Reap The East Wind

2 Year 1016 afe

A Time of Changes

H E'S COMING! He's at the Gate of Pearl!" Chu enthused.

Ssu-ma Shih-ka'i looked up from the morning reports. He was a stocky, muscular man with a bull neck. He possessed a porcine air. He looked more like a wrestler than the Tervola-commandant of a legion of the Middle Army. "K'wang-yin, comport yourself as befits an Aspirant."

Chu snapped to attention. "I'm sorry, Lord Ssu-ma."

Shih-ka'i stepped from behind his desk. "You're always sorry, K'wang-yin. I find your endless apologies offensive."

The youth stared over his commander's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Lord."

Shih-ka'i ground his teeth. This one was hopeless. Tervola-spawned or not, this one would not have been elected in the old days. War losses should not justify lowered qualifying levels.

Shih-ka'i remembered the old standards with an almost reverent pride.

Ssu-ma Shih-ka'i came of peasant stock. His brethren among the Tervola never forgot that his father had been a swineherd. He did not let them forget that he had come through his Candidacy in the days of the Princes Thaumaturge, when only the best of the best had scaled the slippery ladder leading to membership in Shinsan's elite.

Jokes about his paternity still haunted Tervola gatherings. They no longer mocked him to his face, but his successes had not changed their secret prejudices.

He had learned much during his Candidacy. He had developed a thick hide and a perseverance which had carried him far beyond the heights his electors had expected him to attain. He was a stubborn, determined man

The Tervpla made great show of keeping their ranks open to every child of talent, discipline, and determination. The show was mostly illusion. Ssu-ma would remain an outsider to the old-line aristocracy. He would sire no sons on their daughters. His daughters, if ever he fathered any, would not be mated by lean, pale sons of the Power such as this scatterbrained chela of his.

K'wang-yin apologized again, killing the silence born of Ssu-ma's moment of introspection. His commander fought the gratification such obseqiousness caused. He had them in his power for a time. He made or broke them. That was sufficient. Only the strong survived. He growled, "K'wang-yin, if I hear one more apology, you'll do a month of primary training." Chu began shaking.

Shih-ka'i looked at pale, twitching cheeks and knew this one would never be accredited Select. Not while Lord Ssu-ma cast the deciding vote. He was too damned timid. "Make a proper report, K'wang-yin."

"Sir!" Chu spat. "Lord Kuo Wen-chin has approached the Gate of Pearl. He requests audience with your Lordship. Commander of the Guard's respects, sir."

"Better. Much better. You're on the right trail. Step outside. Wait two minutes. Compose yourself. Do it again. Knock before you enter."

Chu's cheek twitched. "As you will, Lord."

Shih-ka'i seated himself behind his desk. His gaze returned to the morning reports.

He did not see them. Lord Kuo! Here! He was amazed. What did the man want? Why would he waste time visiting a peasant-born training legion commandant?

Shih-ka'i's legion was the Fourth Demonstration. It accepted a crop of three-year-olds each spring. Over the next eighteen years of their lives it made of them the most dedicated and feared soldiers the world had ever known.

With the exception of a few brief postings, Shih-ka'i had been with the Fourth since childhood, his talent and will driving him upward against the prejudice and inertia of nobly-born Tervola. He had been the legion's commander for two decades. He was proud of the soldiers and Selects he produced. They advanced swiftly wherever they were posted. His superiors believed he was the best at what he did. They extended themselves to keep him happy with an assignment usually given Tervola in heavy disfavor. There were no honors to be won commanding a Demonstration legion.

Shih-ka'i had drifted into a professional cul-de-sac. He knew it. Recent changes in the political climate, with younger Tervola ousting Ko Feng's older circle, made his future appear all the more bleak. Though apolitical himself, he was among the oldest and most tradition-bound of the senior Tervola.

Lord Kuo had come. What could he want but to rid himself of another of the old guard? Already Ko Feng's followers had been stripped of their army and corps and Council positions. They had been awarded unimportant postings in the moribund Eastern and Northern Armies. Ko Feng himself had been stripped of his immortality and honors. He had gone into a self-imposed exile rather than endure demotion. Had the purge acquired a life of its own, like a demon carelessly summoned? Had it begun to strike simply on the basis of age?

