by E. M. Hardy
The Empress nodded as she listened, humming in approval while tapping a finger on the armrest of her throne. Hobogetur eyed the royal couple with a subdued glance to mask his surprise.
“Very well, Hobogetur of the Shining Horde. We shall allow your horsemen passage through Imperial lands. We shall also allocate provisions for your troops.”
Hobogetur breathed a sigh of relief at that. “Thank you, your… uh… Augustness. I—”
“On one condition,” she added, interrupting Hobogetur as he stumbled about for a way to express his gratitude. “The General of the White Tiger Shen Feng and his army shall accompany your combined hordes to the Wastes.”
“That… is unexpected,” muttered Hobogetur. “But fair, I guess. You’ll be sending the entire central army to babysit my people?”
“Not just the central army. At least two divisions from the Sahaasi Dominion, and two more from the Taiyo Sovereignty.”
“Really?”
The Empress couldn’t help but smirk at Hobogetur’s incredulity. “Really.”
“And you managed to obtain the assent of both Shogun Ishida and Maharaja Venkati for this? Even while they’re down south fighting with the mud creatures all this time.”
“For some time now. Those soldiers would already have marched south if not for the Order of Rats attacking targets of opportunity. Our local agents have them cornered, however, and we expect the last of their cells to fall within the month. There is no hiding from our vengeance when they operate so brazenly, so recklessly in the open.”
“And you’ve decided to wait until I bring an offer to have my Great Horde join you in the fight against the rogues?”
“You overestimate your worth, but yes. As fortune would have it, our armies and the armies of our allies are prepared to march alongside your so-called Great Horde.”
“That’s… conveniently timed. Suspiciously so.”
“Come now, Khan of the Shining Horde. Did you really expect us to just forget about your people as they frolicked about in the Grass Seas? To ignore how the apparently mythical Fate Riders use some mysterious force to turn the blades, lances, and arrows of their enemies against their owners? To disregard the three sworn brothers who have managed to overpower and unite the other Hordes, assembling a Great Horde for the express purpose of fighting the rogues?”
“I… I see,” Hobogetur said as before, clicking his tongue and grimacing to hide the blush creeping up his neck. He hated himself for soaking up the flattery like a young half-man being egged on by the girl he likes, but it’s not every day that the icon of the Ren Empire sings your praises. There was a barb or two or three there somewhere, he knew that much, but the words she chose still sounded like high praise to him.
Oh, and the Empire apparently planted a few spies among the Hordes. No surprise there, though.
Well, whatever. He not only acquired food and passage for his riders but reinforcements as well. That was good, for it meant he would trot comfortably through Imperial roads instead of trampling Imperials and raiding villages for supplies.
Chapter 12
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale… then exhale.
Cui Dai blinked past the sparkling lights in her eyes, disregarded the ringing in her ears, and fought the panic that climbed up every time something like this happened.
She sent a wave of chi coursing through the vital organs of her body, starting with the heart and lungs before climbing up to the spine and brain.
She breathed a gentle sigh of relief when her chi met little resistance as it travelled inside her body. That same relief brought with it a sharp, jabbing pain from her chest as she tried getting up. A few torn muscles and broken ribs that took but moments to mend with a targeted wave of chi.
Darkness surrounded her as she regained her bearings, and she realized the unnatural, artificial nature of the shadows around her.
“Enin,” she called out loud to her partner. “Are things safe out there?”
A heartbeat of silence followed by a relieved mental sigh. “Yes,” her partner responded. “It appears that no other attacks are forthcoming. Lowering the veil now…”
The Balancer squinted against the sudden onslaught of sunlight and the shrill screams of the people around her. She stumbled as she fought to regain her footing. Another wave of chi fixed the battered muscles of her calves, allowing her to walk unimpeded after a few more moments.
There, before her, burned the remains of the last refuge of the Order of Rats within the Ren Empire: a villa in Ooshima, the largest island in the Isles of Taiyo and home to the former Shogun Inagaki’s staunchest supporters.
Yao Xiu came up beside her, clutching her staff and coughing out the dust she most likely inhaled from the explosion.
“Honored master! Honored master, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine… 97.” The Balancer shook the last of the confusion out of her head, remembering at the last moment to call her apprentice by her codename. “And the rest of the team?”
“They are fine, honored master,” the masked girl said, remembering her place and resuming her formal tone. “They were spread out far enough to avoid most of the blast. Only you were close enough to be directly harmed by it.”
“As to be expected from these fanatics,” Cui Dai responded, brushing the debris off of her bland uniform and readjusting her featureless mask.
“Just to be safe though, tell the others to light up their bonfires and ensure the entire compound is surrounded by light. There’s still enough sunlight out to prevent shadows from overlapping, but I want to be absolutely certain the Rats in there are actually dead and not just playing dead. We move in after… after half an hour.”
“Yes, honored master,” Yao Xiu said, rushing away with her jinni partner Inqiz to spread the word.
Cui Dai sighed, half with relief and half with trepidation. One whole year of silence from the Rats, of quietly fading into the background, only to come out in force after unleashing their latest weapon upon both Martin and the Empire of Ren.
