"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." - G.K. Chesterton.

"Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision." - Winston Churchill.

"He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not nor practices them will surely be defeated." — Sun Tzu.

Chapter II

One Hundred to One

Spring, 673

The showers poured with a thousand splashes ahead of the yak soldier in his dark emerald lamellar armor. The marching across the distant terrain of high peaks was uneasy for Private Kai. The lands were unfamiliar from his cottage home — he only knew one place, so instead of living in his mother's home, partaking to advance his course throughout China was a baby step to begin studying every land.

This was the beginning of his fifth battle, and Kai had lost count of the fatalities when he took his final blows on his enemies. All drenched, preventing to slip against the muddy soil, Kai maintained his march with his fellow fighters beside him in front, crossing towards the opening field. Far to the other side of the ten uneven hills was the line of hundreds of soldiers, emerging by angry flashes of snow white. Kai had a pole fastened behind his armor, and his banner billowing above his small horns was the bear with two halberds sigil. He was not the only warrior carrying war banners as they faced forward, their faces clutching to a grimace. Down to his right, twenty yards away, prevailed the warlord in his soaked, billowing brown cloak and cinnamon scathe armor, thundering his roar against the storm and the enemies ahead of his army of five thousand soldiers. Captain Lung's army of seven thousand souls followed and obeyed their leader, and the young and many had their blood spilled for him on the battlefield. After amplifying their war cries, the others sent their winds of shouts, insulting the bear and all those before him.

"Cravens," one soldier next to Private Kai mocked. A wolf dressed in his dark emerald lamellar, wielding his halberd, growled with his sharp teeth.

Another, a bovine, unlike Kai, in his long scathe with sharp gauntlets and shoulder pads, drawing his long ax, vibrated his puffing snout. "Let's show these cowards what our courage means to them. Are you with me, Private Kai?"

"I am with you, sir," the yak sharpened his snout with a piercing puff. Kai drew his halberd, and on his side was his dao sword, long curve for the short range.

"Good. Let's make our kill counts far twice the numbers than the last. I expect you all to deliver your final blows. No hesitation. Do you understand?!"

"YES, SIR!" all of the bovine's forces of three thousand (wolves, deer, oxen, and more than six hundred yaks, including Kai) commanded.

Far from the enemy commenced drawing arrows from the archers and freed all, launching the fire arrows across the sea of gray fog. Holding position, the friendlies surveyed the rain of fire piercing down a few yards ahead of them, resulting in misses. About a thousand arrows fell, and Captain Lung heightened his roar and commanded his army.

"FORWARD! ATTACK!"

The friendlies in front lying before the ocean of soldiers from behind darted onward, hailing their war cries. Kai maintained his pace with two hooves, roaring with them when glaring. Not long after, their archers began unleashing their arrows, their sharp fletchings screaming in the air, the bolts pouring down at the front enemy battalions with fast and lethal strikes. Hundreds fell to the puddles, and the other archers loosened more, sending another round of a dozen times fifty yellow fireflies with flickering flames.

"SHIELDS UP!" the bovine commander commanded, and all his soldiers, including the one-sixth of the bear's forces, heaved their shields, barricading under their heads. Rapidly grabbing for his own, the yak heightened the shield forward and blocked several. More than thirty fire bolts plunged under and shattered the whole, managing Kai to still in use; multiple casualties occurred, including a wolf who ran beside him, fell by ten arrows on his head and fifteen on his body.

Onward to the closest battalion, all the front advanced their sprint and pointed their halberds, and Kai raised his shield, bashing his first blow on the rhino's head.

SPLASH! The armies clashed.

Within mere moments of clobbering and slashing through the bloody fray, Kai deflected most of the weapons and took his critical ways of aggression, stabbing the pig's heart, cutting the hawk's throat, and jabbing the second rhino's leg. Being choked on hold by a dog's halberd pole, the yak put his mighty weight forward and yanked forward, throwing the enemy off towards the black spears with yellow sashes. He spun and hurled his damaged shield at the pool of affrays that stormed against him, staggering the rest before Kai bounded and gave his clean-cut against three soldiers in dark crimson armor.

Without noticing his surroundings, a few giants heaving their hammers and daos struck by ten arrows landing between their eyes and upper shoulders; the commander's archers mounting on small ridges took their vantage points and began launching their black bolts at random directions. In the opposite direction was the same, unleashing fire arrows at the battlefield and the high areas. Staying close to the formation with the bovine commander's groups, Kai provided his assist kill for the rabbit soldier, who plunged his wavy dao into the antelope's stomach. Above the horde sent screeches of feather fletchings; one and the other archers evenly fell with fatalities.