Shih-ka'i was frightened. And he was angry. He had survived the Princes Thaumaturge, Mist, O Shing, the Pracchia conspiracy, Ko Feng, and had given offense to none. He was a soldier of the empire. They had no right, no grievance. He ignored politics and power struggles.

The door responded to gently tapping knuckles. "Enter."

Chu stepped in and reported. This time he was perfection itself. He had conquered the electric excitement Lord Kuo generated wherever he appeared.

"That's better. Much better. Our first mission is to conquer ourselves, is it not? Lord Kuo, eh? What do you suppose he wants?"

"I don't know, Lord. He didn't say."

"Uhm." Shih-ka'i was not satisfied with the hand now guiding Shinsan's destiny. From afar he perceived Kuo Wen-chin as too idealistic, naive, simplistic, and uninformed. Two years ago he had been a corps commander of Shih-ka'i's own Middle Army. He was too young, too inexperienced. Still, he had momentum. He had charisma. He filled a need for new leadership, new ideals, given birth by the failure in the west. Maybe new perspectives could mend the wounds in the spirit of the legions.

"Shall I greet him, Lord Ssu-ma?" The Aspirant glowed with eagerness.

"Can you comport yourself with restraint and respect?"

"Yes, Lord."

Shih-ka'i was disgusted by the pleading note in the youth's voice. Nevertheless, "Go, then. Bring him directly to me."

"Lord." Chu whirled and surged toward the door.

"K'wang-yin. If you embarrass me, you'll do a whole year in primary."

Chu froze. When he resumed moving his face was calm and his pace sedate. His frame stood rigidly erect.

Shih-ka'i permitted himself a small smile.

Lord Kuo Wen-chin waved a thin, almost feminine hand as he stepped into Shih-ka'i's office. "Don't rise, Lord Ssu-ma." Kuo doffed his cruel silver-and-jet wolf's mask. Perforce, Shih-ka'i accepted the informality and removed his own facepiece.

This was his favorite jibe at his brethren. It mimicked a boar in a killing rage. One tusk was of quartz, the other of ruby, as if to imply that one tusk had just ripped an enemy. The mask as a whole had a carefully crafted battle-scarred look.

Tervola invested a great deal of thought and Power in their badges of station. It was said that a skilled observer could read a whole soul from a well-made mask.

"You honor us, Lord Kuo."

"Not really. I need you, so I'm here."

"Uhm?" Shih-ka'i considered his visitor. Almost feminine features. Smaller than the run of Tervola from the older lines. Attractive, but in a female sort of way. He reminded Shih-ka'i of the Demon Princess, Mist, whom he had encountered occasionally during her brief reign.

"You know what I represent. Change. New blood. A clean sweep of associations with Ko Feng's ill-starred ventures."

"Don't forget that Lord Feng's group brought us annexations of epic scale."

Kuo waved one of those delicate hands. "Nevertheless... There's Western Army. Twice defeated. Once under the Dragon Prince, again during the Pracchia gambit." In this empire, an empire unaccustomed to defeat, even an appearance of defeat was unpardonable.

"Ko Feng could have won at Palmisano. He withdrew rather than risk losses which might have damaged the stability of the legions. He was a methodical man. He would have anticipated the cost to himself. He withdrew anyway."

Kuo looked irritated. He took a moment to control himself. "We can't, of course, know what would have happened had he chosen to stand. Lord Ssu-ma, I didn't come here to argue. I don't want to exhume our yesterdays."

No, Shih-ka'i thought. You want to bury them deep, and with them everyone who made them. And with them all the good of them, lest someone remember and compare. "Tomorrows. Those interest us all, don't they? Speak to me of tomorrows, Lord Kuo."

Kuo brightened. He smiled an effeminate smile. "You mis-estimate me. I'm not here to dismiss you. I do want to rusticate you, though. To Eastern Army."

Shih-ka'i's stomach dropped a hundred feet. So. The purge had burst its political bounds. "I'm not a political creature, Lord. My business is the creation of soldiers. I do that quite well."

"I know. I did my Candidacy with the Fourth Demonstration. I'm sure you don't remember me. You were a brigade leader at the time. But I remembered you. You impressed me."

"Uhm?" Shih-ka'i kept his feelings concealed. He did not remember Candidate Kuo. Was the man about to requite some slight?

"Lord Ssu-ma, I want you to command Eastern Army."

