The Dragon's Breath

by James Boschert

  The list of foods went on in bewildering detail. Talon never ceased to be amazed by what the cook produced, and indeed by the entire Chinese diet, which seemed to include anything that moved or crawled. He could not fault the taste and variety, however, remembering food they had had to eat while sailing.

  Hsü conducted an intense conversation with his wife and elder son during the meal. Talon presumed that he was talking about the impending trip.

  He and his own family had discussed the matter at the guest house before supper that evening. Rav’an was not happy about it, but she knew that Talon was becoming restless, so she knew better than to prevent his leaving. She just told him sternly to not get into trouble and come back to them. She and Jannat were happy enough to go on visiting temples and parks with Lihua. Rav’an never forgot that one day they would have to leave, and she was preparing. She had her eyes on many works of art, carvings and silk patterns that she knew would sell well in Oman. Lihua had also taken her on numerous occasions to the medicine shop, where Rav’an had asked the owner so many questions he looked exhausted by the time they left with the items they had purchased.

  Talon and Reza had another discussion later that night.

  “There is something going on that I don’t like, Brother,” Talon said quietly.

  Reza knew what he meant. “If Fang is being left behind, then I need to be vigilant, Talon. He is Hsü’s bodyguard; to leave him here means that our host is very worried, no matter what he says. I don’t like that they are trying to kill him, either. You might need to be on your guard while traveling with him. Be careful.”

  “Should I stay then?” Talon asked him.

  Reza thought about it, and then shook his head. “One of us needs to protect Hsü while he is on his journey. It doesn’t matter who, and I think that with Fang here with me, we will be fine, Talon. Go and find that dragon.”

  *****

  Two weeks later, Talon was looking back at a baggage train that wound its way along the side of the mountain. Many hundreds of feet below them raged a torrent as the river poured through a gap in the hills, while above them the pointed mountain wore a top knot of stunted trees. There were fifty horses and ten camels, all of them laden with either bales of silk or boxes of silver ingots with the chop of the Emperor stamped into them. The remainder of the pack animals carried the baggage of the escort. Hsü had told him that the Mongols stipulated stamped silver, as it represented the treasury of the Emperor, hence was pure. There were several carts that carried some interesting devices that Hsü told him were Erupters. He used the Chinese name, 'bai zu lian zhu pao', and Talon had had to work hard to try and understand what that meant.

  “They hurl flames and stones or iron balls great distances,” Hsü had told him.

  “What is the purpose of bringing them with us now?” Talon had asked.

  “This is part of the ‘flame powder’ that we possess in China. It has acted as a deterrent to the Mongols. The reason we bring them is that they fear these devices. We also make hollow balls of iron, which we fill with the powder and fire at the enemy. They explode and cause panic and death to all nearby,” Hsü boasted. Talon couldn’t wait to see one being used.

  Talon was on a bay gelding that he was still getting to know. Ahead of him were one hundred men at arms, while the rear guard consisted of the camp followers and fifty more guards. All the soldiers were magnificently accoutered, decked out in elaborate plates of armor that covered them from their feet to the outrageously elaborate helmets on their heads.

  Each soldier carried a bow, a quiver, two spears, long swords, numerous knives around their persons, and wore cloaks with the emblem of their leader embossed on the fabric. Their horses were of the very best. The General and his officers wore even more gaudy outfits of picturesque armor, incredibly shaped helmets, and gleaming weaponry. The entire company of armed men seemed overdressed to Talon.

  Talon had chosen to wear his chain mail, which had drawn some attention, and had taken a cloak with him to protect him from the weather, which was still occasionally wet. He now sported a sword of the kind that he’d first encountered at the Dojo. He also had his bow and arrows in a holder under his left thigh. His helmet of steel hung from the pommel of the saddle. His skill with a bow had drawn much attention and admiration from these men. While the Chinese had some very skilled archers, who provided the small army with meat from the hunt, none could bring down a flying pigeon at thirty paces while seated on a horse; and the General happened to like roasted pigeon whenever he could get it.

