The Dragon Awakens

Chapter Twenty

It was light outside when Lanie opened her eyes. A heavy blanket was laid over her and the small fire in the corner was still going. She coughed at the smell of the smoke and a figure she hadn't noticed in the corner lifted his head and looked at her. 

"You are one strong young lady," he muttered. Lanie narrowed her eyes at him. He was washing his hands. 

"Lady? Who you calling lady?" she snapped and he just nodded at her blankets. 

Lanie looked down and realized she was no longer in her uniform. Her entire torso was wrapped in bandages from her stomach all the way up to her breasts. And her dragon tattoo was visible for all to see. So he knew. So they all knew.  She touched the stab wound softly and saw her hands were wrapped up as well. They stung when she moved them but it wasn't a bad pain. The wound didn't hurt much either as she sat up, wrapping the blanket around her. 

"What did you do to it?" she asked him and he shrugged, drying his hands now. 

"It wasn't as deep as we all thought it was, but it was a very long cut. I had to cauterize it then sterilize and stitch it. Luckily I had remembered to grab my good drugs but you'll be feeling that in a few days." He paused, looking at her with her hair down, and shook his head. "I knew you weren't a man the first time you came into my tent when you almost drowned. I've been a doctor for over 20 years in the military and I knew the differences in body type. Figured it wasn't any of my business though so I stayed quiet. Glad I did too or all of us would be dead right now."

Lanie looked down at her lap and shrugged. "I may have snuck into this camp but I still care about all the people I trained with to not get slaughtered before my eyes."

"And what of your country?" the doctor asked, standing up to his full height in the tent. 

"My country is my people. They're included too." 

Suddenly, the flap flew open behind the doctor and Clark burst in, bundled up even more than he had been earlier, his eyes trained on her. "You." He reached forward and grabbed her arm and Lanie instantly recoiled but her wound and the medicine made her slow and he had dragged her out of the tent and threw her into the snow before she could fight back or even put clothes on. 

"A woman!" He shouted, yanking away her blanket so everyone could stare at her bandaged chest and tattoo. To almost everyone, the dragon tattoo was just as it appeared,  a dragon tattoo. But for others who'd heard the rumors and the whispers, it was a symbol. A bad symbol. And by the way Shang's eyes narrowed as he looked at her shoulder, he knew. He knew exactly why she was there. 

"Who were you sent here for?" he hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. Lanie saw Mushu over Shang's shoulder and he looked panicked and mortified. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Who were you sent here to kill?" he shouted, grabbing her throat. Everyone took a step towards them but Lanie waved them off. He wasn't squeezing her neck, he was holding it. And there was a fire and a pain in his eyes that would not be diminished by his fellow soldiers. Only her words could calm him down, and she knew he wasn't going to like what she was going to say. 

"Who?" Shang shook her again and Lanie grabbed his wrist and dug her nails into his skin. She began to push the bone in the opposite direction and if she pushed long enough it would snap. 

"Let go or I will break more than just your wrist." She kept her voice low, serious, and didn't take her eyes off him. 

He released her a second later and Lanie crossed her arms, trying to ignore the biting cold. "I was sent here to kill your father who had been trading secrets with the HUNS. It was your father that gave way their mountain camp location, resulting in his and the rest of the unit's death. I was stuck here with no way out, so I stayed." 

Shang glared at her with more anger than Lanie had ever seen in her life. "The penalty for impersonating a soldier is death." He drew his gun and Lanie took a step back, her eyes wide. She hadn't expected this from him. She never thought he would be capable of something like this. 

"No!"
"Wait!
"Stop! You can't!" 

Yao, Linc, and Po shouted behind Shang, trying to reach him but Clark stuck out his arm and stopped them. 

"You know the law," he hissed. 

Shang shoved Lanie and she fell back into the snow, wincing at the cold and pain in her wounds, but rolled away from him. 

"You buried him. You said a prayer at his grave! And yet you were going to kill him?" He took the safety off the gun and pointed it at her. 

"He was working with them! He was going to help them terrorize our country. Kill thousands of people. He was committing treason," Lanie explained, shying away from him but Shang just shook his head. Lanie felt rock against her back and stopped. She was cornered. 

"I don't give a shit. You impersonated a soldier, lied about your name and background, and were planning on murdering your commanding officer." He lined the gun up and Lanie took a deep breath. So this would really be how she died. Not by a terrorist trying to burn down her small country, but by her fellow officer. There was an irony to it she was sure, but in the moment she couldn't find one. She was too terrified. 

The shot fired and she didn't even blink. Rock rained down on her head and shoulders but she was uninjured. She was still alive. For now. 

"Because you saved my life. And the 48 other men behind me. Now go home, and never let me see your face again." He turned on his heel, holstering the gun and pulling himself up onto his horse. A few other soldiers followed but most hesitated, looking at Lanie shivering against the rock wall. A traitor, and their savior. 

"Soldiers! Fall out!" Shang shouted, pushing down the path. Slowly they all turned to go, even Po, Linc, and Yao turned away from her. She may have saved their lives, but she had betrayed their trust and loyalty.