The world fell away again. "Lord! I... I've never held a field command."

"You've directed the Fourth in field exercises. It's been at corps strength because of our replacement demands. I think you can handle it. You're the man I want. You have the stubbornness of Ko Feng without his limitations. You think on your feet. You get jobs done. More, you're an older Tervola. You have no discernible political bias. You'll fit into the gap between myself and the recidivists I rashly banished to what looked like a sessile frontier army."

Kuo's brief rule had bewitched Shinsan with its amazements and marvels and unpredictable decisions. Here was another of the same.

"But my background ... "

"Irrelevant. Completely irrelevant. You're Tervola. You're trained to command. If I set you to command, none will deny me. Lord Ssu-ma, will you accept Eastern Army?"

Outwardly, Shih-ka'i remained a man of stone. Within, he flailed about, trying to grasp something, anything, that would give him a grip on a turbulent reality. Command of an army! Even of the diminutive Eastern Army... It was an honor he never had dared hope to attain.

"When?"

"Right away. I need you out there."

"What's happened?"

"No one is quite sure. For lack of anything better to do, they're exploring the desert that stopped their advance. Patrols have vanished. They'll fill you in when you get there. Will you accept the command?"

"Lord... Yes. I will."

"Good." Kuo smiled. "I thought you would." He produced a small scarlet badge that resembled the face of a man with a beak instead of a nose. The badge of an army commander. There were just a handful in existence. It topic the convocation of the entire Council of Tervola, with mighty sorceries, to create one. Shih-ka'i accepted it humbly, wondering who had worn it before him. He would have to learn its history and honors.

"You should start east with whatever staff you need as soon as I find someone to replace you here. Your army will consist of the five legions currently posted. I had planned to withdraw two before the disappearances began. Northern Army will be available in reserve, though I'm reducing it to corps strength." Kuo went on to explain that he was stripping all the armies in favor of the southern frontier.

"But... we have twenty-six legions there already."

"The Matayangan situation is worsening. They're trying to lure us into giving provocation for a pre-emptive strike. They want to hit us while the legions are still under strength. We'll give them a surprise if they do."

Shih-ka'i nodded. Shinsan had expanded too fast recently. Civil and foreign wars had drained the legions. The army was strained, trying to hold the present frontiers. Losses denied it manpower usually devoted to assimilation and re-education of conquered peoples. The empire had become a fragile structure. "What about the west?" The Tervola feared the west more than the numerically stronger south.

"I've told Hsung to normalize. To avoid confrontation. To shift his emphasis from the military to the political. They're vulnerable in their disunity. Intrigue should be his weapon of choice. It could be decades before we avenge our dead. We have to digest what we've taken."

Lord Kuo impressed Shih-ka'i now. His inflammatory demagoguery had been, apparently, a device to push Ko Feng aside. Today he was talking a more realistic response to the empire's problems. Maybe he could reverse the trend toward chaos that had set in with the deaths of the Princes Thaumaturge.

Their swift parade of successors had shattered stability by warring among themselves while launching unwise foreign adventures.

"I'll be pleased to command Eastern Army. I'm honored that you think me competent. I'll begin selecting staff today."

A faint irritation flickered across Kuo's face. He was being dismissed—he. Then he smiled. Ssu-ma could not shake old habit. Younger men were trainees... He rose. "I wish you luck, Lord Ssu-ma."

"Thank you." Shih-ka'i wasn't really listening. He was engrossed in his work once more.

He had to hide in the training reports for a while. This stroke of fortune would take some digesting.

Shih-ka'i found that he had to guard thirty-four hundred miles of border with thirty thousand men. The eastern legions were, at least, at strength. None had been involved in the ill-starred western campaign.

He also had to govern and keep the peace in the military frontier zone.

His predecessor had done the obvious and employed local auxiliaries. They weren't much. The peoples of Shih- ka'i's new proconsulate were all savages. Only a few tribes had a Bronze Age level of technology, though storytellers spoke of a past age of greatness. They had revealed a few ruins in support of their claims.

Shih-ka'i followed the lead of his predecessors and made his headquarters with the Seventeenth Legion. The Seventeenth's zone of responsibility faced the questionable desert. The legion had taken all the reported losses.

