water11 THE WAY OF WATER
By Pooky

Chapter Eleven:

Mulan stood at Shang's shoulder looking over the ledge of the beacon tower. He seemed calm and quite sure of himself, unusual of late, but perhaps it was because he had only one choice before him. Closing her eyes, she imagined them in the mountains again, seeing for the first time with their own eyes the destruction the Huns had wrought. It had been their first real glimpse of war and they had shared it together, the same horror, the same shock, losing in the same glance the notion that their duty could ever be proud or glorious. War was the conduct of a funeral. He had been the leader then, impossible to doubt or not to admire, he had been so strong. She had fallen in love with that, despite their quarrels. The army may have followed her ideas and plans, but a true leader led by example not orders, his example.

They were alone again, on the tower's highest level, the others were below and the men were scattered about their posts. Mulan fixed her eyes on the terrain, respecting his silence, studying the slope of the land and the shadows of the trees, who could know which way they would come?

"Shang?" After a quarter hour of silence, Mulan began to worry for him. "Are you alright?"

"It's my father," he said without looking at her. It took her a minute to realize that was his answer. Then he sighed, and finally did turn to her. "When my grandfather, Li Zhi, died, his first wife took power and ruled through her children until she died four years ago. Had my grandfather not have favored her so much my father might have been heir, instead he was put into the army, maybe for his own protection from Empress Wu. When my aunt tells me of all the intrigue and bloodshed in Ch'ang-an I can't understand why he would want the throne."

Stepping closer, Mulan slipped her hand in his. He did not draw away, or appear put off by the touch, but squeezed her hand warmly. Despite his resolve, she could see that he was seeking comfort. She could forgive him for telling her to lie down, it was hard for her to stay angry at him long anyway.

"Remember when I asked you about Qin Shi Huang-ti?" She said quietly. "And you told me he was ruthless because he had to be? Maybe somewhere inside your father believes the same thing."

He was silent in thought for another minute. "That's different," he said finally. "It's easy to understand the motives of a man you read of in a book, you only have the facts. It's like when you read of the slaughter the Huns brought to the villages, it does not upset you. But after you have stood in the midst of it, you no longer sleep as well. Even Qin Shi Huang-ti did not try to kill his own son, he left the throne to him."

She had no answer to this, but tried to sound optimistic. "Well, at least we know you can't lose. We outnumber them and we have the Wall for advantage. At least it isn't both of them, we don't have to worry about Shan-yu anymore."

"Right," He nodded. "A little bit of artillery, and there goes all our problems." She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Tai-shan was making his way up the ladder, already dirty from whatever he had been helping to move below. Mulan dropped Shang's hand before the captain could see, though he was not looking at her, he was gauging distance over the tower's edge.

"Three thousand, and they're not stupid enough to divide their forces. But it doesn't matter, they're dead no matter what they do. I wish they'd just surrender and save me the energy. It's cold out here and I can't have a drink until tomorrow." He sat down on the ground, joined by Mulan and Shang.

"If you wait until they get close enough you can surround them," Mulan shrugged. "There isn't much we have to do. It would take some men on the ground though."

Tai-shan looked between her and Shang, unsure whether this was an official order not. Mulan tried to take no offense, Shang was his friend after all, of course he would trust him first. "It's a risk but it may be easier. Cannon fire will have them scattering and they'll only regroup and come back. We want to finish them. Keep the men ready to move, Shan, we don't know which why they'll come."

"Well," Tai-shan rose to his feet after sitting for only a moment. Mulan had never seen him so uneasy. The man was always somewhat cocky and self-assured. "Come with me, Shang, tell me if everything meets with your approval." Shang rose after him, casually motioning for Mulan to stay where she was. She frowned, but did not argue.