One warrior shouting for help subsided to submersion, and Kai trotted on fours toward the wide puddle, ramming the crocodile who attempted to drown the bear. Shoving his halberd into the reptile's throat, Kai reached his hoof to the soldier and assisted his fellow fighter.

"LOOK OU-!" the bear screamed, but the spear was thrown with a quick launch and struck in his mouth. Dammit! Tension had grown too fierce as Kai stirred to the right and ran toward the ape, who drummed his fists and began trotting on fours, swinging his limbs left and right as if ramming over the small crowds.

Pivoting with his feet, Kai shoved and curved the sides, but the ape in his dark silver scathe armor and a helmet dodged to the corner and threw his lofty jabs at his ribcage and the stomach, which caused the yak's weapon to fall. Partaking to dominate his role, the yak blocked with his elbows, returning jab combinations through the gorilla's muzzle, his head bashing twice. When the ape soldier fell with his forehead cracked with blood sponges, another scream darting from the left came with another gorilla in black armor, and Kai sidestepped with a spin, clutching his wrist with a large dao sword. Stomping his hoof to the feet, the yak caught the blade and slit the giant's throat with a rapid blow.

Everything and everywhere seemed to happen at once: the flood spilling shed with one blow and the other, silencing their screams, the fog pulsing the white lightning as it clapped and bolted the battlefield about a hundred feet at the enemy lines. The bear with his brown cloak rushed into the horde with his ax, hammering one and the following three with a brutal slash, splitting the fourth victim's head in half.

"MOVE YOUR POSITIONS! THEY'RE LOSING THEIR GROUND!"

Moving with the separation of his army, Kai united with the bovine commander and set their besiege toward the front wall of the enemy's farmland, barricaded with pointy logs and the three towers. Kai saw another bovine with downward horns sprinting on fours, chasing after the wolf in black armor, who struggled to run, scraping with his river of blood, begging for help. Instead of ending the soldier's suffering, the giant in a green scathe rushed to the wooden gate and rammed it, which was nearly closed before his allies of a hundred souls joined and entered the enemy territory. Ending the wolf's misery with his halberd stabbing to his back, Kai moved onward and stormed across the farmland meadow in random directions, his allied warriors rushing toward five cottages and the two-story barrack at the north.

Followed by the shouts mostly faded, entering the dense fog webs, Kai surveyed the meadowland, clutching his weapon at all times, wandering off his course as he nearly tripped on the small puddle of cold water. Farther down the first cottage of two stories, three fighters departed with incredible haste, their faces unveiling in dread and fear. When those soldiers hastily faded their apprehension before the other swarm of platoons raiding in houses, Kai aggressed his guide and opposed the tiger in a dark crimson lamellar robe armor.

Attempting his quick deflection on the tiger's black halberd, shoving him off for distance, Kai stirred his body and gave a quick lunge to the left and cut down the ape with black-yellow armor, deflecting the other from another tiger in black lamellar.

Growling from behind had one feline bounded, causing the yak to duck his head and keep engaging the second tiger. Upon parries upon parries with hard and quick lunges with spins, the two fighters lunging their halberds forward gave their faces grimace; one puffed his snout, and the other heightened his fruity growl.

Storming from behind launched the feline and wrapped his halberd pole under Kai's throat, smothering him while being yanked side to side. As soon as the second tiger created his weapon to spiral, about to dart at the giant, the two black arrows struck his shoulder and the belly, tumbling him into the puddle.

"ZIMO!" the first tiger hailed but lost his durability and strength when Kai whisked his body with a greater force, clutching the staff and hurling the soldier into the webbed fog. Two archers sprinting from the meadow and the gate entry caught their sight of their comrade, but Kai, regaining his strength on his knee, burst his coughs.

"Kai!" one of the fox archers caught up to him, but one firebolt wheezing past near Kai's floppy ear pierced his heart, killing the fighter instantly.

"NO!"

Farther back, the fox, in his green lamellar, drew his arrow from the quiver behind him and took his shot at one bovine archer in between his yellow eyes. Injuring another after dodging his head from the fire arrow at a near-miss, the fox scurried with his small dao sword and engaged the deer with black antlers.

Wobbling his head, Kai focused on the tiger, whose low growl crept near and made him tackle, wrestling on the muddy soil. Bashing their fists scraped one fur and the other, though the tiger's strength became evenly matched, but deadlier from his claws as Kai clenched his grip on one and the other, preventing his enemy from reaching his throat.

Hurling his fist and landing the tiger's muzzle to disorientation, Kai rolled and thrashed his head once more. A scream storming from ahead was the deer casting out his dagger, running to the yak. Kai, rapidly standing, sidestepped backward twice, clutching the deer's wrist before disarming. Shit, not the antlers! The yak realized the deer without a weapon had one while weighing his head one and the other wildly. Kai grasped his halberd under his feet and lunged his armament, forcing the deer to collapse. The fox sprinting from Kai's left side tackled the deer to the nearest tree.