The Seventeenth had raised a stout new fortress just miles from the edge of the badlands. Shih-ka'i arrived to find the commander engaged in a vigorous program of exploration. One wall of the fortress's main hall had been plastered smooth. Legionnaires were painting in a huge map, bit by bit, as exploratory teams contributed details. Shih-ka'i did not bother visiting his new quarters before going into conference.

He strolled along the one-hundred-fifty-foot length of the wall, studying and memorizing each detail. At one point he asked, "Does it truly begin this suddenly?" He indicated a line near the floor, where green gave way to brown along a well-defined line.

The commander of the Seventeenth, Lun-yu Tasi-feng, replied, "Virtually, Lord Ssu-ma. It fades from forest to grassland to dust and sand within a mile. Were the wind not blowing consistently eastward, the desert would crawl this way like an unstoppable army."

"Rainfall?"

"Considerable, Lord. Both here and there. In the desert you can watch the clouds pile up against these mountains, but nothing grows."

"Uh-hmm." Shih-ka'i studied the sketchy outline of the mountain chain. "Rivers?"

"Several flow out. The only life we've found is a few fish that have swum upstream. They don't travel far. They find nothing to sustain themselves."

Shih-ka'i let his gaze wander. In time, he asked, "Elements of the Seventeenth were involved in the war with Escalon, were they not?"

Tasi-feng replied, "I was there myself, Lord."

"Does this compare to the desolation created there?"

"It's even more thorough, Lord. The thought occurred to me too. I'm operating on the assumption that the land was smitten by the Power, though we've yet to find certain proof."

"Historical research?"

"Nothing on record anywhere, Lord."

"It's very old, then. What about oral traditions among the tribes? I've heard there are ruins in the forests. Have you tried to determine their age?"

"The tribes say there was a war among the gods. The ruins are at least a thousand years old. Probably a lot older. I have my leading necromancer working in the best preserved city. He hasn't been able to determine more."

"Have you consulted Outside?"

"Demons either don't know or won't tell."

"I see. How many men have you lost?"

Shih-ka'i listened to an exact recitation of every detail known about a dozen group disappearances. Tasi-feng indicated their last known positions on the map. Each party had reached the mountains. No other pattern was apparent.

"Have you tried high altitude search?"

"Birds refuse to fly over the desert, Lord. I wanted to send a dragon, but my request was refused. Too many perished in the western campaign, they say. They say they need to breed their numbers up. Personally, I think they're as frightened as the birds."

"Oh? Have they been interrogated? Some would be older than those ruins."

"If they know anything, they're not saying. They're less talkative than the demons."

"Curious. Most curious. Lord Lun-yu, I commend you. You've been thorough."

"There's little else to do out here, Lord. The centurions complain that it's just makework."

Shih-ka'i smiled behind his mask. "They would. I'm curious. Lord Kuo seemed to think this a critical puzzle. He was quite concerned. Could you guess why?"

"I'm not certain, Lord. Perhaps because there have been flickers of the Power beyond the mountains." He raked a pointer along the top of the wall, over a distance of twenty feet. "They emanated from somewhere here."

Shih-ka'i's gaze bored into the map. In time, he asked, "What's the quality of the water in those rivers? Fit to drink?"

"Heavy with minerals, as you might expect. But potable, Lord." Tasi-feng seemed puzzled by the question.

"So. We begin narrowing the scope, Lord Lun-yu. The lost missions face the area you just indicated. Accept it as a pattern. We'll send expeditions immediately, on parallel tracks. A Tervola will accompany each. At evening camp a transfer portal will be opened." He took the pointer. "When the expeditions reach this line, we'll set up movable transfers. Five centuries will remain battle-ready at all times. They should be prepared to transfer at a moment's notice. Hourly reports will be returned, and news of any anomaly immediately. The parties will travel light. Weapons and equipment only. They'll be supplied through the transfers. They'll continue their advance till we have some answers. We'll keep fresh people out there by rotating through the portals."

"Lord, that ambitious a program will require the support of the entire legion."

"You yourself said there's nothing else to do. And Lord Kuo expressed a more than passing interest in obtaining answers."

"Of course, Lord."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"No, Lord. That's all... There have been two reports of dragon sightings, Lord. From natives. There was no confirmation. The dragons themselves deny making overflights."

"I see. I commend you again, Lord Lun-yu. You've been as thorough as anyone could ask."

