The Arrows On Fire | Teen Ink

The Arrows On Fire

November 29, 2021
By MadelineXie GOLD, Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida
MadelineXie GOLD, Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida
18 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Zhou, after all these years of dangerous traveling and challenges finally saw his homeland in his eyesight. Even though Zhou felt sorrow for all his crew members that were killed by a huge storm, the excitement of reaching homeland quickly blew away all his tiredness and sadness. Ten years had flown like a blink of eye, and Zhou already reached the last step of his adventure to see Li, his lovely wife. 

When he reached Kuan, his homeland, he soon realized that everything is not like his memories. The city, once full with prosperity, is now full with dullness and hunger. Nobody recognized him, and everyone’s eyes were filled with carefulness and fear. People here were suppressed and ruled through fear. Zhou had a feeling that something bad happened. He grabbed an old man in the street, and asked him what happened in this kingdom. The old men was blind, but his white eyes still showed his nervousness . He whispered to Zhou: “Five years ago, a crew which called themselves “people chosen by God’s will” conquered this place while the king Zhou went to war and left the unstable regime with queen Li. After Zhou left, there were many people that tried to conquest Kuan but not any of them succeeded the tight guard of queen, Li. One day, these people came here and they are totally different. They are savages, they are cruel, they took away all our wealth, and spent it on themselves. After they took the kingdom, we never saw our queen again… I’ve already spoken too much. Sir, please go and leave this place, or they will catch you!” Zhou felt a hit in the back of his head, and lost consciousness. 

When Zhou woke up, he found himself in a prison behind bars. He looked around and saw a woman in the room next to him. Zhou felt that he had seen this woman before. After a few minutes of hesitation and confusion he recognized that the woman is his wife, Li. All the time that passed can’t erase her beauty. Li noticed him too, her eyes filled with tears, and asked: “Is that you?” Zhou looked into the eyes that he missed so much, but before they could walk near, anger showed up on the Li’s face and she said: “No, this is the suitor’s trick to let me give up my throne.” Zhou said: “I can prove myself, I know the secret only between us! The Arsenal! Bed!” Li memorized that she and Zhou hid a small arsenal inside of their huge bed in the castle when Zhou was still the emperor. Li and Zhou wants to hug but the thick bars of prison blocked them from each other. 

Zhou saw Li’s skinny face and asked: “They are treating you bad, right?” Li cried out loud and answered: “Yes, these men want to marry me for the legitimate title of king. They are going to lock me in prison until I say yes. I’ve never said yes because I believe that you are still alive and you will never leave our kingdom alone.” Zhou felt so moved by Li but he knew that this is not the time for cry or enjoyment. Zhou walked around the small prison space and said confidently: “I have a plan.”

On the second morning, when the suitors checked prisoners, Zhou spoke: “You caught the wrong one in prison. I’m actually the best shipbuilder in the world, and I can fix all your sailing problems if you set me free.” The suitors seemed skeptical, but still decided to give him a chance to prove himself. Zhou talked about how to sail with the wind and his journeys of dangerous storms. The suitors were impressed by his knowledge and said: “We believe you are good with ships, but we won’t set you free until you fix our sailing issues. Our ships are unstable when sailing, and our sailors often throw up on ships.” Zhou confidently replied: “My advice is to build a thick and long metal chain to tie all your ships together. This will keep your ships stable like a mountain so that no wind or storm could affect your ships!” 

After a few days, the chain were made and properly tied to the ships. The suitors tried it out and got back to Zhou for the good news. They were impressed by the stability of their ships and promised gifts while releasing Zhou. Zhou said: “I only want two gifts.” The suitors were in happiness and replied: “Anything you want!” Zhou replied: “I want to borrow the prisoner next to me for one night, and I also want a boat to enjoy the view on the sea.” The suitors questioned the intention a little at first but still agreed since a single man and woman can’t make anything big happen. They released Zhou and Li as promised.

At night, Zhou and Li took all the finest arrows from their secret arsenal in their old bed that was displayed in the center of the city as a spoil. After they took the arrows, they gathered some straw with stones and sailed to the small island nearby. While Zhou and Li were sailing, their eyes were filled with ambition and confidence by finally having each other by their side.


When the sun rose up on the desperate land, the suitors realized that Zhou and the imprisoned queen are gone. They finally realized the only possible answer, and yet the worst one—this man isn’t a ship builder at all; he is king Zhou that came back from the war! One of the suitors yelled: This is Zhou! He’s back! He’s going to take over our regime! We have to chase him and kill him with that woman!” The other suitors became silent because they heard all the legendary stories about Zhou, and they feared his wisdom. The suitor saw the dull atmosphere, and continued to yell: “Don’t be scared; we are “the people of God’s will”, so it is our destiny to rule this land! Also, Zhou isn’t as smart as we heard; he actually exposed his location by sailing a boat that could only reach the nearest island on the north side.” After hearing this, the suitors were all hyped up, and sailed on the chained ships that were prepared to kill Zhou.

On the other side, Zhou and Li saw ships that were huge like a mountain sailing toward them, and they could even feel the anger of the suitors. As the ships came near, they used the straw and stone to light a small fire on the ground. Li set the head of the arrows on fire and Zhou aimed it at the suitors. The touch of the arrow excited Zhou, and in this moment when he aimed, he felt like everything had stopped. With the help of Li, Zhou shot ten arrows in a row, and they all hit on the same ship in the same spot every time. Li looked at her husband, and was so proud for the preciseness of his shooting skills. When one of the suitor’s ships was on fire because of Zhou’s arrows, the second, third, and fourth caught on fire too. The ships that were not on fire struggled to separate themselves from the rest, but the heavy iron chain locked all the ships together so none of them could escape from burning. The suitors understood Zhou’s huge plan now, and were all screaming, yelling, and crying for their unavoidable tragedy. 

On the other side, the panicking of Suitors didn’t let Zhou and Li felt any easier. The burning ships were flooded toward the island where Zhou and Li were at because of the north-wind. If the ships crash on the island, the island will caught on fire too, then Zhou and Li will not be able to escape as well. As the suitor’s ships got closer and closer, Zhou and Li felt more and more desperate. They never thought that the wind was going to be this strong, and they could even smell the burning of woods on the ships. 

Zhou kneeled down and started shouting: “Please help me, God! I need the east-wind to blow the suitors toward the endless sea instead of this island and my kingdom. I don’t want them to cause anymore harm to my people. God, if this is your decision to let me die, you should know how selfish, crew, and corrupt these suitors are. I am the one who should rule this land, and get your help. The suitors don’t deserve to be “the people of God’s will”, but I do! So please help me god, bring east-wind, and let me save my kingdom from poverty!” Li was shocked about his words because she knew that Zhou had high pride and didn’t like to submit himself to the will of god. 

Miracle happened as the wind changed its direction. The strong east-wind blew away the suitors last hope when they were burned to ashes and sinked into the endless sea. Li proudly said to Zhou: “Looks like you’re the one who had the God’s will instead of them.” Zhou smiled back and said: “My queen, let’s go back to our empire and make this land as prosperous as before.” The boat sailed back and the people of Kuan welcomed the return of their rulers.
Years passed, when Zhou and Li talked about this adventure that they had; they always had the brightest smile and the oldest wine in their hands.


The author's comments:

Creative essay of the Odyssey.


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