by JC Kang
If his muscles gave out, the enemy would see him. Maybe climbing under the bridge would’ve worked better; at least he could have worked at his own pace. No. No point in regrets. He drew in a slow breath and contemplated the sound of one hand clapping, distracting his mind from the burn.
The caravan turned onto a winding path of packed gravel. The white canvas and poles of tents were pitched among the grass and trees. A campsite, or rather an urban park used as such. Men groaned all around. At last, the wagon came to a stop. The straw-sandaled feet of Hua porters pattered away, followed by the Metal Men’s boots.
Tian’s limbs protested as he lowered himself to the ground and blew out a long breath. The new angle provided a slightly better view. Bandaged and splinted Metal Men, some on crutches, queued outside of several tents. This was more than a campsite; it was a field hospital. Sabotaging the medical supplies, poisoning the food, and assassinating the doctors would slow the enemy down.
His stomach clenched. What kind of man thought of such things? He rolled out on the side of the wagon away from the tents and stood. Manicured trees with budding limbs stood at regular intervals. Each could provide cover as he worked his way into the city and found clothes that would make him look more like a citizen, less like a military officer.
“You!” a voice called from the tents. “Stop!”
With his back to a tree, Tian cast a glance at the supply wagon and the medical tents beyond. A boy, not yet a teen, froze with his hand on a loaf of bread. Dozens of the Metal Men started toward him, pointing.
Tian suppressed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t seen him, but… Two able-bodied Teleri loped toward the would-be thief.
The porters—the only other Hua people around besides the boy—stepped to the side. Tucking the bread into his shirt, the thief dashed off, running right by Tian. The two Metal Men gave chase, also passing him without any sign they’d seen him. No telling what they would do if they caught the boy.
Tian bolted after them, darting from tree to tree, occasionally checking back to see if any other Bovyans followed him. Reaching the edge of the park, where it bordered a paved avenue, he stopped. Buildings of wood and stone stood in a row across the street, many with colorful signs he could read. Shoes. Tanner. Butcher. Vegetables. Still, the shutters on the sixteen storefronts remained closed, as were the residences above. No one so much as poked a head out of the windows.
The boy sprinted across the street, then ran down the deserted road, the pursuers only a dozen paces behind. That they hadn’t caught up with their longer legs was a testament to the boy’s speed and guile. He’d be fine on his own.
Maybe he wouldn’t. Gritting his teeth, Tian followed.
The boy turned down a side street. When Tian reached the corner, he looked around just in time to see the Metal Men turn into an alley. Tian made a quick scan of the surrounding area. In the windows above stores, people now peeked out from cracked shutters. He took a deep breath and ran to the alley, stopping at the edge of a building for cover. He craned around the corner.
In the morning shadows, the boy stood with his back to a dead end, his hands pressed against the wall.
One of the Metal Men put his hands on his hips. “Return the bread now, cretin, and your punishment will be light.”
Tian eased the grip on his dagger. If the punishment was light, then he didn’t need to risk exposing himself.
Dark shapes dropped down from the balconies overhead, enveloping the two Metal Men. They collapsed to their knees with muffled grunts.
Tian started to back away from the ambush. A hand clamped down on his shoulder. He raised his hand and stopped a knife from pressing into his throat. Securing his assailant’s hand on his shoulder with his own, he spun and swept his leg out. A twist of the wrist, and the knife clattered to the ground. He straddled his attacker…
A teenaged girl.
Her eyes widened. “Zheng Tian! You’re supposed to be dead.”
Moquan. The ambush was so elementary, only a child would fall for it. Or a Metal Man. And him, apparently. This girl must’ve been the rear lookout. Not only that, she knew his name. He raised an eyebrow. “Who are you?”
She pouted. “Feng Mi. We attacked Wailian Castle together. Don’t you remember?”
Had she? Honey? She was cute enough. Yet with his memory, she could’ve been the once-in-three-generations Doe-Eyed Girl and he wouldn’t recognize her. Composing his best apologetic expression, he shook his head.