Shih-ka'i retired to his quarters. His batman had everything prepared. He allowed the decurion to remove his mask. "Are you tired, Pan ku?"

"Not if my Lord has a task for me."

"It's nothing immediate. When you have the free time. Mix with the legionnaires. See what they're saying. Find out what they're talking about most."

"As you wish, My Lord."

"I'll rest now." Shih-ka'i stretched himself on his new bed. He did not sleep, though he closed his eyes. He felt a presence in the east. It was something strange. Something alien. It was not tangible, yet it was disquieting. He wondered if Lord Kuo had felt it too.

The exploratory parties had advanced seventy miles into the desert. They were past the last known positions of the lost parties. Of those the only evidence so far found was a single cracked piece of lacquer off the elbow joint of a soldier's armor.

"That's suggestive," Shih-ka'i said. "They wouldn't travel in armor. Too hot out there. Search the area more carefully."

The search turned up nothing. This party had vanished six months ago. Nature had obliterated all trace of their passing.

Two days later one party reported having reached the crest of a mountain. The range dropped away beyond. Shih-ka'i donned his battle gear and transferred there himself.

The slope fell away in a long grey slide. In the distance the grey became rust. For as far as he could see nothing stirred. Nothing lived. The sheer magnitude of the desolation overpowered him.

Another party crested the range a few miles to the south. Its Tervola sent a signal. Shih-ka'i responded. He told the commander of the party he was with, "Remain here. Watch them as they descend." He returned to the legion's headquarters.

The fortress was in turmoil. Tasi-feng explained, "Yan-chu is under attack. He requested reinforcements. I sent him a century."

"Take prisoners. Return them immediately. Bring another century to the ready."

Fifteen minutes later two prisoners came through the transfer portal. They were short men in strange armor. They were dead.

"I want them alive," Shih-ka'i said.

Tasi-feng conferred with the Tervola on the scene. "Lord Ssu-ma, Yan-chu says they were alive when they transferred. They had to be driven into the portal."

"Tell him to send more."

Two more pairs came through. They were as dead as the first. Of the last pair one was a tall, dark man whose armor did not resemble that of the others.

"Have them examined," Shih-ka'i said. He strode back to the map room. Another party had reported itself under attack. He wanted to confirm his memory of their positions. "Uhm," he murmured. "Come, whoever you are. Hit me one more time."

He got his wish within the hour. Two minutes later he had strings attached to the points where each attack was taking place, stretching toward the top of the map. Soldiers were shading areas where the three would cross. The launching of additional attacks allowed Shih-ka'i to begin reducing the size of the shaded area.

"Keep it up," he murmured. "I'll have you pinpointed." He glanced at the log of the times the attacks had been reported. Might the attackers have departed the same point at the same time? Their dispersion and lack of coordination suggested that might be the case. "Lord Lun-yu. Let Yang-chu's position be a point on a circle. Let the other attacked positions be points outside that circle. See if you can describe the circle using the lag in the times of attack."

Lord Lun-yu looked puzzled for a moment, caught on, went to work. He received data from two more assaults. He developed a crude, skewed arc. "It doesn't look right, Lord."

"Guess me a maximum and minimum radius. The terrain they crossed should account for the irregularities." He peered at the map. Neither of his methods was working well. The first, in fact, now looked a little foolish. He had, in effect, collected a lot of lone legs of triangles. He did not know any lengths or angles.

The scope of search did seem to be narrowing. He accepted a casualty report from a messenger. "Hmm?"

"Lord?" Tasi-feng inquired.

"These people are reasonably good fighters." Another runner reported that the force attacking Yang-chu had withdrawn. Soon similar reports arrived from the bther attacked parties. Shih-ka'i observed, "Their communications are fair."

Tasi-feng asked, "Shall we pursue, Lord?"

Shih-ka'i glanced at the map. "Slowly." He indicated two parties which had not been attacked. "Move these people to pincer the group dropping off here. We'll take more prisoners. Tell Yang-chu to hold his position. I want to see what he's got."

Yang-chu's group had received the most attention. The slope below his perimeter was littered with bodies. "They took some of their fallen with them," the Tervola told Shih-ka'i. "As many as they could carry."

Shih-ka'i looked across the desert. Among the dust devils he could see a cloud raised by the retreating enemy. "Any wizardry used?"