  Hsü rode next to him, wearing a simpler form of armor than the General, and he carried only his sword, the one he had brought aboard those long months ago. Talon, now that he knew what he was looking for, saw that the scabbard was beautifully inlaid with gold filigree and the blade was of the finest. He wanted to have one like that and had asked Hsü as to where he could buy one. Hsü had told him to be patient, and that he would help locate one when they returned to Guangzhou.

  The journey thus far had been an experience that Talon could not have imagined in his wildest dreams. He had never been through such a varied and strange countryside. They passed through flat valleys where rice was grown in abundance and buffaloes pulled plows in the knee deep water; they came to terraces that climbed in serried ranks up the sides of the low hills; then they left the emerald green of the terraces and climbed narrow tracks that led into mountains that seemed to go straight up, steeper than any mountain he remembered in Persia, but not as high; they were of crumbled stone that gleamed white where they were bare, but their sides were most often clad in stunted trees, now tinged with yellow and red to mark the change of the season to autumn.

  Just when he thought he had seen the strangest and most beautiful sights that nature could provide, they crested the passes, and before them in the distance were mountains whose peaks wore a mantle of vapor which the wind tore into white tendrils, and valleys shrouded in mist from rain and waterfalls.

  As they rode along high plateaux overlooking impossibly deep gorges, Hsü would point out immense openings in the cliffs far below and suggest, with a perfectly straight face, that these might once have been the lairs of dragons. It only served to whet Talon’s appetite for a glimpse of one of these elusive creatures.

  Villages and small towns clung to the sides of these strange mountains, built on earthen terraces that appeared ready to tumble into the fast moving waters of the numerous rivers. The locals either travelled by boat or crossed over by stone bridges, or less substantial constructions of vegetable fiber. The people who lived in these areas were mostly peasants who seemed wary of strangers and gave the travelers a wide berth as they marched by. Those who could not hide would crouch, nose down in the dirt, while the entourage rode by.

  The boat trips, of which there had been several because of the vast number of lakes and rivers, had proved to be an organizational nightmare. Hsü was nominally in charge, so if fell upon him to negotiate with the Prefects of towns and village headsmen for accommodation and supplies, and to dicker with boat men to get his small army from one place to another with the minimum of delay.

  They had been very much at the mercy of the winds and weather while traveling along the rivers; if a river was in spate because of a storm further upstream, or if the wind was blowing against them, it caused further delays. However, when the winds and elements were with them, they could make far better progress than on land.

  Eventually they arrived at the banks of an enormous lake called Dongting. There Hsü pointed out fishing boats where cormorants sat right next to the men. “They train the birds to catch fish,” he told a skeptical Talon.

  “How do they stop them from eating the fish?” he asked.

  “Watch, see how they tie a string around their necks? It is to prevent them from swallowing what they catch.”

  As he spoke, a cormorant rose out of the water and quite comfortably squatted on the side of the boat. The fisherman took hold of the bird and relieved it of the
fish half stuck in its gullet, then released the bird, which joined three others as though waiting its turn. The man gave it a tidbit, which it gulped down, and then it tried to steal one of the fish in the open basket, receiving a slap on its head for its pains. Talon grinned at the sight. Was there no end to the ingenuity of these people?

  Finally Hsü told him with evident relief that they were about seven days from their destination. Siang Jang was a town located just inside the Sung territory on a huge river called the Yangzi. The small army embarked in a flotilla of boats and, taking their animals with them, sailed across the lake.

  Talon regarded the dark depths of the calm lake with some trepidation.

  “Do dragons live in these waters?” he asked Hsü in a very low voice, so as not to be heard by the other men.

  “I think we are safe enough, Talon. They prefer deep caves,” was the cool response. Talon looked at the poker-faced man sitting next to him. A tiny flicker of doubt crossed his mind.

