moving up and down.
“Hey! Is Yǔfēi alive?” she shouted.
The girl was silent.
“Hello?”
Now she was paying attention. “Hmmm, that would be a yes. But I would still recommend a physician.” She touched the woman’s chest still bundled in blue fabric. “Her ribs are broken.”
Urantsog set down Mihira and examined the other woman. The ribs were broken judging from her ragged breathing and what would most likely be a massive bruise on her chest. Could she rip open the clothing? She wasn’t sure if that was possible.
The land was foreign to her, but she remembered her aav selling horses one time at the western border. They traded words in a mix of Mongolian and Uyghur. Her aav taught her that language, in case she ever decided to settle further westward. She wasn’t sure where the closest settlement was.
“You know where the nearest settlement is?” she asked the snake girl.
The other girl responded with an impassive stare. It was starting to creep Urantsog out. “My maps indicated that we were in Xinjiang. The closest settlement is Biaoertuokuoyi Village. I suppose you know how to speak Uyghur?”
“Yes, I do.” It felt weird calling someone without a name. “What’s your name?”
The girl looked at her with blank eyes. “Not now.”
She didn’t think she could get any answers from the girl with the violin. Transforming into her horse form, she sped towards the white ger, shoved it and the fish tank onto the cart, hooked herself on the cart, and raced back. Once there, she transformed back into a human. Interestingly Yǔfēi’s blue clothing disappeared, replaced by a black wetsuit with scarlet accents. When Urantsog carried her, the wetsuit was strangely wet. Was it because of the storms? Mihira had on the same elaborate dress, and her wings were hanging by a thread. In thirty minutes, both Yǔfēi and Mihira were loaded into the ger. Urantsog let the familiar sensation overcome her.
“Where are we going?” She should have visited this area earlier.
The girl pooled her body into a corner of the cart. “Follow my directions.”
Within no time, she managed to tow the cart, the girl with the snake body, and herself to the village. An old woman watched the bay horse and the cart attached to her with caution. The girl looked out of the cart, and Urantsog transformed into a human, startling the old woman.
“Excuse me, but do you know where the nearest doctor is?” she asked politely.
The old woman quickly recovered from the shock of seeing a woman transform. “Ummm…this is a small farming village. You can find one at Kashgar…why do you have horse ears?”
“That’s a long story. It started when I found this amulet buried in a cliff…I’ll tell you next time. Thanks!” Urantsog transformed back into a horse and raced into the horizon, leaving the old woman confused.
Once they finally reached Kashgar, Urantsog raced into the hospital, shocking everyone there.
“Why is there a horse in the hospital?!”
“Looks like a Mongolian ger to me.”
“Why is there a half snake half human in the cart?!”
“...I’m sorry, what?”
She transformed again. This was getting exhausting, even for her. “There are two girls in the ger, they might have broken bones. One of them has broken wings.” Should she find a veterinarian? She wanted to ask, but exhaustion came quickly to her. Within seconds, she found a bed behind one of the hospital curtains and started sleeping. A hot sensation washed over her, and she could no longer feel her tail or her ears.
It didn’t matter. All she needed…was…some…needed…rest…
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“You summoned me here. Explain your reasons, or this is a waste of my time.”
The woman looked at her. “Sovereign, I called you for the annual status report. It’s about the defences. The Tenth Gate had sustained heavy damages. They’re becoming more coordinated, almost like how we plan our counter-offensives. The Servant’s shields and vines help repair them, but I need further assistance.”
“Then explain how you need this help.”
The woman tilted her golden mask. “Well, if I wanted some strategies, I think I could use the Third Gate for some—”
“Why would you think I would be able to intercede with the General of the Third Gate?”
The sound of her booming voice terrified the woman. “The Sage can’t, or won’t, she wouldn’t say. Since we were close, I thought maybe you could be helpful.”
“You’re better off petitioning the Eleventh House. Now leave.”
Yǔfēi woke up to darkness and the soft sonata of a maestro. The Snake looked different, with fully human legs and what looked like a robe covering her. It was hard to see, with all of the blinds and the curtains closed.
“...Mihira...Tenhou Mihira.” The last she had seen of her, the girl had landed on her stomach after being struck by a stray lightning bolt.
“She’s safe⁓” The monotone voice was oddly comforting. “A few broken bones, broken glasses, and broken wings. She’ll live⁓”
What?! Yǔfēi tried to leap out of the bed, but a stabbing pain forced her onto the comfort of the pillows. It was hard to breathe, and every breath was painful and stabbed at her stomach.
