You Are Weak

Peri swallowed uneasily and invoked her ring of invisibility. She walked one toe tip at time, listening, craning her neck. As she was climbing the ladder to the top of the wall, she noticed the dead guardsmen and the fact that dark-clad figures were stealthily climbing atop the wall on rope ladders. She squinted and could see that there were a lot of them - as far along the wall as she could see. No doubt Imoen and Winski had seen them and reported back by now... she would have to keep her cover and try to find her way to behind the lines. Shui could not be too far away yet, if he still was alive.

Peri crossed the outer edge of the wall, taking care not to collide with any of the attackers. She would have no chance against them as they had snipers stationed down the wall. She was immortal in that old age would not kill her, in that death didn't live in her bones like it usually did in those of a human. But if her throat was skewered with crossbow bolts, she would still bleed dry and Umikaze might be left without her mother, unless Jelena found her body in time. She realized that the prospect of dying felt different than it had before. She still wasn't scared of it, but she took it more seriously than she had done. She would prefer to give Umikaze what she never had herself - a mother's love.

As she silently started to descend the wall, her sword strapped at her back, she heard a faint yelp of surprise as one of the invaders fell into a lifeless heap, and then a shower of arrows was fired on the rest of them from the shadows. She grinned approvingly - apparently the defense plan was in action.

By now the attackers were yelling in their own language, abandoning their stealthy approach and scaling back down from the wall. Peri crept, keeping an eye on the ensuing battle, giving the troop wide berth. Must not think about the battle now... Sar and Chen will take care of that. Must find wherever they would put a prisoner...

She walked for a mile, seeing a couple of tents and a wagon. Five horses, restlessly whinnying at the sounds of the battle, were tied to a makeshift pole. Drat, the animals would probably sense her presence... but as they were restless already the potential guards wouldn't probably notice.

A guarded tent... he could be there. Two guards, she would have no trouble taking them down. They chatted quietly in their language that was odd in Peri's ears after months of listening to Shou. This language had strong R-letters and much less intonation than Shou.

The other guard was a woman, her dark brown hair tied at the back of her head. The other was a young man, and they seemed somewhat... disappointed? Because of being left out of the battle?

Peri pulled a shortsword and a dagger from her waist and crept next to the guards. Then she leapt, the left hand holding the dagger at the young man's belly and the right one holding the sword at the woman's throat. They were dumbfounded, their eyes bulging from their head. They were even more surprised to notice that their attacker was not a Shou.

- "You speak common?" Peri asked in a low tone, all the time aware of her surroundings. If more people came she might have to wreak havoc in Sarevok style, whirlwinding constantly and chopping people in pieces with the two-handed sword, but she really preferred to be discreet.

The warriors stared at her defiantly, not uttering a word. Peri nudged the throat of the woman breaking the skin. She let her expression tell that she meant business.

- "I do. A little," the boy said.

- "Where is Tuang Shui?" Peri said.

- "Who?" The woman had this annoying expressionless mask that made Peri unable to see whether she had a clue or not.

- "A Shou officer, young man. I can kill you easily, you know. It doesn't make any difference."

There was a silence again. Damn them! Were they going to force her to kill them just like that?

- "Not here anymore," the woman finally grudgingly said. "He is taken to the commanding center, to the Khan."

- "But you will never win. This is destined. The Khan will crush all who resist!" the boy added.

- "I am tired of you madmen," Peri said. "Now tell me where the commanding center is and hope that he is all right. I will come back and kill you really bad if he isn't."

She was aware that it didn't sound very convincing. She didn't care.

- "Take that tent rope," she said to the boy. "Tie her hands and do it properly. Good. Then gag her."

The boy did as he was told and propped the female guard sitting on the ground, leaning to a tent pole.

- "Why you not kill us?" the boy sneered. "You are weak."

Peri just shook her head.

- "I have killed enough people to last me a lifetime so I prefer not to if I don't have to. Hands behind your back."

This boy was probably no more than eighteen years old, and convinced that brutally crushing others under your own will was a sign of strength. Jelena would be saddened. Peri just shrugged it off, finished tying the boy, and stole a horse to continue her mission.