The Twelve

The Twelve is a novel by Cindy Lin. It is narrated by Usagi. It was released on July 2nd, 2019.

Plot
Usagi, Uma, and Tora worked together to steal rice from a field protected by guards. They hid the rice in a hollow, by a grave of people with zodiac powers who had died in the war against the Dragonlord. Then they went to their shack in the forest, and prepared a meal. While they were eating it, Usagi heard a noise by the field with her zodiac power, and they all went to see what it was. They saw three bandits in masks fighting the guards, and stealing as much rice as they could carry.

Several days after that event, they went to visit a friend named Aunt Bobo in the village. They offered the rice they had stolen to be traded, but her son Jago revealed that the village had plenty of rice, since a bag of rice had appeared on every doorstep a few days before. Usagi realized that it must have been the bandits. Tora decided that they should save their rice for when people had less.

While they were at Aunt Bobo's house, Usagi heard music coming from the marketplace, and everyone went there to see what was going on. They saw a group of traveling performers were visiting, and Usagi recognized them as the bandits who had stolen the rice. She told this to Tora, but Tora doubted it.

Suddenly, Jago's zodiac power manifested, and he began to fly. Guards saw him and chased after him as he flew from building to building, unable to control his power. Eventually, he was captured and everyone hurried home. Tora decided to leave their rice they had left at Aunt Bobo's house, to make up for her loss of Jago.

Uma was upset about what had happened to Jago, and that night, when everyone else was asleep, snuck out of the shack to help him. Not long after she had left, Usagi realized that Uma was missing, and woke up Today. They knew Uma had gone to rescue Jago, and they went after her.

They found her by a wall, waiting for the guard to leave so that she could free Jago from his cage. Usagi and Tora scolded her and told her to return to the shack, but she refused. When the guard started to leave, Uma vaulted over the wall, and tried to use her Fire power to melt the lock on Jago's cage. Unluckily, the guard turned around and saw her. He called for more guards.

Usagi tried to use her rabbit leap to get to Uma, but jumped too far, and had to deal with her own group of guards. In the distance, she saw Tora and Uma struggling with the guards, but she was unable to help them. Running from the guards pursuing her, she used her Coppice Comb. It caused trees to appear all around her, shielding her. One of the bandits made it through the trees to her, and helped her escape the village.

The bandit introduced herself as Saru, and her friends as Nezu and Inu. They revealed themselves to be the Heirs of the Twelve, who had been an important part of Midaga before the Dragonlord took over. They told her that her comb was one of the treasures of the twelve. Then, they called the Tigress and told her what had happened. She told them to return to Mount Jade, and they began to travel there.

On the way to Mount Jade, the Heirs stopped by Sun Moon Lake, where they met Yunja and his dogs. He helped them teach Usagi how to fight, specifically with her bamboo walking stick. Then, they had to continue traveling.

When they reached the mountain, Usagi had to face multiple tests to make it to the mountain shrine. Once she had arrived there, she learned many skills, including writing and mind-the-mind. Then, another Heir came to the Shrine. He was introduced as Tupa, Heir of the Ram Warrior. They greeted him, and he helped Usagi learn new skills.

Later, the Tigress, Usagi, and the Heirs of the Twelve decided to rescue the captured younglings from the Dragonlord. Bringing a few of their treasures with them, they set off toward the Dragonlord's palace, where his Dragon Academy was located.

When they arrived, they began to follow Tupa through the capital city. As they entered the citadel, Usagi heard the voices of younglings, and know that the voices had to be coming from the Dragon Academy. She decided to leave the group and locate it for herself.

Upon finding the Academy, Usagi met up with Uma and Tora. Tora was delighted to see Usagi, but Uma was angry at her because she hadn't come to rescue them sooner. Uma then explained that they weren't in any danger, and tried to get Usagi to join the Dragon Academy. After a few minutes of arguing with them, Usagi decided to go with Uma and Tora, because she wanted to be with her sister.

Tora and Uma helped Usagi get into the Academy, introducing her to Goru and Rana in the process. When Tora went to get Usagi a cadet outfit, Uma talked to Usagi about the Treasures. When asked about the Coppice Comb, Usagi said that she had lost it.

Soon after Usagi got into her cadet outfit, Lord Druk arrived, and all the cadets gathered around to greet him. He proceeded to announce to the cadets that he had captured the Tigress, Saru, Inu, Nezu, and some of the Treasures with help from the Captain of the Dragonstrikers. As the Captain of the Dragonstrikers was being praised, he took off his helmet, and was revealed to be Tupa.

After the announcement, Uma told Tupa about Usagi's arrival. Panicked, Usagi went into a storage room for equipment, and escaped through a window. Once free, she began to search the area for the Heirs. She discovered the Heirs (but not the Tigress) in a stone cellar in a hillock of trees.

Usagi was able to free the Heirs by causing tree roots to pry apart the cellar's stone slabs. After freeing them, Usagi tried to hold off a passing monk while the others hid. However the monk captured her,and took her to Captain Tupa, who tried to get her to join him.

When Usagi refused, he trapped her in a cold, damp space with the Tigress. The two of them talked about how they had failed each other, until they heard the sound of drums.