"Neither by us nor them, Lord."

"Good." He watched the dust. Where could they have come from? How could people exist in this? He glanced at the bodies, quickly averted his gaze. He was not accustomed to seeing the aftermath of battles.

The corpses were of men who had been well-fed, well-clad, and well-armed. "Yang-chu." He indicated the dead. "Collect them. Strip them. Keep each man's things separate. Send the bundles through to the fortress." He summoned his will, looked into a few lifeless faces. They told him very little. All dead men had the same message for the living. It was a message Lord Ssu-ma did not want to hear. They were a curious breed. Both kinds. Shih-ka'i had never seen their like before. But how were they so different? He shrugged. The legion's surgeons would dissect them and let him know.

He took a last look at the dust cloud. It was moving straight out the line he had drawn on the map. He returned to the fortress.

Tasi-feng greeted him with, "Lord, Hsu Shen says there were soldiers of the empire in the band that attacked him.

"Ours?"

"They wore our armor. Their badges were of the Seventeenth."

"Your missing men?"

"Perhaps. I told him to keep it quiet till we can explain it."

"Good. Shift those two intercept groups around. Tell them to double-time and get into position to stop the party. Tell Hsu Shen to go after them and resume contact. I'll want a portal open out there when our people are in position. I want to see this myself."

"As you will, Lord."

Shih-ka'i observed while the legion's Candidates went through the clothing and effects recovered from the enemy dead. Each man had borne much what a soldier could be expected to carry: the tools of his trade and a few personal items that set him off from a thousand more just like him. The things gave no clues. Shih-ka'i examined the lettering on an old coin. He had not seen its like before. "What would you say this head portrays?" he asked one of the Candidates.

"Some sort of fabulous monster, Lord?"

"Perhaps." When he looked directly at it, Shih-ka'i felt an increase in his awareness of the existence of something in the east.

Tasi-feng appeared. "Lord, there seems to have been a continuous, low-grade emanation of the Power since some time before the first attack. The source appears to be near the heart of your circle."

"So." Shih-ka'i reflected momentarily. "Let's take no chances. Establish portals connecting us with the other legions. One cohort each to be ready for immediate transfer here."

"Lord, we're already straining ourselves with the portals we... As you will, Lord."

"Yes. The remainder of each legion is to be placed on first alert. Begin assembling a package that can be sent to Lord Kuo instantly should anything dire happen."

"Lord? You think there's that much danger?"

"No. But I don't believe in leaving anything to chance. Keep the package at a portal. Update it continuously."

"As you will, Lord."

"Also, I want a battery of ballistae readied for long-range work. Let the Candidates handle it. Start now. It'll take them several hours to prepare all the spells."

"Accuracy or destruction, Lord?"

"Destruction."

Shih-ka'i went to the room where the legion's surgeons were at work. One paused to say, "There's something strange here, Lord. We can't be sure, what with the desert heat and so on, but these men look like they've been dead for a long time."

"Oh?"

"Look. Ostensibly, the bodies are less than an hour old. Some of the organs should still show signs of life."

Shih-ka'i looked away from the open cadaver. "I thought you might find something of the sort. Take a good look at the blood."

"Lord?"

"See if the blood is dead or alive. Then make a guess at how long it's been dead." He turned to leave. He had to get out before his gorge rose and betrayed his dignity.

Tasi-feng stood in the doorway. "You've discovered something, Lord?"

"I think they were dead before they attacked. They have the look. It's been a long time since I've seen their like. I imagine it was before you were born. The Demon Prince experimented with reanimated soldiers. He shelved the idea. Control was too cumbersome."

Tasi-feng could not keep his horror hidden behind his mask. He took a moment to control himself. "The new portals are open, Lord Ssu-ma. Our support is standing by. We're still trying to contact Lord Kuo's party. He's reconnoitering the Matayangan border. The parties you sent to establish a blocking position are ahead of the enemy and trying to locate a suitable site."

"Very well. I'm returning to my quarters. Call me when they open their portal."

He had to get away for a few minutes, to conquer the animal in him. He hadn't realized there would be so much difference between the training and battle fields. Once in his quarters he seated himself on a small carpet. He used the basic tool given every child legionnaire. He went through the Soldier's Ritual, the calming mantra-prayers with which soldiers began and ended their days. He regained himself.

