Part XI: Fates Entwined
Sky stood below the first archway to Dirge and stared down at the wreck, annoyed that things could have gotten so far out of hand.
Pandemonium was consuming the camp. From the east some large creature had torn its way through the woods and was tearing down tents as Sky watched. From the mud fields to the south, the spirit army was pouring through spaces between the dark trees. The rebels were coming in from the west, leaving large explosions where the transport flyers had been in their wake. Soldiers and even Assassins were blundering around blindly, falling to the blades of rebels and spirits alike.
He crossed his arms resignedly over his chest. In the shadows lining the mountain path, the elite of the Guild waited with him.
"Shame about the camp," said the closest shadow, amicably, in a voice like liquid silk. "And the prisoner, too. I sacrificed some of my best men to bring him in. Pity all that work should just go to waste."
"If you're fishing for a reward, you should already know that you'll be amply compensated," Sky returned, "And this was not a complete loss. You've heard it said that, 'The world is like wind, in constant, fluid motion'? Adapting to change is the true asset of every labile thinker; consider the turn of events more of a different opportunity."
"Oh, indeed, my lord. 'A man must learn to sail in all winds,' does he not? But I can't help wondering what becomes of the man who blindly follows the shifting of the currents. After all, the winds of heaven blows to Fortune's whim, and are not 'Man's schemes inferior to those of Heaven'?"
Sky gave a sharp laugh. "'The thinking man takes destiny into his own hands.' But of course, I'm not leaving anything to Fate. The enemy is expecting us to be in the campgrounds right now, amidst the chaos, and we're feigning disorder in order to entice him. As the Glorious Strategist himself once said, 'Attack your enemy where he is unprepared, and appear where you are not expected'…"
"How very fitting…" the shadow murmured.
"…and they are most certainly not expecting us to completely cut off our only path of return. Man can only plan within his limitations. Captain Sen," Sky called out, "are the explosives ready?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Excellent. Alert me when they are within fifteen paces of the base."
"Understood."
There was a thoughtful pause. Then, "Sire? I still think it would be wiser to retreat to a more tenable position."
"They will be here soon enough, Cao Zeng. Patience was still a virtue the last time I checked."
Sky couldn't hear the screams from this distance, but the fires and collapsing tents said plenty. The explosion that so thoroughly decimated the western end was now spreading towards the forest. Pieces of debris from the explosions fell into the barren trees and burned even in the rain. He allowed himself small consolation in the pillar of light that stood stark against the night. She wasn't going to be happy about the situation, but he was confident that things would be set to rights. He had lost Zu, who may well be dead by now, but circumstances had also granted him the opportunity to exchange the loss of one prisoner for another. She would understand. He smiled at her signature waves of red and purple that flew across the land and dispersed the green and ghastly blue shapes of the ghosts.
At the bottom of the hill, part of the rebel army was making its way up the path.
Cao Zeng cleared his throat politely, undeterred. "I was, uh, suggesting that we retreat for yoursafety, Sire," he said in his euphonious voice, "Although of course, I would happily stay behind to tie up any loose ends."
"I don't recall asking for your opinion."
"Just volunteering to kill every one of the rebels for you, lord."
"Kind of you to offer, but no."
"Thirty paces," interrupted the gruff voice of Sen. "Get to your position, boy." In the shadows, Sky thought he heard Cao Zeng sigh.
"Who's in the lead?"
"Min's got the old man, herself, and some rabble ahead of the main troops. Looks like we'll have company. Fifteen paces."
"Good girl," Cao Zeng murmured.
"Indeed. Captain, as soon as Kia Min and the Glorious Strategist are clear, I want you to drop this mountain on that army."
"With pleasure, my lord."
Unfolding his arms, Sky stretched and unsheathed his twin blades, twirling the metal experimentally. It had been some time since his last real fight. These days, all he ever seemed to have time for were brief sparring bouts in the Palace's training halls. It had been entirely too long since he was last in the field.
"Cao Zeng?" Sky said, offhand.
"Yes, m'lord?"
"Leave the old man to me. You may do whatever you wish with the rest."
"Oh, you are most gracious, my lord."
"Yes," Sky smiled to himself, "so I've been told."
At Captain Sen's signal, red fires flashed along the mountains and lit the perimeter of the pass. More explosions rocketed into the night sky as the dragon casks caught fire and sent waves of mud flying. The whole of the mountain teetered for a moment as the earth shook itself painfully. Then, with the slow, dignified grace of a whale diving, the mountain began falling down.