They thought they could plant their bombs with impunity, escape the fury and vengeance of the Empress. But the Rats underestimated their resolve—along with the capabilities of their newfound allies.
A familiar man walked casually up beside Cui Dai, ignoring the way she tensed and pushed chi into her threads before realizing who he was. “Ho there, 42. And you too, 97,” the man she knew as Majdi el-Nassif said as he nodded to the young apprentice beside her.
He turned his attention to the ruined manor, sniffing with disdain as he surveyed the carnage before him. “Did those idiots in there actually blow themselves up?”
“Would not be the first time,” she replied neutrally to the League Operative standing beside her. “The old Order of Rats was more conservative, more reclusive than this. The leadership of this generation, however, appears far more radical and suicidal than the previous ones.”
The man nodded his head, then raised his hand to signal out. The other League operatives around the area stood up from their cover and began spreading out to move in.
“Wait,” Cui Dai motioned, holding a palm out for emphasis. “The Rats have begun planting secondary explosives that go off sometime after the initial explosion. We’re giving it thirty minutes before we send more people in to verify things.”
“Ah,” was the only reply that Majdi gave before twitching out his fingers in unspoken commands. His fellow operatives halted in their tracks, then immediately began backtracking. Ten minutes later, a massive blast shattered the silence, rocking the ruined compound once more and confirming Cui Dai’s earlier suspicions.
One of the Balancers most skilled with manipulating force wrapped himself with heavy armor, hid behind a shield, and set up a thick bubble of chi as he approached the still-burning villa. It was his jinni, however, that first sifted through the ruins. The man only got close enough for his bonded partner to investigate the sight for him. The rest of the Balancers a
nd Operatives moved in after the jinni gave the all-clear.
They wouldn’t need to act this cautiously if Martin’s walkers were still around to… Cui Dai banished the thought and focused on the task at hand.
An hour later, and Cui Dai studied the grisly remains of eight people. Six bodies reduced to indiscernible chunks of meat and broken limbs, with only two relatively intact cadavers. A quick identification check was enough to confirm that this was, indeed, the last cell of Rats known to both the Imperial Balancers and the operatives from the League of Merchants.
“And that is, hopefully, the last of the Rats,” Cui Dai grumped as she covered the bodies, making a mental note to cross them out of the list of cells that the Empire hunted down. “Justice has been served, even if not at the noose of a hangman.”
“Finally,” whispered her young apprentice, sniffing back the emotion that she no doubt kept bottled up inside.
Cui Dai hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Don’t relax just yet,” she replied in turn as she laid a gentle hand on Yao Xiu’s shoulder. “This marks the end of the cells we know of. It might be entirely possible that other cells of Rats went underground, biding their time until they can strike once more.”
“These fools,” hissed Yao Xiu as she kicked dirt into the corpse closest to her, surprising Cui Dai with an uncharacteristic outburst of raw anger. “Bombing markets and government offices, forcing us to divert resources away from the war against the rogues, even managing to destroy Martin’s core and killing him in the process... they’re so obsessed with avenging their bloody, barbaric Shogun that they don’t even stop to think about the consequences of their actions!”
“You miss him, don’t you?”
Yao Xiu choked at Cui Dai’s blunt question. She gawped for a half second, shut her mouth with a click of teeth, and balled her hands into fists as she processed her mentor’s question.
She sighed sadly a few moments later, slumping her shoulders in defeat.
“I do, but it’s more than that, honored master. Martin was not a mere shield against the rogues and the invaders, not just free labor with his constructs. He has done good by all of us. He always focused on making the world a better place however he could. Even when we… even when we viewed him with suspicion.”
Cui Dai raised a brow from behind the safety of her mask. She suspected that her apprentice almost slipped up and revealed the Empress’ original plans for ending Martin’s existence. It was a good thing she caught herself before she could so, for Cui Dai would rather not have to ‘reeducate’ her apprentice with regards to keeping Imperial secrets.
“It’s just a massive waste,” Yao Xiu continued on as she glared at the corpses at her feet. “They killed and died… for what?”
“For vengeance,” Cui Dai said with a dismissive sniff. “They decided to honor the old Shogun’s memory by killing his killer, inflict as many wounds as they can against their enemies before they are in turn killed.”
“It doesn’t make sense!” cried her apprentice with a furious shake of her head.
“No, but they’re dead now. They knew they were dead the moment they revealed themselves so openly. They may have been able to slink away into obscurity if they kept their heads down, but not when they exposed themselves this way.
“There are few places you can hide when the armies of the White Tiger, the Azure Dragon, and the Black Turtle comb the land for you. Oh, and don’t forget the League of Merchants. Isin was absolutely furious upon learning what the Rats did, and employed her extensive network of operatives to hunt them down like the dogs they are.”
Yao Xiu sniffed away the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, hardening her stance and stiffening her voice as she allowed Cui Dai to change the topic. “I noticed, honored master, that you hold the League’s operatives in high regard.”
“Let’s just say that I admire their dedication and that the Balancers are learning as much tradecraft from them as they learn chi cultivation from us.”
“Trade…craft? What trade do they ply that would interest Her Majesty’s servants?”