Lord Kuo was right, he thought. There is something here. Maybe something bigger than Wen-chin suspected.

Pan ku came in. "Oh. Excuse me, Lord."

"I've just finished, Pan ku. Have you taken the pulse of the legion?"

"They're bored, Lord. They resent being stuck on a dead frontier. Today seems to have perked them up."

"No serious problems?"

"No. This is an old legion. A good one. Well trained and disciplined, with conscientious centurions and decurions. It'll do what you ask of it."

"Good. Good, Thank you, Pan ku."

"Is there anything I can do for you, Lord?"

"Don your battle gear. We're going into the desert."

Shih-ka'i flashed through the portal an hour later. He found that his hunters had chosen a good position in which to wait. After surveying their dispositions, he prepared a number of magicks. "Just in case," he told Pan ku.

The soldier nodded. He was familiar with his master's obsession with being prepared.

Two dust clouds came closer and closer. Hsu Shen was doing a perfect job of pushing without pushing too hard. Shih-ka'i took a look off the back side of the low hill where he waited. Dust clouds were converging on a point several miles eastward. "Setting an ambush of his own," he murmured.

Pan ku came round the hill. "Lord, they just had word from Lord Lun-yu. Two of those bodies jumped up and tried to kill him."

"Uhm? I should have warned him. He's all right?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Good."

Their quarry moved into the pocket. Shih-ka'i counted twenty-five. Someone said, "I thought they were supposed to be carrying their dead?"

Shih-ka'i did not tell the man that the dead were walking again. That none of the attackers had been alive. He gave the signal.

His men revealed themselves. The party below halted. They were badly outnumbered, and Hsu Shen was right behind them.

Shih-ka'i stared. Hsu Shen had been right. Three were legionnaires.

The group formed a turtle, ready to fight. Shih-ka'i's men closed in. The surrounded men dropped.

Shih-ka'i felt something electric stir the air. "Down!" he bellowed. "Everybody on the ground!" He whipped his mind into his bag of prepared tricks.

What looked like a great black boot sole blotted out the sky. Its heel descended swiftly. For an instant Shih-ka'i pictured himself as a bug about to be crushed.

He loosed a spell.

The air whined with the sound of a thousand giant whetstones scraping steel, then the cracking of a million tiny whips. He looked up. The boot had vanished.

"Get down there and carve those people up before they come alive again!" he thundered.

He did not wait to see if his orders were carried out. He closed his eyes and reentered the realm of spell. He seized one, pictured himself hurling a spear. He painted a big bull's-eye on the map from the fortress wall.

Thunder rolled across the cloudless wasteland. A flash extinguished the sun. Shih-ka'i opened his eyes. A thousand dust devils danced across the barrens like frenzied, drugged dancers, often colliding and collapsing. A few minutes later he heard a remote rumble. He smiled into his mask. "That'll make you keep your head down."

He waited for several minutes, his Tervola-senses extended. Nothing came. His enemy seemed cowed.

For the moment, he thought. Only for the moment.

He joined his men. "We'd do better to burn the bodies," he told Hsu Shen. "But there seems to be a shortage of wood."

The Tervola nodded, untouched by Shih-ka'i's dry humor. He was a man nearly Shih-ka'i's age, one of the old guard banished by Lord Kuo. He too remembered the Demon Prince's experiments. The dead could keep rising and rising, and could recruit their foes to their own cause. They could not be permitted to win battles. They would become stronger with each victory.

"Send those three back to the fortress," Shih-ka'i said, indicating the dead legionnaires. "We'll have that necromancer of Lun-yu's call up their shades."

His neck hairs prickled. He opened up, feeling for some new threat. There was none. He nodded to himself. Something was watching.

He went up the hill and looked to the east. Somewhere out there. In all that nothing. He studied the dust raised by retreating foemen, projecting their lines of march.

There? That heat haze hidden hump on the horizon? He oriented himself by the map. Yes. The hump would be smack in the middle of the suspect area.

"You should have kept your head down, friend," he murmured. "Now we see you. Now we're coming for a closer look."

A wind rose. It was hard and hot and dry. The dust it carried gnawed like sandpaper. Lord Ssu-ma Shih-ka'i ignored it. He stood on that hill like a sturdy little statue, immobile and unmovable. Behind his mask his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.