“That’s it?”
“That’s all they’ll say.”
“Curious,” Shih-ka’i said. “That’s not like them. They’ve never been afraid of anything.”
“They’re scared of this, Lord. It looked like they were ready to abandon their breeding caves.”
“Ah? Where could they go?”
“I couldn’t say, Lord.”
Shih-ka’i moved to the map. “Gentlemen, I’ve placed scouting parties along this arc. We should know their intentions soon.”
Tasi-feng indicated a red arrow. It humped over the area of confrontation to spear the eastern shore. “What’s this, Lord?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just a job I gave Hsu Shen.”
Had Hsu Shen gotten his boats assembled yet? The man’s last report placed him on the coast, preparing to cross to the island. Shih-ka’i was eager to place a portal there. He wanted to know if it were indeed the former headquarters of the Pracchia, wanted to see if anything interesting had been left behind.
A Tervola named Yen Teh, from one of the southern legions, ran toward Shih-ka’i’s group. He was without his mask. His face was pallid. “Lord,” he gasped. “Lord, I’ve just heard... Matayanga... They attacked. With two million men.”
“Two million?” Shih-ka’i murmured. He could not encompass the number. There was no way to support an army that size.
The Matayangan strategy must be predicated on an expectation that heavy casualties early would reduce their forces to manageable size. He peered at his map. “Two million? Gentlemen, we’re on our own. There won’t be anyone to help us.”
The hall became very still. No one had believed the southern situation could deteriorate this far, that the Matayangans would dare attack. For centuries no nation had been that foolish. But two million men? Inconceivable. The Matayangans were risking everything on one pass of the dice. Their losses would cripple them for generations, considering what would happen after Southern Army assumed the offensive.
“Trying to swamp us with the first rush,” Shih-ka’i observed. “And they might do it. But that’s not our problem. Ours is out there. Lord Lun-yu, take charge of the recon patrols. I want to know exactly when they’re going to attack.”
“As you command, Lord.”
The enemy again baffled Shih-ka’i. He did not pursue a rational strategy and immediately assault the fortress. He came from the desert, but in no rush. He gave Shih-ka’i four more days to prepare. Shih-ka’i assembled the bulk of Eastern Army. Those on the march elsewhere would arrive within days. So many men were on hand, in fact, that most had to remain in fortified encampments outside the fortress. Eastern Army would provide a hell of a fight. Northern Army would have ample time to prepare positions along the Tusghus, against possible failure here.
During the respite Shih-ka’i visited the island in the east. He and Hsu Shen wandered long-abandoned halls. Nothing of value remained, though there was adequate evidence that this was indeed the island of Lord Ko Feng’s memoirs.
“Someone stripped the place,” Shih-ka’i said.
“So it seems, Lord.”
“Curious. Most curious.”
“Lord?”
“Ko Feng says they left in a hurry, planning to return later. When later came, he was the only conspirator left. He never came back. So who stripped the place? Can you suggest a culprit?”
“I’d suggest Lord Ko, Lord. After he was banished.”
“I don’t think so. I’d try a divination if our stone friend weren’t right over there.” The thing could be seen from the ramparts, if one had Hsu Shen’s eyes. Shih-ka’i could see nothing but rusty vistas.
Pan ku came galloping up. He gasped, “Lord, the legion commanders request your presence.”
“Very well. Hsu Shen, sit tight. I’ll give you a century. I may want you to hit the stone thing from here.”
Hsu Shen appeared distrait. “As you command, Lord.”
Shih-ka’i chuckled. “Of course. Pan ku. Let’s see what they want.”
In minutes he entered his map room. He scanned the big picture. An arc of enemy markers glared in from the desert. “Lot of them out there now, eh?”
“Fifty thousand, Lord,” Tasi-feng replied.
“Still showing no inclination to attack?”
“None, Lord.”
“That’s odd.”
“Lord, we have a few matters to bring to your attention,” Chang Sheng said.
Shih-ka’i turned. His legion commanders faced him, standing shoulder to shoulder. Their underlings had stopped work. “Yes?”
