The Blue Mountain (The Forbidden List Book 2)

by G R Matthews

  “This way, please, Captain,” the corporal said and indicated the stone staircase that led down into the army camp.

  “Who owns the buildings outside the camp?” Haung asked.

  “The Nei Menggu, sir.”

  “And the general allows them to?”

  “Yes, sir,” the corporal said as he led the way down the stairs.

  “Why?” Haung asked, absently rubbing his right forearm.

  “Don’t know, sir. The general has not confided that to me, sir.”

  Haung smiled at the corporal’s back, recalling what it was like to in the lower ranks and having to answer questions that might lead to trouble. “That was the general?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, Corporal, if you had to guess why, what would you say?”

  “If I had to guess, sir, I would guess that they had nowhere else to go and saw a chance to make some money off the army.” The corporal neared the final step. “The army is very good for having everything an army needs to fight, but we have been here quite a time and the men need somewhere to spend their money for purposes of relaxation, if you understand my meaning, sir.”

  “I think I have caught the gist of your guess, corporal. Would you further hazard that those in the tents were the workers in these establishments of relaxation, or in some other way provide a service to the army?”

  “That would be my guess, sir. Though I might wonder, as you may have noticed, that the tents seem to cluster?” The corporal turned at the bottom of the stairs and looked back up at Haung and his companions. Haung nodded. “Well, sir, it seems that the Nei Menggu don’t always get on well with one another. The tents can be a dangerous place to wander around at night. The general has forbidden soldiers to venture into the tents at any time, night or day.”

  “And would you be aware whether or not that order was obeyed by every solider?” Haung smiled at the corporal. There was something likeable about him, though he was a little old to still be a corporal, he had the soldier’s wisdom that only came from long service and experience. Haung scratched at his forearm through his uniform.

  “If I was a betting man which is, of course, forbidden while on duty, I would bet that the order is not as closely regarded as the general might wish, sir. Is your arm ok?”

  “Think I have been bitten,” Haung said and forced himself to stop scratching.

  “Fresh meat, if you’ll pardon the expression. Rest of us have been bitten by everything that lives round here. They’re bored of our taste. I’d sleep under a net tonight if I was you. Just to be sure. I’ll have the quartermaster deliver one to your room.”

  “Thank you, Corporal,” Haung said.

  “Officers’ quarters are this way, sir.”

  The corporal led them past the armoury, placed close to the walls so that archers and the siege weapons could be quickly resupplied, and then the administrators building, where all the intelligence and patrol reports would be collated before being sent to the general’s staff in the fort tower. They crossed the road that led through the wall, guarded by thick wooden doors covered in large iron studs designed to deflect and dent an attacker’s axe. The barracks took up the majority of the camp to the south and west. The east side of the road was restricted to the officers and administrators quarters. The paths were neat, clean and free from plants and weeds. Small open spaces were dotted throughout this side of the camp and the officers’ club was situated dead centre. The corporal guided them through the camp and to one of the small buildings on the far edge.

  “Here you go, sirs.” The corporal waved at the one storey building with its single door and window. “Not that I’ve been in many, but you’ll find all the comforts you need inside. There’ll be four beds, though I can get some men to remove the extra if you don’t need it, and some tables and chairs. Each bed has a lockable chest. The keys you’ll find in the chest themselves. The privy is shared on this row, I am afraid, but the enlisted men keep it clean and tidy. If they don’t, just let the administrator at the officers’ club know and it’ll be sorted as quick as you like.”

  “Thank you, Corporal Enlai,” Haung said and began to walk towards the door.

  “Few more things, sir, if you’ll permit? The standing order is to be armed at all times. The camp being considered on active duty all day and all night. Secondly, the alarm signals are standard, but if you hear four sustained blasts from the horns you are to drop everything and anything and head to your stations on the wall. Those stations will be assigned during a briefing. Officers’ club is open all day and all night. Food is available at all hours. Other than that, everything else is as you’d expect.”

  “This is not acceptable.” It was Liu’s voice that stopped Haung and the corporal in their respective tracts.

  “Sir?” Corporal Enlai looked towards Liu.

  “I require a room of my own,” Liu said.

  “Sir, I am not sure we have...”

  “Of. My. Own,” Liu repeated and the corporal paused a moment before answering.

  “I’ll see what I can do, if you don’t mind waiting at the Officers’ club, sir?”

  Liu nodded and stalked off towards the camp’s centre. Gang shrugged as the tall man with two axes marched away. “Just you and me then, Haung”

  Haung nodded. “One question, Corporal. You called the people in the town the Nei Menggu, what do they call themselves?”

  “Call themselves Mongols, Sir.”

  * * *

  The inside of the main tower was crowded for the evening briefing. Haung, Gang and the newly re-housed Liu stood at the back of the crowd and listened as the general invited reports from along the wall. The commanders who could ride to the briefing had done so. Those too far away had sent messengers. Beginning with the reports from furthest west and east, the messengers reported no activity out of the ordinary. A small skirmish here and there with the known bandit groups in the areas, and the odd dispute with some of the Empire farmers who wanted a higher price for their rice and vegetables. Regional forts were required to patrol outside the wall, but also keep the peace in the Empire lands surrounding them. There were no reports of any suspicious activity from north of the wall.