Hold, hold, hold ― NOW! Dawn Star jerked away from Lynn's descending blade at the last minute and turned to thrust the poisoned dagger into Lyn's groin, just above the pelvis. Dawn Star felt the hilt of the blade grow slick and hot with blood and Sweet Poison Lyn stopped smiling. With her remaining strength, Dawn shoved and drove the point deep into the other woman's gut. Lynn swayed a little, but stood firm. Trembling with the hazy effects of poison, Dawn Star looked up in surprise to see both ends of a spear sticking through Lynn's neck. The poisoner's eyes were bulging as her mouth worked without sound. Red blood bubbled around the spearhead and down her neck.
"Dawn Star! Are you alright?" Zu asked, appearing from behind the impaled poisoner. A piece of kailaan hung limply from his right shoulder pad, and his face was streaked with some dark pigment and he wore the robes and armor of a Lotus Executioner, but otherwise, he looked well. His silhouette was striking against the red column of light in the background.
"Zu?" Dawn Star asked, eyes wide, "I… I thought you were dead…" She tried to get up, but the poison in her system told her knees otherwise. "You haven't joined the enemy, have you?" She stared at his dark armor, but her head felt dizzy… she decided at that moment that maybe she wouldn't care if he was the Empress herself, just as long as he had some red silk grass poultice for her wound. Her left side still bled and she felt increasingly feverish. Maybe it was just the poison.
"Stay still," Zu commanded, as Assassins circled around. The ghosts had taken out a few of their numbers, but not enough. Zu drop the poisoner at his feet and braced his boots against Lyn's head while he pulled his spear out. He flexed his shoulders and brandished his weapon, pointing it menacingly as he placed himself between Dawn Star and the Assassins.
A flurried fight ensued, which Dawn Star vaguely followed. Zu's spear flared out like a fan before him, darting from one Assassin to another with a speed that made her head hurt. A couple of the Assassins tried to flank him while another distracted him in the front, but the spear whipped around as Zu twirled it behind his back, and she recognized the move as one she had once seen him teach Monshuiye. It was a variation on the third stance for Tien's Justice and very effective at distancing enemies that got too close. In this case, the move forced the two Assassins to retreat into Dawn Star's reach, and prying one of the two swords from Lyn's dead hands, she turned to stab the closer Assassin through a chink in the back of his armor. The sword caught in the metal and Dawn Star grimaced trying to recover it, but it was pulled from her weakened hands by the weight of the dying Assassin. The other Assassin turned her way when he heard his comrade cry out, and she struggled to get to her feet.
She wobbled as she got up, but immediately Zu was by her side, a blood-streaked spear in his hands, and a feral snarl on his mouth. He made short work of the Assassin before Dawn Star had even had time to blink, but Zu was just as quickly gone again to deal with the rest of the pack. A hovering globe of residual po energy hung where the Assassin had fallen. Dawn Star reached out and pulled the chi towards her, placing her hand over her wounded side as she concentrated on healing. She felt a warmth flow into her body and as the wounded side knit itself into tender flesh, and she could also feel the bile of poison surging through her, forced out by the chi.
She saw the red fire bloom in the horizon through the corner of her eye as she bowed over the ground, vomiting ichor. The krakathoom! Krakathoom! sounds of heavy explosions rocked the west.
"Dawn Star!" Zu cried, as he disemboweled the last Assassin and ran back. He bent to pick up something from the ground before rejoining her. She shook her head and waved him off, though she blanched with the effort, still weak.
"I… Give me a few moments… I'll be alright." She tried to smile reassuringly.
Zu offered his hand, which she gratefully accepted. She wrapped her arm around his neck in a half-embrace.
"Kia Min's idea?" He asked, looking west.
"Hui's, actually." She sniffed. "Is that soy sauce?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"Long story," he said, handing her Guijin's Favor, the sword she dropped earlier. She sheathed it at her waist.
"Let's go, we should use the distraction to get past the camp."
"I'm not going." Dawn Star said, glancing past him to the pillar of light before coming back to his face. The shadows made his expression hard to read. "I… There's no easy way to say this, Zu, and you'll think I'm crazy, but I'm going to face her, so please don't argue with me and just let me go. I have to do this. I might not be able to run right now," she said, gesturing to her side, "but I think I can still buy my father and Kia Min some time."
"Fine. I won't argue with you." Zu said, face grim. "The answer's 'No' anyway." And with that, he scooped her over his shoulder against her protests and set off on a dead run for Dirge.
Mud slid down the mountainside like melting wax: deceptively slow and distant, and in the next instant, a behemoth over the path. The onrush of its force was like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. The rebels screamed and ran, but they were too slow and too late. The sludge poured down indiscriminately, swallowing fighters and passage both, effectively blocking retreat.