“Uh... “Tasi-feng stammered. “We had a report from fifth cohort, Twenty-Seventh.” Tasi-feng moved to the map, indicated a position four hundred miles south. “They encountered an enemy force shortly after dawn, here.” The point was well behind the desert line. “One thousand dead soldiers, accompanied by several hundred tribesmen, both living and dead.”
“A recruiting force?”
“Apparently. Leading Centurion Pai Mo-Jo engaged immediately and destroyed all but a handful. The escapees were all live tribesmen.”
Shih-ka’i listened patiently while Tasi-feng appended the required report on casualties and equipment losses. Then he said, “An outstanding accomplishment, considering the man was outnumbered and had no wizardry of his own. Send my personal commendation. Recommend him for decoration. I applaud initiative in the ranks, Lord Yuan.”
The Twenty-Seventh’s commander bowed slightly. “Mo-Jo is one of my best, Lord.”
Shih-ka’i drew himself into the stiff parade-ground stance he had used to intimidate the Fourth Demonstration. “What did you really want to discuss?”
Tasi-feng exchanged glances with his fellows. The others were not forthcoming. He said, “Though it may be premature to mention this, Lord, we felt you should be informed.”
“Informed? Please inform me, Lord Lun-yu.”
“Sometime soon, Lord Kuo will be unseated. We legion commanders and our senior deputies intend to support his successor. Likewise, our brethren of Northern Army.”
“I see.” Shih-ka’i’s stomach tightened into a hard little knot. Politics had caught him after all. He was considered beholden to Lord Kuo. He remained stiffly erect. “What does that have to do with the business at hand? We’re an army at war. Consider the situation map. We’re nearly surrounded. Southern Army’s situation is worse. The empire is in dire peril. What the hell do you think you’re doing? Silence! For me, it’s a matter of supreme indifference who sits the imperial throne. I’m Tervola! I am an officer of the imperial army. My sole function is to defend, preserve, expand. Your function is to help me fulfill mine. It’s neither my right nor yours to crown or uncrown emperors. It is of no moment who sits a damned throne four thousand miles away. Even so, the games you play on your own time are yours. Make kings if you like. But on my time you make war. And, gentlemen, when Lord Ssu-ma Shih-ka’i makes war, he does so every second of the day. Resume your posts.”
He thought that would do it. He had allowed emotion full vent, and they had quaked before its gale.
Lord Chang responded, “Admirably spoken, Lord Ssu-ma. We hear the voice of an elder age. It tells us what we need to know.”
Pan ku’s sword whispered from its scabbard behind Shih-ka’i. Shih-ka’i glared at Lord Chang. Sheng stared back. Shih-ka’i thought, I should’ve known they wouldn’t bend. They’re not recruits. They’re veteran intriguers.
Sheng said, “I suggest we carry out Lord Ssu-ma’s instructions. The Deliverer cares naught for our aspirations, either.”
The legion commanders turned away. Their underlings resumed work. Shih-ka’i allowed himself a moment to relax. Then, “Lord Chang.”
Sheng turned. “Lord?”
“You said `Deliverer.’ What did you mean?”
“Lord Yuan’s man Mo-Jo took live captives. They called the leader of the dead Deliverer. They claimed that was because he came from the land where gods dwelt in the age before the desert. They thin
k he’ll restore a lost paradise.”
“Does the idea have currency with the tribes?”
“No, Lord. The majority are fleeing across the Tusghus. They have a full measure of the savage’s fear of the dead.”
“Good. I’ll be in my quarters.” He whispered, “Pan ku, put that ridiculous toad-stabber away.” He did not wait to see if his directive were accepted. He knew Pan ku.
He slept for a few hours, then wakened suddenly. Something had disturbed him. For a moment he thought it was concern about his commanders. But no, that was settled. They had spoken their pieces. A decision had been reached. He commanded Eastern Army. His writ stemmed from the empire, not its ruler. They would follow him while he remained faithful to that ideal.
No political concern had wakened him. Was it a prescient flash? Were the dead about to begin battering the next obstacle blocking their westward path? He stared at the ceiling, allowed his Tervola-trained senses to roam.
He could detect nothing.