  Hsü noticed his look and said, “We believe that our rivers were made by a dragon and that wherever there is turbulence the dragon has stirred it up. If the water is calm, as with this lake, it reflects the dragon’s true nature.”

  “Why, is it not fierce? It seems to be in all those images.”

  “True, but in fact it is a benevolent creature, and we Chinese try hard to keep it so with offerings and incense.”

  “In our lore, it is a deadly and dangerous creature,” Talon remarked.

  “Oh yes, it has the power to be, but rarely uses that power to punish men,” Hsü told him. This left Talon to ponder if the fabled ‘dragon’ was more of a god than a creature of flesh and blood.

  They sailed for a whole two days across the lake to join the river Yangzi , then sailed up stream for several days before disembarking and taking a road across a small range of mountains.

  General Yang Hsün turned out to be a man who mirrored Hsü’s outlook on life. He was a bluff, heavy man who wore the scars of previous battles with pride. Since the beginning of the journey he had entertained Hsü, and by default Talon, at dinner as often as circumstances permitted. In spite of his rather obvious penchant for elaborate dress, he was a very cordial host who enjoyed talking about himself.

  Hsü confided in Talon that it was a good thing he was conversant with the writings of The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

  “The old buzzard likes me to quote that writing,” he said. “He himself can only remember a few passages, so he is happy when I chatter about it too.”

  Talon grinned, but then asked, “Do you have anything on that subject which I can read, Hsü? ‘

  Hsü shook his head and tapped his temple. “It’s all up here, but I shall share what I can while we are traveling, and then we can discuss it together.”

  Talon enjoyed those discussions and began to write the gist of the sayings down for his own benefit. This was when Hsü began to teach Talon the game of Go.

  “Life is very like a game of Go, particularly when dealing with politics and power,” he informed Talon. “You have to outwit your opponents, even as they observe your actions and try to outwit you. Keeping them off balance is the most effective way to win at Go.”

  One evening, when they were camped on the side of the Yangzi river, Hsü told Talon they were only ten li from Siang Jan, and within a day or so would be handing off the Tribute to the Mongols.

  “They are rough, ugly people, Talon. They have none of the refinements we Chinese possess.”

  Talon was reminded of the tribal Turks he had encountered; rough people, but superb riders and great fighters. “I dare say that they are great horsemen,” he commented.

  “Of that you can be sure. Better than this bunch of peacocks we have as an escort,” Hsü told him in a dry undertone.

  “There is a quote that the famous general Sun Tsu mentioned that is relevant to our situation today. ‘When the civil leadership is ignorant of military maneuvers but shares equally in the command of armies, the soldiers hesitate. Once armies are confused and hesitant, trouble comes from competitors. This is called taking away victory by deranging the military.’

  “The Mongols come and rifle the cargo and steal some, then tell us that we have not filled the quota,” he told Talon. ‘The General and I want to try to make sure that the guards have it all under control. You might see the Erupters being used!” He gave a small bark of laughter. Talon had no idea what he meant.

  *****

  That night Talon went to bed early. He had fallen asleep listening to the General and Hsü discussing in rapid Chinese the arrangements that would have to be made within the next few days for the transfer of the Tribute. Both men were tense because historically the transfer had never gone well.

  Talon awoke suddenly in the semi-light to see a figure with a sword charging into the tent towards him. He gave a startled cry and rolled frantically off his bed out of the way, scrabbling for his own weapon. He was even more shocked to see that it was not some stranger but Hsü. His sword swept down and landed on the grass near to where Talon had been sleeping.

  By this time Talon was on his feet, his own sword in his hand, its point leveled at Hsü. Then his blood went cold. Hsü had just cut a writhing snake in two. He cut again and the head of the serpent separated from the rest of the body, which continued to writhe for a few moments before it lay still.