Roughly fifteen paces ahead of the ambush, a shocked horror swept through the surviving band of a dozen rebel warriors.
"What have you done?" Sun Li asked in a hoarse whisper, his eyes sweeping across the carnage to focus on Kia Min alone.
"Captain Min, what's going― ?" one of the younger warriors began, but his words were cut short by the gurgle of blood in his lungs. A large blade protruded from his chest and glinted malevolently in the dim light of lanterns.
Then the shadows descended, black and violent.
Li threw off his cloak and unsheathed Fortune's Favorite, moving to intercept Kia Min before she backed into the darkness. By the glow of half-shuttered lights, roughly two dozen unknown figures spilled onto the path. A large warrior leapt and intercepted the gap between Li and Kia Min, bearing down on the old man with the momentum of a hurtling boulder. Li feinted with his sheath and brought the edge of his sword spinning up, carving through the fighter's exposed abdomen and scoring flesh. A surprised "O" formed on the fighter's mouth as Li tore the blade through the warrior, nearly cutting the man in half. Not waiting to see his opponent fell, Li quickly turned and swung his sword, projecting a wave of powerful chi that sent the closest combatants flying. All around him, the rebel soldiers scrambled to fend off the shadowy attackers, and rallied to defend the Glorious Strategist.
The sound of metal scraping metal caught Li's attention, and he turned to see one of his soldiers go down under a flight of daggers. Further up, Li recognized the man in black robes lined with silver dragons who stood with twin blades crossed at his chest. Beside him, a younger man in bright purple robes and a blue cap grinned down as more daggers appeared in his extended hands.
The foppish man in the colorful robes began to sing, a strange, uncivilized song which his mellifluous tones carried past the sounds of swords and spears. His unfamiliar tongue accompanied the daggers that wove a pattern in the air about Li, and the melody was hypnotic and somnolent, lulling to the senses. Li forced himself to focus and shake off the effects, but fighters were already collapsing all around him as flying metal found soft flesh in the hearts and throats of his soldiers.
Li hurled the sword sheath at the singer, aiming for the man's exposed neck, but the projectile was deftly countered by the blades of the man in black. With near super-human speed, he cut the scabbard in two and advanced on Li. The old man raised his own blade to meet the challenge.
Metal met metal with a shrill, hard sound, and the clash of swords sent sparks flying between them. Sky matched Sun Li's attacks blow for blow and focus for and focus; but the younger man had the advantage of his youth and speed, dodging around Sun Li's slower thrusts and answering them with twists of the edge that dove under Li's defenses and raked across his arms and sides. Realizing his disadvantage, Sun Li abandoned melee combat and moved swiftly to ranged attacks, summoning a fire spell in his hands as he retreated from Sky's blades. Sky followed, not allowing his opponent even a moment's leeway, and slammed both blades down on Fortune's Favorite's and deftly spun the weapon into the air. Fire raced through the mill of combatants, singing the space where Sky had stood, but in one fluid motion he leapt and cleared the space where the Dire Flame shot out, and landed in a crouch behind Sun Li. A Legendary Strike to the small of the old man's back finished the job, sending Li sprawling breathless into the mud.
Once Li fell, the rest of the rebel soldiers were quick to dispatch. Only Kia Min remained standing. Flint was struck and a light in a glass globe was lifted into the air. The bright, fuelless fire glinted off the wet helmets of Sen's Imperial Soldiers who filed down the pass to surround the fighters, a heavily-armed troop of roughly thirty warriors. The elite of the Guild stood nonchalantly amidst the carnage them, studiously ignorant of the mangled bodies at their feet. Cao Zeng grinned broadly at the face of Kia Min. Two of the Guild came forward and took hold of Sun Li's arms, pulling him up.
"I had no choice, Master Li," Kia Min murmured, "It's for the good of the Empire."
"Fool girl," the old man said bitterly, "You know nothing of the good of the Empire. You have doomed us all."
"No, they will make things better, you will see! No more famine, no more drought, no more death, and no more loss, Master Li! I wouldn't expect you to understand. But she's going to bring them all back, all the ones we've lost. And she can. I believe it. Just you see — Monshuiye is going to make good on her promise." The woman's hand on her weapon trembled slightly. "I know she will."
"No famine and no drought? No death and no loss? No rebirth and no beginnings, Kia Min! Do you even understand what you've traded away?" Kia Min's jaw set tightly.
"Shut up, old man," growled Captain Sen, striking Li across the temple with the hilt of his sword. The old man staggered. Kia Min's spear was at Sen's throat in an instant, but Cao Zeng stepped in, his hand a warning against her neck.
"Don't touch him, again, dog," the warrior growled, but she slowly lowered her weapon.