“You have a few broken ribs. You’ll also live, hmm. Don’t worry about Kun Mihira, she’s in good hands. You don’t need to worry at all⁓”
The soft melody resumed playing, letting off some of the burden off of Yǔfēi’s chest.
“Is…Urantsog…”
“Oh, she’s sleeping peacefully⁓ Don’t worry, just relax.”
“And…Ménmén…”
“He’s safe with Náa Urantsog.”
“Where…” It was hard to speak now.
“At Kashgar, in a hospital. I’m surprised they agreed to treat you.” The girl stopped playing. “Do you remember this region’s history?”
Kashgar…located in Xinjiang…oh. She nodded.
“So you do know.” The violin playing picked up in tempo. “People act differently when faced with those they’ve long considered their adversaries.”
Her voice sounded familiar, now that Yǔfēi thought about it. There was a notepad left on the table. She grabbed it and scribbled down quickly as her body would let her. Ripping off the note, she reached out for the girl to take it.
The girl gingerly took it, folded it, and started playing a different melody. A more familiar one, from when Yǔfēi had been invited to attend a concert two years ago as a reward for her hard work. She had been sitting in a box, yet when the performance started, all she could think about was the heart that had been poured into every finely crafted note. The star of that concert had been the Orchid of Chiang Mai, she recalled, a petite young girl who was named Arinya Sinaka.
Arinya Sinaka must have noticed her since the tempo slowed down. Yǔfēi scribbled down some characters and passed them to her. The girl unfolded it. Note to self: she read quickly.
“‘Am I a prodigy?’ Hmm, that would be a yes.”
Her eyes widened. “The solitude…the loneliness…feel.” She coughed, a harsh hacking noise rising from her throat.
“Save your breath⁓ You don't need to talk.” Arinya started playing. “A simple chord might be what you need.” She launched herself into playing, the rising and falling of the music calming Yǔfēi. “I felt that too, so I know where you are coming from.”
She remembered her childhood. Her bàbà once told her that children born in the year of the Dragon were destined for greatness. Despite that, no one understood her inquiries and obsession with the Calamities. She had found solace in her isolation but she always wondered what it would have been if someone shared her understanding. She had always been connected to the Calamities…would Arinya understand? She wrote her thoughts down and passed them to the girl.
“The Calamities…hmm. My talents lie elsewhere.” The sound of a haunting melody filled the room. “The flow in each harmony brings people peace, hmm? My instrument is a way to convey that peace and channel that to an audience. How do you convey peace?”
Peace…Yǔfēi remembered that. When she had first drawn out her plans for a satellite system, it had been after her middle school had been destroyed by a surprise typhoon and the class had had to move to online learning. One of her teachers had permanent spinal cord damage from having the roof fall on her and had needed a wheelchair afterwards. If there was a way to predict Calamities, she had thought at the time, it could prevent what happened to her teacher from happening to anyone else. When she graduated from junior high school, she had shown it to a friend of her māmā, who had shown it to her colleagues…
The tribulations of a child prodigy. Too young, too smart, too gullible.
She turned around to face Arinya, the sharp poking pains making her wince internally. The violin’s neck rested once more on her sabai, and a sweet melody reverberated across the room.
“I wonder what they would say if they could see me now…” Arinya sighed. “I can’t say that I have a close attachment to the Calamities, but I was always fascinated by how they changed the world. The island nation of Lemuria, the towering dams of Holland, the Áo Guāng system…I heard Japan was planning a prototype for Calamity detection. It’s a shame truly that the Áo Guāng system was only publicly available since, ah, five years ago? Yes, government secrets and such.”
She knew it all too well. That reminded her of a girl with wings…why was her stomach in pain? Mihira…she wrote down some questions and passed them to Arinya, who read through the note carefully.
“‘Where does the land fight the sea?’ Hmmm…Lemuria had ascended beyond such concerns. Northeastern Italy and some of the Polynesian nations have long conceded defeat. The Netherlands must be where Kun Mihira’s Key is located. Have you seen them? The dams they’ve built? You could see them from the heavens themselves…I’ll tell her once she wakes.”
Tenhou Mihira…she thought back to the moment when she landed on her stomach. She should have done more. Summon some wind, catch her…the pain was too great. She had some more questions for Arinya, so she wrote them down.
“‘What exactly happened to Tenhou Mihira?’ Hmmm, how do I put this gently…she won’t be waking up in the next few days or a week. Bird bones are hollow, aren’t they?”
Yǔfēi almost launched herself out of furor, only to stop when her ribs started to dig into her chest. She was left coughing, which served only to make her chest pain worse.
“It’s alright, hmm? I’m sure the doctors here will do their best.” She began playing again, but differently. At first, Yǔfēi thought it was going to be a calming piece, but it quickly crescendoed. Was it just her, or were there teal lights floating around Arinya? The music turned back to slow and soft notes, before rising again, higher and higher.
