Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [72]
“That’s it? So simple?” Marco asked.
Little Li laughed again, a gap between his front teeth showing. “Here!” he said, pointing to the ground. Marco poked the stick into the ground, but it fell over twice before he could get it to stand straight, with the heavy bamboo tube strapped to it. Marco lit another stick in the fire and touched it to the end of the thin rope.
This time, we all knew to stand back. The fire hit the bottom of the bamboo stick and the powder inside. Again, a noise crashed against our ears as the little stick shot up into the air, tracing a graceful arc of light and smoke.
“What is this ‘fire medicine’?” Marco asked. Little Li showed him the three ingredients: common black charcoal, a foul-smelling yellow powder called sulfur, and a white mineral called saltpeter. The key ingredient, saltpeter, was something Marco had not known of before. Nor had I. It was a white powder, like flour.
Little Li took a handful of the white powder and tossed it into the fire. The flames turned pale purple and smoke billowed. Little Li laughed at how easily amused we were.
“Where can I get more of this?” asked Marco, his eyes blazing with interest. Marco stayed up late that night, talking to Master Li and Little Li about fire medicine. He wanted to know the exact proportions of the ingredients and the dangers in mixing them.
We left the next morning, leaving the young dragons in the care of Little Li, who promised to find a way to get them to Nesruddin’s palace in Da-li. As we headed back to Da-li, we talked nonstop about the best way to transport them to the Great Khan in Khanbalik.
By the time we returned to Da-li, Suren’s distrust of Marco had vanished.
Marco said he planned to go to the market in Carajan City and buy large quantities of saltpeter, which, Master Li had told him, was common and cheap in this warm southern climate.
Marco and I had not had one moment alone, but I felt closer to him than ever.
When we reached Da-li, after an absence of six days, I expected everyone would be eager to hear our tales of dragon hunting. With eight live young dragons to care for and transport, Marco could no longer keep his mission a secret, although he warned us not to reveal that his purpose was to cure the Great Khan’s ailment.
But in Da-li, everyone was too busy to listen to our stories. The moment we entered the city gate, I could see that the populace was in an uproar.
A passerby told us the king of Burma was headed toward the border region of Vochan with a huge army. Apparently, he had heard about the buildup of Mongol troops and decided to defeat them before the Great Khan could send a bigger army. Impudence!
General Nesruddin had begun organizing his troops for battle. He had only about twelve thousand horsemen, against a Burmese force rumored to be huge, so he needed every soldier he could get. Abaji had traveled with only twenty trained horsemen plus us thirty recruits, but he offered our services for the battle.
I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Less than four months after joining the army, I would fight in my first battle. My muscles tensed, eager for action. Of course, I knew nothing of war, only the fast heartbeat I had felt listening to the tales of old storytellers in the safety of the Khan’s court. I assumed I, too, would survive to tell great tales. Only the unknown died in battle.
I felt no fear. I was confident that the greatest army on earth would easily defeat these upstarts from a small, little-known kingdom to the south. The Mongol army conquered all.
The day we left for Vochan was like none other in my life. I packed my things on my horse as I had many times, but it seemed I was outside myself, watching. Every