  “That was close!” Hsü said as he wiped the blade of his sword and sheathed it, and then calmly nudged the body of the snake with his boot. It was just a small serpent, about eighteen inches long and light brown, but Hsü said, “It is a very poisonous snake. You would have died within a minute and none of us the wiser, Talon. I saw someone slipping away from the side of the tent and was instantly suspicious.”

  Talon wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “Who would want to kill me?” he asked.

  Hsü’s face was grim. “We might never know. I am sure of one thing, however; there is an assassin with us. I’m surprised they didn’t try to kill me before this.”

  “Kill you?” Talon asked stupidly. “Of course! They missed in Guangzhou, but if you don’t come home the way is free and clear for your enemies. Who do you think might have arranged it?”

  “I am sure it was either Buwei or that scorpion Rong,” Hsü said. Talon had sheathed his weapon by now and they were standing together at the entrance of the tent, looking down towards the river.

  Hsü grunted with surprise and pointed. Not one hundred paces away, there was a dark figure trying to push one of the smaller boats out into the river.

  “That must be him! Quickly, Talon, we must stop him!” He began to run towards the bank of the river, shouting for the guards and drawing his sword as he ran.

  Talon, seeing what he meant, ducked back into the tent and seized his bow and quiver. Although he was dressed only in his pants he pelted bare foot down the bank after Hsü. Hsü was shouting and pointing at the man, who was now energetically sculling the boat away from them down stream.

  The men who had been sleeping on the boats had been roused by the commotion and were lighting lamps. Their shouts only added to the bedlam that started up all around. Soldiers came running towards Hsü with spears. He shouted at them, presumably ordering them to stop the boat. Some of them had bows and sent arrows after the man, but he was by now sixty paces away and moving rapidly. All of them fell far short and were lost in dark water.

  “Hsü!” Talon bellowed over the shouting. “That boat there!” He pointed to another small boat among the cluster of larger cargo boats.

  He ran to the craft and began to push it out. Willing hands helped him, and Hsü slapped him on the shoulder. “Jump in, Talon, we have some men who can row.”

  All four men tumbled into the boat as they were shoved off into the swirling waters of the river with a mighty push by others on the bank. The two guards who had joined them scrambled for the oars and began to row with all their strength. Talon strung his bow and went to stand in the prow. “If they c
an get us a little closer I can hit him,” he glanced up a the star-filled night sky. “In this light, I would prefer to be about forty paces away.”

  Hsü gave him a look, then nodded and exhorted the straining rowers to do better. The gap began to close. Their quarry was sculling furiously, using one oar at the back of his boat. He looked back over his shoulder, saw his pursuers and applied himself even harder to his oar, but they were gaining.

  Talon steadied himself and carefully notched an arrow, then drew back the string till it was level with his cheek, allowing the rod of the bow to settle into the cup between his left hand, thumb and forefinger, which he closed slowly on the wood to grip it lightly. He stood like that for a long moment, taking in the motions of the two boats and the frantic movements of his target, then loosed the arrow. The bowstring twanged and the arrow sped away into the night. They all heard a light thump, a choking cry and a clatter. The dark figure tumbled into the well of the boat, which began to drift sideways in the current.

  There were delighted exclamations from Hsü and the rowers when they realized what had happened. They caught up with the drifting boat and Hsü jumped aboard with his sword drawn. The man lying in a puddle of blood on the bottom of the boat groaned. The arrow had struck him in the small of his back, wounding him grievously. Hsü breathed a sigh of relief; they had a live prisoner. He looked up at Talon. “That was a very good shot,” he said.

  They bound up the prisoner’s wound as best they could and were rowed back to the bank, towing the fugitive’s boat behind them. The rowers directed respectful glances at Talon while they covered the distance. They arrived back at the camp to find the General and his aides waiting for them on the bank.

  “What was all that about, Lord Meng?” Yang Hsün demanded gruffly when they stepped ashore.

  Hsü gestured behind him at the two guards, who supported the limp prisoner. “I suggest that we ask this man, General. He almost succeeded in killing my companion, Master Talon here. However, I think he may have been after me.”