"You murderers!"

A shout escaping from a thin fog popped out a tiger with the dead feline's halberd with a ribbon sash. Both whipped, parried, thrashed, and lunged weapons, cutting through the thin breeze like sheets ripping apart. Forcing a kick, Kai threw the tiger to the meadow grass and heaved his halberd, plunging near the face, but missed after the feline motioned his head. The tiger booted two kicks right towards the yak's knee and his stomach, forcing him back while the tiger returned his stance with his rapid flow, twirling his red-ribbon halberd. Taking two lunges forward but failing because of Kai's quick deflection, the tiger revolved and twirled, hammering his armament directly to Kai's head.

Kai's weapon went parried, but the staff was cut in half, staggering him. No other time to draw his backup blade from his hip, Kai made his sidesteps, backward once and to the right side when the weapon sliced on the outer fur of his upper shoulder, drawing out blood as Kai clutched the weapon and hammered the soldier's head. The burst of his forehead spat out gore, the flesh nearly ajar before the tiger tumbled.

That damn cat! The yak puffed his snout, his muscle flesh and his lungs burning while panting. "Corporal? Corpor-!"

Checking his side, and out of nowhere from behind, the deer roared, and something huge whipping heavy clobbered the yak's head, and-

Pitch black.

He did not know how long he was out, but Kai was still on the wetland, drenched in mud blotches. Gasping from a rude awakening, the yak was up and inspected his surroundings, still with haze, but thinner and thinner as the whole land finally prevailed the silence, and most of the bodies lay across the wasteland, the fires growing wild on all the cottages and the barrack. How long was he really out? He could see his banner that shattered apart on the water, the cause of his knockout falling his back and snapping the pole. Not enough activities to detect with soldiers lying motionless, Kai straightened his back when kneeling and standing up while covering his wound. The storm's drizzle dominated the silence as he traipsed to the opening, where the fog was yet ebbing, carrying the dying howls and the moans of injured soldiers who sobbed on the muddy grounds. Farther on, the yak continued when he noticed unfamiliar lamellar armors in different clans. They were not allies.

For a moment, he was all alone; no reinforcements or allied forces were patrolling in most of the meadows that lay wastes, the whiffs of the burnt farmhouse cottages wafting from his right. The gray sunlight sank into the West, popping dark orange in rot before the velvet silver drenched, gradually fading in black. He found the forest in thicker areas before him, though aware of his surroundings that he wanted to present his hail for allies; not a good idea either way because somewhere, far off behind the broad meadow where Kai sauntered on for less than an hour, orange lights hovered. Dimming and blinding, the torches were advancing closer. Closer. And closer than before.

Thank the Gods! Oogway is here with my allied army.

Although his hype on seeing his reptile comrade began to collapse and saw what the yak almost screamed for him. Escaping out of the thin fog, scurrying and searching for survivors of their army, were his enemies. Hundreds. And by the Gods, how many from behind them, there were far more than hundreds. One tiger, whom Kai had fought earlier, spotted the soldier and gave out his roar, alarming all the units.

"Shit!" Kai splurted himself into the thick forest.

"SEIZE HIM! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

Sprinting on fours, Kai passed through rough ridges, trunks, and large roots, mounting over the small peak after he bounded from the boulder stone. Fear became intense as he burned his breaths, wavering his arms while running. The orange lights from behind emerged and chased, progressing to advance faster. Noticing somewhere, above velvety green branches, were hissing avians diving toward him. Managing to see the broad trunks ahead, Kai swiveled and swung to the side, dodging the owls and cranes. He whirled his fist and knocked one out completely, drawing his dao sword from his waist. Stabbing one before delivering his sweep kill at the bearded owl, Kai sheathed his weapon and again wedged towards the deeper forest in fading dark gray mist.

He inclined and continued sprinting on the next valley, and fire arrows whizzed above and on all sides, hitting logs and tree trunks. The horde of enemies dressing in lamellar armor with fire sigils was on the other side of the towering mountain, releasing their fire and black arrows at the sprinting soldier.

"SHOOT HIM DOWN! I WANT HIS HEAD!" one warrior from behind thundered a cry, and several deafened their shouts.

Kai's nostrils whiffed louder and faster as he sped his sprint on fours, burning his lungs. Dammit! Where are you, Oogway?

Running in random directions without stopping anywhere, Kai had no other choice but to keep running rather than face quick torment and death as far as his commander, who served his whole army, was dead serious about soldiers who may or may not be alive behind the cells. At first, spurting himself to the downhill, the rush of waters neared, and far ahead of him were other torches in small flares of orange and crimson unveiled.