Behind him, a male said, “Who…”
Tian turned and met a young teen’s eyes, which widened. Beside him the first boy stared as well.
“Zheng Tian,” he droned. “I’d never believe it was you following me. I thought it was a Teleri Nightblade. Come on, back into the shadows.” He beckoned them back into the alley.
Tian helped Feng Mi to her feet. She gazed at him with adoring eyes. Heat rose to his cheeks, and he quickly turned into the alley.
Two other young male Moquan worked at stripping the Metal Men of their armor. They all looked up from their work and gawked. He might as well have been the village shaman, given the attention.
Feng Mi skipped over. “You really don’t remember me? You taught me the Ghost Echo at the temple.”
“I lost my memories to the Viper’s Rest.”
Her mouth formed a circle and the others nodded. Such bright faces, so young. The Black Lotus Clan must have been severely depleted to depend on youth.
“Who is leading?” he asked.
Feng Mi stared at the ground for a few seconds before meeting his gaze. “Me.”
Her? He sized her up with a discerning eye. “If I taught you a technique at the temple, you can’t be that old.”
One of the boys nodded. “Most of the clan is defending the inner castle. Feng Mi was the most senior on the outside.”
Tian looked from him back to girl. Princess Kaiya must’ve been in the inner castle. “How many adepts do you have? Who’s giving you orders?”
“There are seven of us. We take turns going to Cold Sun Bell Foundry, getting orders from Master Yan.”
“What’s your mission?”
“For now, harass the occupying army.”
“Two at a time.” Tian snorted.
The first boy crossed his arms. “We were sabotaging their supplies. I was just a diversion so our last two could do the sabotaging.”
The others nodded.
It was almost cute. Though it made sense: as long as the senior clan members defended the princess in the castle, the younger ones could operate on the outside. Tian scratched his chin. “How many enemy soldiers are there?”
“About five thousand,” Feng Mi said.
Only five thousand, out of an expeditionary force of fifty thousand. They must’ve sustained significant casualties breaching the north gate. Still, five thousand was more than seven—now eight—Moquan could defeat. Tian scratched his chin. “Where are they concentrated?”
Feng Mi used a finger to sketch the city in the air. “Mostly in the northwest quadrant and around the palace. Smaller units stationed at the north and west gates, and around the holes left in the east walls.”
Leaving the south gate undefended. A trap perhaps, to entice an attack there, or maybe allow an escape route. If only he could remember the city layout. “What does that tell us about their objectives?”
The youngsters glanced among themselves.
The first boy said, “They’re keeping our soldiers bottled up in the palace.”
Tian cocked his head. That wasn’t what he would’ve thought. More like preparing an assault. “How many soldiers are in the palace?
“Eight thousand.”
Tian scratched his chin again. None of it made sense. Outnumbered, cut off from their homeland, the Teleri had still managed to control the entire city and its resources. “Why hasn’t the regent ordered a counteroffensive?”
Feng Mi shook her head. “The regent fled the city to draw the main Teleri army away.”
Fled? Main Teleri army? Tian looked from spy to spy. “How many soldiers?”
“Forty-five thousand,” one of the older boys said.
They’d hardly suffered any casualties, then. “Who’s protecting the regent?”
“Three hundred of the Huayuan provincial cavalry,” said another boy.
Tian glared at them. This was the woman that he supposedly loved. “What about a Black Lotus Moquan adept? Aren’t we supposed to protect the Imperial Family?”
Feng Mi popped her lips. “I was guarding her, but she ordered me to stay in the city.”
“And you obeyed?”
She shrugged. “Our orders to guard her were given by the late Tianzi. As regent, she is head of the Wang Family. I could not disobey.”
Tian snorted. If anyone was more stubborn than the Moquan, it had to be this Doe-Eyed Girl. With Yuha or not, he had to go after his wife. Even if he didn’t love her. She needed his protection. “I’m going after the regent.”
The others gaped. As he turned to leave, Feng Mi grabbed his sleeves. “How can you leave at a time like this?”