"Captain Sen, I understand your devotion to your job, but I suggest that you carefully refrain from manhandling my prisoners," Sky reprimanded in a quiet voice.
"I… Ah, if course, my lord. Please forgive my insolence."
"Personally, I'd give him thirty lashings if he were one of mine," Cao Zeng whispered into Kia Min's ear.
"Don't bother me with your irreverence, Cao Zeng."
"Touché, dear Captain Min, you wound me. I was merely trying to offer my sympathies."
"Quiet," Sky commanded. "Captain Sen, you and your soldiers will escort the venerable Master Li to Dirge." He turned to Li. "We have been so looking forward to this reunion," Sky confided as he drew close. "She's always thought of you as a father, you know."
Blood trickled down Sun Li's brow and mud marred his pale face, but the Glorious Strategist's eyes were as hard and dark as obsidian. He drew himself up with imperial dignity. "Don't subject me to your farcical displays, imposter."
Sky's hand flew to his heart in mock indignance, but the smile that curled around his handsome mouth melted no ice in his eyes. "Oh, how could I not honor such a venerable master's request? Very well, I will dispense with the pleasantries. Just business," Sky said, and in a movement almost too fast to see, he struck and sent Sun Li reeling three paces backwards with a Paralyzing Palm blow. The old man landed on the ground, frozen, though his eyes still betrayed the angry fire within.
Sky's smile was like ice as he leaned down, speaking softly, "We will simply take what we want," he said as he carefully cut the strap around Sun Li's neck and held up the Dragon Amulet, "and leave you powerless to stop us." Sky tucked the necklace into the sleeve-pocket of his robe. Then, he flipped the blade and lowered it delicately into Sun Li's body, methodically severing the muscles and tendons in his arms and legs (1). The old man's eyes widened, but the Paralyzing Palm denied him even the power to wince in pain.
"What are you doing?!" cried Kia Min, but Cao Zeng's hand still on her neck prevented her from rushing forward.
"There will be very little bleeding," Sky assured her, "and Doctor Wen Zhi is a very competent physician, albeit somewhat unconventional (2). I will ensure that your Master receives the very best medical treatment the Court has to offer. I've merely ensured that his 'paralysis' will remain a little more… permanent." He nodded to Sen to take the old man away. "Rest easy, Captain. It will be nothing for the Empress to restore him to full health once his purpose in the ritual is fulfilled. We just need to ensure that he will cooperate with us until that time, and that means eliminating any future risks to the effort."
Kia Min nodded, though her expression was still dark.
"Cao Zeng," Sky gestured, "if you would?"
Kia Min's eyes widened. "What- ?" she began, but Cao Zeng's hands closing around her neck cut off the words. A nerve pinch to the neck deftly dropped her to the ground.
"Don't take too long," Sky warned.
Cao Zeng bowed and ran his tongue over his blade with a flourish.
Sky waved a dismissal before turning to join the procession into the mountains. It was still a good five hours' to journey to the Temple, and there were many preparations to be made before Li was ready for the sacrifice.
Footnotes:
1) A technique calledduan jing, meaning "broken spirit," wherein a practitioner severs the muscles and joints necessary for a fighter to practice the martial arts, thereby rendering the subject a cripple, or worse, a vegetable. Skilled practitioners, however, have been known to perform this technique with such precision that normal body functions are completely preserved even as the subject's chi essence is so irreparably disrupted that he or she becomes deprived of not only the ability to perform martial arts, but also the ability to ever learn it again. It is rumored that especially powerful martial artists can perform duan jing on their opponents without the use of weapons.
It must be speculated that the Lord Sky's understanding of the procedure is superficial at best, and most likely a technique he picked up during his study of the human anatomy under duress. The assurances he gave Kia Min, however, are most likely honest, insomuch that the Empress has indeed been known to restore the health and functions of men from the very brink of the grave itself. Mad Doctor Wen's abilities are also known far and wide in the Jade Empire for his unconventional, but very effective methods (see below).
2) Doctor Wen Zhi, otherwise known as "Mad Wen," is the first Jade Empire physician known to have successfully transplanted an organ to a living host. A man devoted to only two things in his life: his work and his daughter, it is of little wonder how he wound up in the service of his present employer…
1/15/06 Took a break and wrote a KotOR short story this past week (shameless plug!), which is why this update's a little late. Considering that "A Dream of Blood and Snow" started out as my (brief) explanation for why the PC has to fight three versions of him/herself at the end of Dirge… this is just out of hand. I gotta remember that we're supposed to get to Dirge. Gotta get to Dirge…get to Dirge… gotta get to Dirge… :::(mumbles and trails off):::