Pan ku burst in. He did not apologize for his presumption. “Flyers, Lord.” He snatched up Shih-ka’i’s mask and stationed himself by his master’s armor.
“They’re attacking?”
“Yes, Lord.”
In minutes Shih-ka’i stood on a balcony overlooking one of the drillyards.
The night was full of dragons; he guessed at least five hundred. The waning moon illuminated them perfectly. They dropped to deposit riders. There were two aboard each, the usual skullface and another behind. Most of the skullfaces remained mounted, urging their beasts back into the air while hurling bolts of power into the fortress. They took no particular aim.
The dead warriors rushed here and there without apparent purpose. When they encountered members of the garrison, they fought.
Chaos ruled. Shih-ka’i spotted a half dozen fires.
The dragons raced back to the desert to collect another wave of invaders.
“We’ll go to the map room,” Shih-ka’i said. “We’ll organize from the heart outward.” He scanned the east wall. The men were holding their posts. Good. There would be an attack when the Deliverer believed he had created enough confusion.
They had to cross a court to reach the building where the map room lay. Raiders caught them there.
They came out of the darkness, in total silence. Shih-ka’i was uncertain how many there were. One skullface, for sure, and at least six of the pudgy warriors. They flung themselves forward as if recognizing him. He blasted two with a small spell. Pan ku separated another from his head. Then blades were flashing in Shih-ka’i’s face, and for the first time in a long life, he was wielding a sword in his own defense.
He had drilled a thousand times, as training demanded, and had performed well, but had always wondered how he would do against a deadly opponent. He was not sure he could kill a man.
The training took over: He did not think, he acted. His blade became a spider weaving a web of protection. The short sword in his left hand darted like a serpent’s tongue, making the deadly strikes from dangerous angles. Pan ku guarded his back for the few seconds it took to even the odds.
Then Shih-ka’i faced no one but the skullface. Bodies lay scattered about them. Would he have the stomach to dismember them? He couldn’t leave them lay...
The dragon rider bore a sword in keeping with its size. It was a good six feet long. The creature swung it in great screaming arcs. Shih-ka’i reeled each time he turned a stroke. Fear knotted his stomach.
There was an astonishingly loud clang. The skullface staggered forward, fell to one knee. Shih-ka’i found its eye with his shortsword, then followed with a vicious overhand chop with his longsword. Pan ku struck another two-handed blow.
And the damned monster tried to rise!
They hacked away till it surrendered its unnatural life.
Panting, Shih-ka’i and Pan ku considered one another over the body. Pan ku grinned. “He was a tough one, Lord.”
“That he was. Let’s get them carved up. We’ve wasted too much time already.”
Shih-ka’i had seen any number of corpses dismembered, but there was a difference between observing and doing. His gorge threatened to rise. He wondered if that happened to the men. The world saw them as battalions of heartless torturers... They were men. Mere men, superbly trained and superbly in command of themselves. They had pride...
I have to be as strong as that centurion Mo-Jo, he told himself. I am the leader. I have to be the toughest and best.
“Finished, Lord,” Pan ku said.
“Let’s go.”
“Grim work, eh?”
“Indeed. I had less stomach for it than I expected.”
“This will be a grisly campaign, won’t it, Lord?”
“We’ve never seen its like, Pan ku.”
As they entered the map room from one end, a doorway at the other exploded. The planks of it flew about like autumn leaves in a gale. A dozen dead warriors burst through, spearheaded by three skullfaces.
Tasi-feng met them with a burst of power which flung the smaller warriors round like ragdolls in the jaws of mastiffs. The skullfaces were unaffected. The other Tervola hit them with as many killing spells as there were spellcasters. Noxious clouds boiled off the collapsing bodies. For a time it was difficult to breathe.
Shih-ka’i joined Chang Sheng over a map of the fortress and its environs. Sheng said, “They’re attacking here and here, into the joints between the encampments and the fortress.”
The palisades and trenches surrounding the camps were puny compared to the defenses of the fortress itself. Sheng continued, “Their assault hasn’t developed sufficiently to betray their intent. Their logical course would be to encircle and reduce the encampments. But they’re concentrating their dragons and wizardry on us.”