Tian met her gaze. It wasn’t as though he had much to contribute. “This evening, Yan Jie will come in through the sluice gate where the White Duck Stream empties into the lake.”
Glancing around the square, Jie didn’t think the town looked occupied. They were about six li from where they’d parted with Tian, whose lack of confidence in his own abilities had proved troublesome. Here, people went about their everyday lives, though most stared at Yuha as they passed. Not a single Teleri prowled the streets. They must’ve just marched through without leaving a garrison.
They’d apparently procured supplies, though. People crowded around carts and stalls, bidding outrageous prices for common vegetables. Spring greens, carrots, radishes, and winter squashes—usually in abundance this time of year—barely filled one farmer’s cart. No meat hung in the butcher’s stall, and indeed, from the smells, there were too few pigs and cattle around. A decent amount of fresh crustaceans sold for high prices, but there were hardly any salted fish.
Down toward the docks, men, and children cast lines. No boats bobbed in the lake beyond. Jie beckoned Yuha to follow. Many of the fishermen gawked as they approached. Give a shaman and a half-elf a fish…there had to be a good punchline for the oddity of it.
She bowed to a middle-aged man with a weathered complexion. “Where might I find a boat?”
“If we knew, do you think we we’d all be fishing from the banks and docks?” He swept a hand across the riverfront, at all the other fishers. “You won’t find a boat anywhere on the north shore of the river or lake. If you want one, go ask the regent in Huajing.”
Another man, carrying a rod, walked up. “First, the regent impounds the boats across the lake, for fair compensation. Then the Teleri come and force us to sell over half our food stores. What good is the money if a turnip costs five times the regular price, and neighbors turn on neighbors in the struggle to feed themselves?”
The first man spat into the water. “And then, the Teleri captured the city anyway. Incompetence, I tell you.”
“Would’ve never happened under the late Tianzi.” The second harrumphed.
Jie nodded, but had her doubts. The Tianzi might’ve had a good mind for trade and economics, but Hua was ill-prepared to defend itself on this side of the Wall. Meanwhile, invasion might as well have been the Teleri’s national religion. She turned to Yuha, cupped her hands to pantomime a boat, and shook her head. “No boat.”
He pointed upshore, where dozens of eldarwood trunks bobbed in a holding pen on their trip to the shipyards. He wound his hands around in a circle, while the fishermen gaped at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the logs. Several of the fishermen followed.
Yuha repeated the motion. Lashing the logs together? Was he suggesting building a bridge? They had neither the carpentry skills, nor the time. Not to mention Sun-Moon Lake was several li wide. He threw his arms up and dragged her to a vegetable garden just twenty paces from the riverbank.
He looked up and down the rows before locking on some vines. He marched to the thatched hut and called inside, using heavily accented Hua. “Helllloooo?”
A young woman poked her head out, her eyes widening before shifting to the small crowd that gathered.
Beaming, Yuha placed a hand on his chest, then swept it outwards. He then pointed at the garden. “Want.”
The woman’s gaze shifted to Jie. “What does he want?”
Jie flashed a sheepish grin. As if she knew.
Yuha beckoned them to the garden, and the woman followed, revealing a baby swaddled in her arms. Yuha smiled and nodded at the child, then came to the vines. “Want.”
The mother cocked her head. “Whatever for? There aren’t enough tender leaves for even one meal.”
“I give you.” Still smiling, Yuha removed a necklace with feathers and polished river stones and proffered it. A trade? Around them, the fishermen chuckled.
“A pretty necklace won’t feed my family.”
Whatever Yuha wanted, it seemed urgent. Jie produced a silver jiao.
She held up a finger. “One plant.”
“One?” Jie threw up her hands. “That’s enough to buy a field of vines.”
“We can’t eat silver.”
Yuha put a hand on Jie’s shoulder and nodded. He held up one finger.
Just one? He must be insane.
The look the young mother afforded them left no doubt she felt the same, but she nodded nonetheless.