  However, as the reports came closer to the main fort there began to be reports of refugee bands moving parallel to the wall, of rising columns of smoke far away on the horizon. Patrols had been sent out to discover what was going on, but had failed to gather any useful information. From the two forts directly adjacent, the reports of smoke and refugees increased still further.

  “All of which is deeply concerning because, as you all know, we have seen no evidence of these bands of refugees coming through here for over two weeks. Rising smoke has been seen on the horizon and to the east and west. Our own patrols have come back with little information,” the general said. “I need to know what we are up against and where the enemy is.”

  “Who are the enemy?” one of the officers asked.

  “That remains an interesting question and one that we cannot answer as yet. The refugees have little useful information save that their villages are attacked at night. Those that run survive and they have no first-hand knowledge of the fate of those that stay. Some villages are fleeing before the enemy reaches them. Refugees pass on the information about the attacks to each village they come across. In that way the panic spreads. I do have some information from the Emperor, though I am not sure how we will be able to use it.”

  The general cast a glance towards Haung before continuing.

  “The Emperor tells me that an area deep inside the Empire, to the west and south of us, has been attacked. The report suggests that the enemy attacked via... unconventional means and were held back, though at a great sacrifice. I have asked the Fang-Shi to investigate the content of the Emperor’s report and see how we may apply it to our defence or information gathering efforts. I am told also that there are some people on the way who may be able to assist us.”

  Haung stood straighter, this was informa
tion new to him, but echoed a warning the Emperor had given the previous Duke of Yaart. A warning the duke had decided not to take seriously, it had cost him his life. Haung scratched his arm as he recalled those events.

  “You’ll have noted also that we have some guests with us this evening.” The general gestured towards Haung and the two who stood with him. “The Emperor has sent some observers who will report directly to him. Let me make that clear to you all, as it has been to me, they report to the Emperor alone.”

  The general beckoned them forward to stand by his side. “Some of you will recognise Masters Gang and Liu. They have offered to train some of the troops and I am sure that will do wonders for morale. Please select a few of your most able soldiers and have them report to the training grounds tomorrow. We will try to rotate them in and out whenever possible and spread the training as far as possible while they are with us.”

  Gang and Liu bowed the assembled officers.

  “I promise to send most of them back to you in one piece,” Liu said with a smile.

  “I don’t,” Gang responded.

  “Our other observer,” and to Haung’s ears the general seemed to chew on that final word as if it was nasty lump of gristle that he was determined to spit out, “is Captain Haung. I am informed that he is to be given access to all information and will, should he wish, join our patrols. His brief is to discover, and report, the identity of the enemy to the Emperor. We will assist in all ways possible, is that clear?”

  The assembled officers nodded.

  “It will be worth remembering in your dealings with Captain Haung, that he is a fully trained and experienced Jiin-Wei.” Haung pondered over the tone for a moment before he completed his own bow to the officers. “That is all for tonight. We reconvene tomorrow for assignments.”

  As the officers broke up and headed for the door one of the uniformed men approached Haung. At first glance the uniform seemed an ill fit for the man. It was a little too loose and the knife at the waist was worn in a way that meant drawing it with any speed would be difficult.

  “Captain Haung,” the young man bowed to him and Haung returned it. “I am the Fang-Shi liaison to the general’s staff. I am sure my master would welcome a chance to discuss the Emperor’s findings with you and determine how the Fang-Shi may assist you.”

  “That is kind of you. Please inform your master that I will call on him at the earliest opportunity.”

  “I will.” The young man smiled. “Forgive my boldness, Captain, but I understood that Jiin-Wei often carried charged scrolls and items, yet I detect no such concentrations of power on you.”

  Haung paused and reassessed his initial assumptions about the young man. His suspicion told him to walk with care and he recalled the equipment he had seen in the noble’s house back in the capital.

  “That is true.” Haung nodded to the young magician. “Please convey my good wishes to your master.”

  He turned away and walked to the door.

  Chapter 23

  “I don’t think there will be a moon tonight,” Zhou said as he peered upwards at the clouds that covered the sky.

  “Perhaps not, but rain will fall soon. If not tonight then tomorrow. With this much dust in the air, rain is a certainty,” Xióngmāo said.

  “The rain will be good,” Zhou said.

  “No, the rain will be bad.” Xióngmāo stared at him through the darkness of night and a fog of dust. Above the face mask, her skin was covered with black ash. “Here it will fall on the roofs and the dust will soak it up, adding to the weight. Some of the houses might collapse under the strain. In the mountains, where the ash is thickest and the rainfall greatest, floods of muddy water will sweep through the valleys and many will die. The loss of the mountain will have an impact on the area for a long time to come.”

  Zhou looked into her eyes for a time. “How many times have you seen a volcano erupt?”