Please be Oogway! Please be Oogway! Kai husted on fours like a charging bull, leading straight down, and found what appeared to be not what he expected to cross on towards the next tower mountain ridge. Suspension bridges had tightened with ropes and sturdy wood planks that linked one and the next as the fog pulled their silks away in the distance. With no point in turning back now, sighting the river of an angry army dashing down the hill, Kai ran across the suspension bridge.

The bridge wobbled side to side, unwavering up and down, rippling without control from Kai's intense weight. Emerging from the end of the bridge, which had almost hoped for Kai to see any allies upfront, were the enemy's second units waiting to snatch him. Apprehension struck the yak when he stopped in the middle of the rope bridge, stuck between two paths and nowhere else to run. Panted heavily, his heart drumming, he clutched the rope from wobbling.

Shit.

At this time, he was alone. The woods lessened their bach whines before branches snapped in the distance.

Armed with armaments and bows and arrows on both sides, the clan members moved in, one by one. From the last location, the entry of the suspension bridge approached the tiger with a shattered forehead in mottled crimson, carrying a torch and a dao sword, snarling with his teeth wide open.

"Where will you go now, soldier? There is nowhere else to run!" the defiant in black armor taunted on the bridge. The other side was the tawny bovine, hairy brown mane drooping on his head downward. "I have room for you to spare your life. Surrender to me, and no harm will come to you!"

"This craven killed my brother!" the tiger glared. "I want to bring his head so I can show my mother who will know her son's killer!"

One of the archers on the tiger's side released the fire arrow but missed because Kai swung the middle to the right while dodging his head down. The bovine heightened his snout with rage.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the bovine commanded, and all the archers obeyed. "There will be a trial for your brother's murderer, Shun. I am certain that the soldier's crime will reveal your answers."

"I would rather gouge his eyes and rip his throat off than have him speaking and see the world behind bars!" Shun spat, his rich growl pulsating with loathesomeness.

"What is your name, warrior?" the bovine demanded.

Still clutching the rope, heightening his snout, Kai fastened his glare. "Kai."

"Kai. . . you are much of a fighter," the bovine pleased, gazing at the yak from his feet to head. "Quite a fool to yourself alone, expecting to see if your fellow brothers are near. But they are all dead, son. Your commander who fought against me had fled with his goons. You have lost the battle."

"Sir!"

The avian, a crane hovering around the bovine, proclaimed. "There are reinforcements on their way!"

"How many, Corporal?" he asked.

"About ten thousand, sir! We are outnumbered, and they are getting close! Three mountains away!" the avian soared and landed on the bovine's bridge platform with a horde of clan members, who muttered and growled.

Oogway. . . he will not rescue me in time!

Kai, swimming his head wildly, glanced at two sides as if the tiger Shun gritted his teeth, approaching closer, and the bovine leader motioned his head to the yak, pulling his faded smirk. "Hand that yak to me, Rong!" Shun roared. "I am not leaving until I avenge my brother!"

"Hmm, yes. Two fates for Kai to decide. Rot him in the cell, or maybe —" his brown eyes trailed off to Kai. "Maybe I let Private Shun to kill you."

"Have it his way then," Kai grunted. "Know that I am not his brother's murderer."

"Then who did, warrior?"

"He is dead."

"Such a pity. Now, Shun will have no choice but to kill you," Rong said boldly. He rotated to his local group. "Let's see how our friend Kai will fight against all of us on the bridge! LET'S TAKE HIM!"

Not if I get him first. Kai could think of the tiger's harsh words, but Shun's growl heightened instead. One against a hundred, as the yak had the odds of his survival. But there was no surviving against the clan either way. The fog returned and hauntingly hovered past on the suspension bridge, the fading gray blanketing the torches of dawn and red. What something caught singing in Kai's floppy ears, underneath them all chanted with faded whispers of the water ripples, racing with quiet hisses in the distance. A great river was behind the surging fog, spurting the ripple gushes.

Without giving eye contact regarding what to anticipate his last move, Kai unsheathed his dao sword, glimpsing his head back and forth, waiting for either the bovine or the tiger to strike first. He could not count how many were on the bridge. However, the count did matter to him because the bridge carrying a heavy load of weights had the ropes whined, and the wood planks sobbed with cracks.

"Any last words, Kai?" the bovine presented his devilish grin, gaining close to the yak about nine yards.

"I do," Kai clutched the sword's grip. "Tell my brother I love him."

And both sides advanced to the yak before it was too late to retreat. Kai twirled his blade and cut down the rope's arm.

SNAP!

The other arm snapped away. And the bridge was shattered.

All soldiers, unprepared, attempting to hang on the wood planks, fell into the clouds and screamed. Falling. Falling into the fog until-

SPLASH!