Yuha took the woman’s free arm and clasped her wrist. He closed her hand around his own wrist and nodded again. Freeing his hands, he enunciated a few melodic words.
The ground trembled. Before everyone’s rounded eyes, the vines lengthened and fattened. Side tendrils unfolded, and small white flowers opened.
“Heavens,” the woman gasped.
Some of the men ran among the vines, now crawling over the land and toward the riverbank and logs, and dabbed their fingers from flower to flower. Snow peas grew out from where they touched. Other men ran back into the town.
Yuha, and Jie behind him, followed the snow peas. He wound his hands in circles again, and the vines wrapped around several of the logs. He busied himself with snapping off the side tendrils.
Jie stared. He was making a raft.
Around them, the excited townsfolk harvested peas and pea leaves. Within an hour, Yuha had bartered his services for oars and a long pole, with yet more people begging to trade. By the time they set off, his shoulders hunched and he walked with a trudge.
Nonetheless, he pushed off with the pole and guided the raft across the lake to the city walls. Once they reached a deep point, he knelt and paddled. Slow going, for sure, and Jie was useless because of her arm. All she could do was point toward their destination.
When they reached the city wall, Yuha poled again. Past the palace, past the castle and the Tianzi’s personal residence. At last they floated to the grate where White Duck Stream emptied into the lake. She looked up to the iridescent moon, now waxing to half-crescent in the fading sunlight.
Jie pressed up to the grate. With a rattle, it opened. “Tian?”
No answer. It’d been thirteen hours since they’d parted. He should’ve arrived long before. Had he unlocked it and left? No, he wouldn’t be dumb enough to do that, not even in his amnesiac state. So who’d unlocked it?
Chapter 33:
Threshold of Greatness
Standing alone outside his tent, Peng Kai-Long stared at the imperial army’s flickering torches in the mountain pass above. They lit the night like fireflies, stretching out in orderly lines as the night progressed. Without a doubt, the imperials were preparing for the total annihilation of the dwindling Maduran army camped out below.
His plans could not be working any better. Tai-Ming Lord Wu, in exchange for Kai-Long’s marriage to his pretty second daughter, now marched on the imperial army’s rear. Just two weeks away, Z
henjing’s provincial armies would swell Kai-Long’s numbers to three-quarters the size of the imperials.
“Jue-ye, urgent news,” a voice called from inside his tent.
Inside his tent! Only the Water Snake Clan operative, who had saved him before, could’ve crept behind his back and through the guards. Kai-Long slipped past the flap.
In the darkness, a voice spoke in a low whisper. “The imperial army is retreating north to Fenggu.”
Retreating? Kai-Long opened the flap and pointed at the sea of torches winking in the distance. “They are fanning out. I would wager they will launch an attack on the Madurans at first light.”
“You’d lose that wager.” The Moquan’s words held a hint of laughter. “They are setting out torches to cover their march.”
Clever. General Lu, the imperials’ commander and self-proclaimed Guardian Dragon of Hua, had learned the Founder’s rules of warfare well. “The imperials must have heard of Lord Wu’s betrayal.” Their rear guard could hold this pass while the rest overwhelmed Wu. Kai-Long’s stomach clenched.
“No, Jue-ye,” the spy said. “A Teleri legion has captured Huajing and now heads this way.”
The Teleri? Kai-Long’s jaw clenched. They couldn’t have possibly breached the Wall…unless Lord Zheng in Dongmen and perhaps Lord Lin in Linshan had joined them. This situation had devolved into an unmitigated disaster, thanks to the accursed court sycophants and ambitious lords. “Why are we just now learning about the Teleri invasion?”
“The Water Snake network is weaker in the South. A situation that will be remedied once you rule and root out the Black Lotus. We should attack the imperial rear.”
Kai-Long snorted. These spy clans were just as backstabbing and ruthless as the ambitious lords. “I might not rule if the Teleri occupy the capital.”
“If I may, Jue-ye, find opportunity in disaster,” the man said. “If you are the one to defeat the Teleri, you solidify your claim to the Dragon Throne.”