  “Once is enough, but I have seen more.” She shook her head. “The Duke will need to call in the army to help rebuild the villages and towns that are lost or damaged.”

  They waited in silence. Zhou peered, through the last of the trees, at the village. All he could see was the faint outline of the main building. The falling ash had slowed, but distance and the deepening darkness gave his vision a grainy quality. The road north, such as it was, sat below the layer of ash about forty paces to his right. Zhou could feel the need to travel north, to discover who had destroyed the mountain, tug at him and he resisted the urge to give in to impatience. The enemy he sought was still far away and another night would make little difference. Plus, he thought, I cannot just walk away from these people if they are in trouble. There was still the chance that there was nothing but Xióngmāo’s suspicions and she did have an annoying habit of knowing almost everything. He sighed, maybe when I am several centuries old I will be just like her.

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  “I suppose so,” he said. “What do you want to do?”

  “Me?” He could just make out a smile in her eyes as she responded. “I am not going to do anything. You are the stealthy cat. I am the slow and thoughtful Panda.”

  “Right,” he said, not believing a word. “So, I’ll go in and have a look around.”

  “Start at the main house. That’s where I think the trouble lies.”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “I’m not sure but I have some ideas. Go and listen in to what you can. Then come back and tell me,” she instructed.

  Zhou lifted his face mask and took a last drink from the water skin he carried. A little water dribbled out, enough to coat his tongue. He lifted the skin to his ear and gave it a shake, confirming it was empty.

  “Take it with you, see if you can fill it from a covered barrel.” She waved him forward with an open palm. “No point putting it off.”

  He tucked the scarf back into his robe and called to his spirit. Each time it was easier. Zhou could feel the energy surging down the thread in his mind and suffusing his body. He bit down on the urge to growl. Blinking, his eyes adjusted to the improvements in his vision. The grey blur fell away and the world settled into sharp clarity. The buildings sprang into focus, even the texture of the thatch was visible from this distance.

  He examined the village for a few seconds. No smoke rose from any of the smaller houses or the barns, but there was a thin column rising from the low chimney on the roof of the main building. The range of his hearing had increased though he was too far away to pick out anything but the swishing of the crops and the low creaking of the trees in the soft breeze.

  Zhou left the tree line and scampered over the ground, keeping low amongst the crops. His first steps sounded loud to his ears and he adjusted, running on his toes rather than heels. Every twenty paces he stopped and listened. There was no change in the village. He came closer and closer to the largest building. Ahead, the crops stopped and a dirt path ran before a low wall that surrounded the building. Past that, there was no cover until he reached the building itself.

  He crouched below the top of the wall and listened again. There were voices on the air, muffled by the wood and plaster walls. Zhou stopped trying to discern to the words and focused upon the tone. There was no hint of urgency or anger in the sounds and so, after a few moments, he lifted himself over the wall and crept across the intervening land to press up against the house.

  Here the voices were louder, but it was still impossible to pick out individual words. He raised his nose to the air and sampled the scents of the village. Nothing but the aridity of dust. He took a deeper, slower breath trying to find a way past the smell of dust. There were little flecks and flavours. Nothing certain and nothing he could derive any useful information from. With one hand on the wall, he made his quiet way to the corner of the house and peered around.

  The rest of the village, now that he could see it, still looked deserted. Zhou ducked round the corner and headed to the front of the house. On the ground, by the door, he coul
d see that the dust covering the ground had been disturbed. Not just by his and Xióngmāo’s footsteps, which had left prints as they walked, but by many others since. He tried to trace the paths the footsteps had taken. Someone followed us from the village, he surmised, and others criss-crossed the area. There was one set that headed off from the confused mess and he decided to follow them. He checked the door was still closed and that no one was peering through the small windows on the front of the house before moving.

  They led across the open space between the houses and to a barn on the far side of the village. There was no sign of the footsteps returning and as he approached the barn he moved with greater care, straining every sense to pick up a clue to what was inside. Within twenty feet of the farm building, he stopped and wrinkled his nose. There was a smell that some part of him recognised and, crouching down low to the ground, he took another breath. His mouth filled with saliva and his belly rumbled with hunger, the scent of blood and meat.

  Zhou forced his conscious brain to take control and damped down the spirit. A lot of blood had been spilled and the rich, sweet, tang of it was on the air. He edged up to the barn. There were no signs of footsteps returning to the main house and the obvious thought entered his mind, there was going to be a body in there. But, if there is, he thought, who killed them? Maybe it was an accident. They did happen on farms, he knew that much about agriculture.

  He pressed his back up against the thin wall of the barn and sidled to the door. It had not been closed fully and he could see a little of the straw covered floor. The aroma of blood was stronger than ever and it was a struggle to contain the spirit that wanted to tear into the flesh. With a careful hand, he pushed the door wider and listened once more. There were no sounds, no rustle of movement or whisper of breath. Lowering himself into a crouch, he darted a look round the door, just a glance into the barn. Without the moon or even faint starlight it was just too dark to see anything inside.