The pair walked beyond the doorway of the tower and out onto the Wall, she could hear them talking to the others in curt phrases the way men spoke to each other. It was hard not to feel vaguely special after he had made an effort to converse with her, and tell her about his family. Shang was making several brief gestures to soldiers lining the ledge, shifting them a few feet left or right, most of the time farther apart to span the greatest distance. Tai-shan was more animated, swearing and impatient when he was questioned. He turned his back to the north, waving his hand and yelling to an officer several feet away. Mulan watched Shang take the step to turn around beside him, she almost shouted the warning even before it happened.

The explosion of a single cannon cracked through the air, followed by a cloud of flame and smoke and shouts from officers to duck. When the smoke cleared she panicked to see both Shang and Tai-shan on the ground, the general thrown over the captain. But they rose just as quickly, only as far as their knees for a look around before throwing themselves facedown and crawling towards her again, lest they be seen by the enemy. The cannon had been aimed for them.

"Black Powder," Shang said, then added a few curse words Mulan was surprised to hear from him. That was real treason, to arm the Huns with the most secret of Chinese weapons. "Look," Shang pointed to the treeline, where just below it dark shapes were on the move. It was impossible to see where the cannon had been fired from, a soldier who had run up ahead and thought to be rid of Shang quickly. At first Mulan had thought this foolish, but then remembered the Huns had no idea Shang was expecting them, they had no idea that Mulan and Tie-lin had reached him in time.

Tai-shan had crawled between her and Shang. "Wait until they come into the light, make sure the numbers are what we expected. We don't want to be caught off guard. I'd wait until they're riding close together though, otherwise we're just wasting cannons hitting one of them at a time."

Shang nodded, "When we've picked off enough of them we'll set fire to the forest so they'll have no path of retreat, and then send our horses to finish them off." Tai-shan started to nod, but Mulan grabbed Shang's arm.

"We don't even have to do that yet."

Both men looked at her in shock. It was just as Tie-lin had said, they wanted to beat everything to death with their arrogance and force.

"Keep low and let them come," Mulan continued. "Use their aggression to an advantage. Let them waste their arrows and cannons a little first. We're safe here."

Tai-shan's eyes were wide, waiting for Shang to give a contradicting order. Instead he smiled somberly at her, nodding in approval. "We'll wait and see what they do first. Come on," he was crawling towards the ladder.

Mulan followed the two men down the ladder into the base of the tower after the cannon fire started. Her friends were there, looking anxious.

"I hate waiting," Yao complained. Ling nodded, sitting with chin in hands, but Chien-Po shrugged as if to say it was better than fighting.

Crawling towards the entrance, Mulan peeked her head out, arrows and smoke filled the air, the tower shook as a cannon struck the stone. Shang slid in beside her, looking out in dismay. "Mulan, if we wait too long they could destroy the Wall with those." Mulan gulped, she hadn't thought of that. But she should have, remembering the damage the rocket had done to the Imperial Palace. Then again, she didn't really think a Hun army would have many cannons to worry about, unless General Li had managed to smuggle the prized Black Powder over the border.

"Come on then," Tai-shan was impatient, then looked to Mulan in consolation. "I didn't put up with years of training and being Colonel Tan's love slave to sit here and hide." Mulan shrugged, did he ever do anything other than complain?

On top of the tower again, Shang wasted no time in giving firing orders, sending the men igniting their own cannons with golden flares across the night sky. She could see the men clearly below, their ranks and columns distinctive, even the tall plumes of General Li's helmet were visible. The men did their best to take cover, firing at the incoming forces who sought to blast them from their posts before the climbing the Wall. It was a bold move, and might have worked if the Chinese were unprepared. The Hun archers had unrivaled skill, their flaming arrows soaring through the sky, striking their human targets without trying. With the cannons, the crossfire was fierce, taking down men on both sides. Mulan watched in horror as two soldiers twenty feet from her were suddenly engulfed in flame, thrown into the air by the impact and hurled twenty feet below on the earth.