Cui Dai spared a glance at Yao Xiu and could visualize the earnest expression of puzzlement hidden behind the mask. She permitted herself a light chuckle—a genuine one, not one of the polite chuckles she forced out when dealing with ranking members of society.
“Oh, a great many interesting ones, apprentice. Many interesting trades indeed.”
A glittering object caught Cui Dai’s eye, the light refracting neatly off a crystalline edge and piercing through the narrow eye slits of her mask. She traced the source of said glint, walked up to its location, knelt down, and picked it up with one hand. She shook off the dust, wiped it with a sleeve, and raised it up to the afternoon sun.
It was a shard of crystal sliced off into a distinct diamond-like shape, polished nearly to perfection and glowing with power. It still held traces of condensed chi and prana, the two nearly-identical forces swimming within the shard.
“Please be careful, honored colleague. That shard looks like it might still be infused with explosive energy. It may detonate if it is struck hard enough.”
Cui Dai nodded her comprehension, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful pattern of energies within the bauble. She studied it more closely with her aura sight, something she had been training closely under one of Martin’s obelisks before the Rats ended his existence. The two energies within the shard seemed to flow around one another, remaining in perpetual motion despite their frozen condition.
She wrapped the strange shard in a rag before securing it in a padded satchel; perhaps the archivists could learn something new from it.
They would not.
The phenomenon was apparently common enough in blast sites where crystal bombs were used. The archivists had a trove of such crystals locked away, nothing more than curious oddities to further study. The chi and prana flowing within would simply bleed out once the crystals were broken, seep into the air only to disappear. They were thus viewed as nothing more than debris to be sorted and disposed of after some time.
Cui Dai, however, had one potential use in mind for the strange crystal as she claimed it for herself.
***
“Honored master,” huffed Yao Xiu as she struggled to catch up. “Please… slow down…”
“Oh, don’t complain too much,” her jinni Inqiz harped back at her. “The exercise is good for you. See? Your mentor is barely winded from her climb up the trail.”
“You tell her,” taunted Enin as she trailed black, tendrils in her wake as she floated alongside her partner. “Your partner is practically choking on her own breath.”
“I know. She’s far too reliant on chi and prana to—hey! What did I just say about boosting your vitality!?”
“But… honored… partner…”
“No honeyed words, young lady. You’ve been neglecting the physical aspects of your body, constantly cycling chi to bolster your strength and cultivating prana to boost your stamina. You need muscle and grit to serve as the foundations for your physical capabilities!”
“But… honored… partner…”
“I mean it, Yao Xiu! I’ve read up on what happens to those who do nothing but cultivate all day, seen first-hand the shriveled-up old prunes that can barely lift a finger without calling chi into their bodies.”
“No… I meant… look out!”
Inqiz furrowed his brow in puzzlement before he immediately reacted to the threat, dodging left to avoid a melon-sized rock hurtling down the cliff, narrowly avoiding his head. It wouldn’t have killed him as he would simply dematerialize into the Invisible World upon absorbing enough damage. Still, it would take some time before he could recover enough to return to the Visible World.
“Huh. My thanks, I suppose.”
Enin snickered as she trailed behind Cui Dai. “Might want to keep your eyes up, oh great lecturer. There’s a reason why these mountains have a deadly repu
tation.”
Cui Dai may not have been an active participant in the discussion, but she nonetheless nodded silently in agreement with her jinni even as she focused on the gravelly slopes around her.
Loose rocks would fall at the slightest breeze, with landslides a constant threat to watch out for. She then squinted downward, examining the haze of toxic miasma pooling at the valleys below.
The roads that Martin carved out through the Yanshi Mountains—what he called the Qleb Sierra—appeared durable enough to last for a few more years. It’s the rockfalls and landslides, however, that would eventually end up blocking the paths altogether.
Martin’s dolls, cow-boxes, and walkers used to be responsible for clearing the paths and plastering the cliffs with hardened mud. Without constant reinforcement of the retaining walls, the mountains would soon swallow up the roads connecting the Empire to the lands of the Bashri.
Then there were the bandits.
The army marching behind Cui Dai and Yao Xiu were the only reasons none of the local brigands accosted them. The Army of the White Tiger, the divisions from the Sahaasi and the Taiyo, and finally the Great Horde from the traitors of the north. It was a sign of the Empress’ desperation that she so readily accepted the help of treacherous barbarians instead of turning them away.
If only Martin could send a few eyeballs to…
She banished the disloyal thoughts with a stiff shake of the head, focusing on the objective ahead. The words rang in her head from time to time, but refused to entertain fantasies of ‘what if.’
She and three other teams of Balancers were assigned to join the Imperial army, assist in securing their supply lines and prevent brigands in the Bashri Deserts from pillaging their convoys.
Martin’s death emboldened quite a few vultures, those that believed it was easier to take and destroy than grow and create. This included the criminal elements within the League and the Emirates, those foolish and shortsighted enough to ignore the threat slowly creeping up at them from the east.
And yet… and yet she couldn’t quite shake off the significance of Martin’s loss. The towns and villages they passed no longer buzzed with life and activity.