“Trying to keep us pinned down.”
A Tervola approached. Shih-ka’i remembered him from the deep probe into the desert. “Yes, Ou-yan?”
“Message from Lord Shih-mihn, Lord. They’ve launched human wave assaults. They’ve broken through in three places. He thinks they want to force a melee.”
“There’s your main thrust, Lord Chang. North camp. Melee. We can’t permit that.”
The price would be defeat. Should the enemy break Shih-ka’i’s formations and force his men to fightindividually, few would have time to salvage legion dead or destroy enemy fallen. Those would keep coming back into the fray. They would grow more numerous, rather than fewer.
“Lord Chang?”
“Doesn’t sound good, Lord. But I suggest we wait before we jump. The men won’t fold.”
Sheng was right. The defense stiffened under pressure, Shih-ka’i mounted an observation tower to study the north camp.
Huge, stinking fires burned there. His soldiers flung ever more bodies upon them.
The dragons continued to drop warriors into the fortress. The garrison was dealing with them now. Many flyers never left. Their riders were cut down as their feet touched the ground.
Shih-ka’i was pleased.
“Lord.” Pan ku pointed. Squinting, Shih-ka’i found the two dragons circling high overhead.
“The white one is their sorceress. Lord Lun-yu says the other commands the dead.”
The woman suddenly glowed a brilliant blue. A blue egg formed between her outstretched hands. It tumbled toward the earth. It was a yard thick when it ploughed into the roof of a barracks.
That roof caught fire, though it was made of clay tile.
More eggs fell. Soon there were a dozen witchfires burning. How long would their witchery keep them going?
That didn’t matter. The woman could drop more.
She threw a score into the northern camp, where they did more damage.
His Tervola had to stop her. He rushed to the map room... The place was a shambles. Fighting continued in one corner, where a pair of skullfaces exchanged minor sorceries with Tasi-feng’s underlings.
“What happened?” Shih-ka’i demanded. “Never mind. I ca
n see. Get some men in to clean up before these bodies reanimate.”
Tasi-feng said, “Lord, some of our dead weren’t properly disposed. They’re roaming the fortress. The men can’t tell friend from foe.”
“You can, can’t you?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“We all can.” Shih-ka’i clipped a quick series of orders. “Let’s get out there. We’re useless here now, anyway. Give the witch all the attention you can. Throw up a shaft barrage. That southern attack looks like a feint.”
Two hours passed. They left Shih-ka’i perplexed. The witch had been driven from the sky, yet the situation had worsened. A stream of blue balls sailed out of the desert, into the north camp. The camp’s defenses had been breached in a dozen places. The dreaded melee threatened.
At least the flyers and skullfaces had been beaten away from the fortress.
Shih-ka’i assembled his officers. “We’re going to lose the north camp,” he told them. “They’re reanimating too many of their men, and we haven’t provided an adequate defense against the woman’s witchery. Let’s review their dispositions.”
Shih-ka’i was convinced the enemy was concentrating on the one camp, betting the defense would collapse suddenly, giving him an opportunity to recoup his losses. He would then aim the tireless dead at the south camp, then the fortress.
“We’ll give them a surprise,” Shih-ka’i said. “Tell Lord Shih-mihn he has to hold till dawn.”
In the bloody, smoky dawn troops from the south camp cut through the screen surrounding them and attacked the enemy army. The Tervola harried the witch from one hiding place to another. The dead fought stubbornly. Not till noon was the north camp finally relieved. Shih-ka’i immediately ordered the troops outside to withdraw to the Tusghus River.
“We surprised them this time,” he said. “We won’t again.” Then, “The fortress can stand alone.” He surveyed the cables and nets being rigged over areas where flyers might land.
“Suppose they pursue, Lord?” Tasi-feng asked.
“I wish they would. I’d bring up Northern Army and play hammer and anvil.”
The Deliverer disappointed Shih-ka’i. For three days he attacked the fortress, scoring only local successes. Stubborn Shih-ka’i always overcame. Undying pyres burned in the drillyards, day and night.