"Mulan!" Tai-shan was behind her. "I told you they were dead, Look!" Peering over the ledge she saw the Huns had started to climb, using the same grappling hooks as she had heard they'd used before. They were picked off the ropes as arrow's struck them, but enough were making it up at a good pace where a Chinese soldier no longer was positioned directly above him, or no longer alive at least. General Li must have become desperate, to send the men on this suicide mission, the plan to weaken his reason must have worked. So she had the right mind after all.

Or so she thought.

Her eyes panned over the length of Wall, towards Shang kneeling at her very far left. He was leaning over the edge, gazing down in distraction. Mulan felt prickles of fear and dropped down, making her way to him under the crossfire. She stopped short when words came from the other side of the Wall.

"Shang, only son, help me and we can talk peace." It was General Li, reaching his hand out. His rope had fallen, and he was gripping the ledge with one hand. Shang was only kneeling there, watching in pain and fascination. "I had no choice but to join him, he would have killed me. My son, give me your hand. There's no greater sin than to kill your own father."

Mulan sat up on her knees beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "Shang, don't believe him. I heard him, Tie-lin heard him. You wouldn't think your own sister a liar." He didn't have to do anything, only let General Li fall, his own arrogance would destroy him, just as Tie-lin had said.

The general pushed her away gently. "Go back, Mulan." She didn't understand how he could make the words sound almost tender, as though speaking to her for the last time.

Drawing back, Mulan turned again to her soldiers, unsure of what to do. She watched in alarm as Shang reached forward, gripping his father's hand and pulling him over the edge. Mulan made a quick move to find Tai-shan again. Maybe he could convince him.

~ * ~

For a long suffering moment, Shang stared deeply into the cold dark eyes of the man before him, their corners tightened in desperate frustration. The grip that held his was strong, crushing Shang's fingers as his father gripped the stone with his other hand and used it to hoist himself up. It would have been so easy to let him fall, but so empty, after all the things his father had made him feel, such a quick death would never do.

Once on his feet, Li Shengli burst into triumphant laughter. "Didn't I teach you never to trust the enemy, even for a moment?" The voice echoed with disdain from behind Shang. His ears caught the soft hiss of steal being bared.

"You also said I was the best." Without giving him an opening to advance, Shang spun around, drawing his own sword but holding it at bay as he fought to disarm his father with a well aimed kick at his fist. Li Shengli growled, but threw the sword in the air and caught it in his left hand, trapping Shang's foot under his right arm.

Struggling for balance, the general teetered a moment, seeing the silver flash of the blade descending upon him. He cleared his thoughts, forgetting the anger and pain and remembering the lessons he had been taught, how to disarm an opponent at every angle. Inching his knee forward, he used his imprisoned leg to his advantage, forcing his weight against his father to twist and slam his knee into the other man's middle. Li Shengli staggered back several steps, giving Shang the chance to manage a complete turn-around and catch his father's wrist before the blade came down.

Shengli jerked his hand back too quickly, managing to lower the blade just enough so the point tore into Shang's left shoulder, piercing just beneath the armor. Gritting his teeth, Shang shook off the pain, which burned and dusted his vision with stars. He somehow managed to step back and use his other knee to knock the sword from his father's hand.

Letting out a strangled scream of frustration, the disarmed man lunged for Shang, attacking him with his fists. Shang winced as one of his father's blows caught him the eye, but despite the anguish in his arm he recovered himself, landing a series of blows hard into Li Shengli's stomach. Anger rose in him that he tried to swallow, this was duty not revenge. A wise man knew revenge came in its own time. More advanced in years and caught up in anger, the older man tired more easily, lax in his precision, leaving Shang able to strike a precise kick into his father's ribs, sending him sprawling unconscious on the ground.

Trying to catch his breath, Shang swayed dizzily, half in pain, half in shock, ignoring everything around him. Clutching his wound he let the blood soak through this fingers, sinking to his knees and lowering his head in pain. "Father," he said hoarsely, not knowing whether to scream or weep bitterly.