Free Eagle by Jeff Stone

barge and saw Charles through one of the living quarters’ illuminated windows. He was preparing the cannon. Tonglong must have seen Charles, too.
    “New target, men!” Tonglong ordered. “Aim for the round eye on the barge! FIRE!”
    Four shots cut through the night air, and Ying saw Charles duck. A moment later, Charles stood again, cool as a winter breeze. He continued preparing the cannon.
    Ying looked back at Tonglong and saw the dragon boat barreling forward at terrific speed. It rammed into the side of the ancient wooden barge, and the dragon's ornate ironclad head crashed deep into the hull. The barge lilted heavily to one side as water began to rush into the gaping hole.
    “Push away, men!” Tonglong ordered. “Take aim at the round eye again!”
    “No!” Hok shouted. She turned to Ying. “We have to do something! They won't miss from that distance.”
    “I have an idea,” Ying said. “Give me the dragon scroll map.”
    Hok hesitated, then reached into her dress and pulled out the map.
    Ying snatched it away and held it high over his head with one hand, lifting the lantern with his other hand.
    “Hey, Horse Hair!” Ying shouted to Tonglong. “Yeah, you, Ponytail! Is this what you want?” Ying pinched one corner of the scroll between his fingertips and let the scroll fall open. It flapped in the breeze beside the lantern.
    Tonglong scoffed loudly and shouted back, “Don't worry, Dragon Boy, I'll catch up with you soon enough!”
    Ying frowned. His plan to distract Tonglong wasn't working. He needed to do something more.
    “Hey, Tonglong!” Ying shouted. “Watch this!”
    Ying smashed the side of the lantern with the back of his hand and dangled the end of the scroll into the flames. The scroll ignited, illuminating his carved face with a flickering orange glow.
    Tonglong roared, “New orders, men! Take out Ying! Whoever puts a hole in his head becomes my new number one soldier!”
    Qiangs
erupted in the night, and Ying was thrown backward as a ball of lead buried itself in his shoulder. The lantern splashed into the river and the scroll drifted into the air, consumed by fire. The map disintegrated into a hundred thousand bits of black ash that rained down around Ying's head.
    At the same time, an enormous
BOOM!
rang out from the barge, followed by the thunderous crash ofsplintering wood and screaming men. Ying rolled over on the floor of the skiff to see Tonglong's dragon boat sinking fast. Charles had hit it at point-blank range with the cannon.
    Ying scanned the tilting barge and saw an injured soldier pull himself out of the water. The man scrambled across the shifting deck into the living quarters.
    A single shot rang out, and Charles emerged from the small house with a smoking
qiang
in his hands. The barge tilted further to one side, and Charles shoved the
qiang
into his sash. He scrambled onto the roof of the house and looked downstream at Ying and Hok. He waved, signaling that all was well, then dove over the side.
    Ying raised his arm to acknowledge Charles’ signal, but the world suddenly swooned around him. He closed his eyes for a few moments, and when he opened them again, he saw Hok leaning over him. Her lips were moving, but he couldn't hear a word.
    Ying glanced at his left shoulder and was surprised to see that Hok was digging her fingers into it. She pulled out a
qiang
ball and tossed it overboard. There was blood everywhere. He didn't feel a thing.
    The skiff and everything around Ying began to spin as though they were being sucked into a gigantic whirlpool. He felt light-headed, and he realized that his limbs were shaking. He was suddenly very cold.
    Ying nodded weakly to Hok and saw her eyes widen. Her lips screamed—
Stay awake, Ying!
—but he heard nothing. He was so very tired.
    Ying closed his eyes and slipped into uncon sciousness.

C harles pulled himself through the mighty Yellow River with smooth, powerful strokes. The
qiangs
in his sash and his heavy boots slowed