At once, Yǔfēi felt pulled between two extremes. Let go, one said, let go of your ties to this material world, and ascend. Another whispered in her head, release it all, show them your might, how strong the ascendant Dragon was. She battled them both until the performance was finished and Arinya set down her bow.
“How did you like that, hmm? I taught myself that piece a long time ago. It had a name, but I forgot it. Time is like music, with its crescendos and diminuendos. We assign the years themselves their signatures, fortissimo for the big Snake and pianissimo for the little Snake. That’s what they call the Dragon in Thailand, casting its shadow over all. Of course, snakes thrive in the shadows.”
Yǔfēi nodded. It was all she could do. She was beginning to like Arinya Sinaka. “Thanks…for…being…here.”
“That was never an issue,” She stated. “When I found Náa Urantsog, I wasn’t sure if she was trustworthy or not. Hmm, considering everything, I doubt that she had harmful intentions. She was right to be suspicious of you.”
She craned her neck.
“A friend of mine had encountered some…shall we say, difficulties? She was attacked by…an unexpected individual. It was shocking to her, but considering some…recent events, I suspected something else. Hence why I am here, and not in Thailand.”
Her mind turned to Arinya’s plight. What happened? Was her friend fine? “Sorry…for…both.”
Arinya was unfazed. “It’s in the past. There may be someone out there…” She picked up her violin again. A lively tune resonated with Yǔfēi’s mind. “Have you ever given thought to your partner? I know that Kun Mihira isn’t your partner. We’re supposed to have a special bond with them. Libra, Libra…it would either be lovely Náa Urantsog or the Dog? Your opposite, hmm?”
She nodded.
“That would make yours the Ram and mine the celestial Bull. Both with ancient history, hmm? The bull frolics in its pasture and the ram seizes the coming spring, yet here we are stuck on Earth. Though the bull is my partner, she would not be my lone protector.” She stood up and opened the curtains, revealing a silver river of stars. “Above us all, the Scorpion sits and waits for the hunter. The old myths say that it once fell its foe with a single sting. Even a lowly scorpion could ascend to the heavens.” Arinya gripped the curtains harder. “The power of a single fatal move…are you protected by the Ram?”
“I don’t know.”
Arinya gestured to the starry sky. “When is your birthday?”
Despite the fortunes associated with the Year of the Dragon, Yǔfēi’s birthday was fraught with the opposite. She had only shared it with her friends and her family, never with judgemental strangers.
Seeing her hesitation, Arinya closed the blinds. “It’s fine if you do or don’t tell me. Little snake to big snake, I can always keep a secret.”
Arinya was different. Yes, she can tell her. “2024 June 10.”
For a moment, Arinya’s eyes widened before she resumed her composed expression. “Is that so? Your protectors, the twins, are sleeping now. I suppose I should let you sleep too. Good night, Náa Yǔfēi.”
With that, Arinya packed up her instrument, shutting the door behind her and leaving Yǔfēi alone with a cold hard sky.
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A new development.
That was unexpected. Arinya thought she had ‘discovered’ how each of them worked. Kun Mihira was infatuated with her and Náa Yufei. She suspected a certain level of fascination with Náa Urantsog, but she would have to test that at a later time. Kun Mihira would be a stable ally, Arinya thought, in case the other two decided to turn on her. All she had to do was shower the girl with unprecedented love and attention and she would fall in line easily once her shattered bones healed.
Náa Urantsog was…unpredictable. She was pleasantly surprised at the fact that she didn’t engage in hostilities against her. Náa Urantsog could have left her out to sleep in the cold, yet she was welcome inside her home, even if begrudgingly. She had seen her make split-second decisions that ran contrary to what was in her self-interest, like running ragged across a field for four hours. She would be a last-resort ally. A bit unreliable, yet not someone whom Arinya would want to cross.
That left her thoughts occupied with the Dragon. Such a glorified figure, looming larger than life. She expected more than what she had received. Life had given her a litany of disappointments; surely one more wouldn’t make a difference. She knew Huá Yǔfēi from the scientific papers her own náa would read on the way to work. The crown jewel of the Chinese government’s bid for relevance amidst a barely buoyant status quo, the darling meteorologist in charge of Calamity research and prevention. Truly, what a magnificent rising star. She scoffed internally. Ha, what a thought. All dragons were auspicious, were they not? She had suspected it when she’d realised Náa Yufei’s age, but surely, to have that birthday?
What a cruel irony, the most promising of creatures to be born in an era of disasters on the day that started it all.