Chapter 48- The Desperate Ride

The Dare to Die squad, twenty soldiers strong, gathered by the front gate. Their armor had the clean but battered look that said they had been using it, and knew enough to maintain it afterward. Their horses were strong, muscles bulging under thick shaggy coats, though they weren’t very tall. They weren’t heavy cavalry. They were horses that could run all day, and get by on a bit of water and whatever forage they could find. Their riders were similar. Hard eyed, steady, not burdened with excess muscle but filled with wiry strength. The straight sabers on their waists had handles worn smooth from use. Their spear shafts were little better. Even the red tufts of thread around their spearheads were matted with blood.
Gongsun Zan stepped forward, bowed, and in a quiet voice asked “Would the immortals bestow blessings before the battle? It would help morale.”
Liren and Tian shared a glance and nodded. “Bring forward the spears.” Liren had the soldiers stretch out their spears, tips touching the ground in front of her. She took a big mouthful of Earthly wine, and sprayed it over the spears. Refilling as necessary.
“Yang qi and immortal wine, bane of evil spirits! Your spears shall not be turned aside by witchcraft! Here, talismans crafted by my own hand!” She flung open her seemingly empty hand, and strips of yellow paper flew out and stuck themselves to the breastplates of the soldiers. “When the battle comes, march forward as one!” The words blazed on the paper, and in the hearts of the soldiers. They had been there for the investiture ceremony. The Martyr Venerable was their god too.
Not to be outdone, Tian drew sprigs of aster flowers, barely into the Earthly realm, native to the steppes. The little white blossoms attached themselves next to the gorgets of the troopers. “To protect you from poison fumes and to ward off venomous insects. Should you fall, I offer this.”
Tian drew his own bottle of wine, carefully filled a bowl and poured it out in a fine libation. He clasped his hands, his voice filling with rich yin qi. “Honorable officers, the Black and White Impermanences, this little daoist begs your indulgence. These soldiers raise their spears and risk their life in desperate battle, hoping to save the myriad civilians of the city. Should they fall, I ask that you put their sins on me.”
There was a stir amongst the soldiers. Eyes that had been fixed downward raised up and stared at him, unblinking. “I will stand before King Yan and confess all. Put their sins on me, and use- His breath caught, shuddering with what he was about to sacrifice. “Use what merits I have to secure them a happy reincarnation and a peaceful life.” Tian clapped three times and poured out another bowl of wine. “My thanks for your indulgence, and sorry for the extra work.”
The last bit wasn’t part of any proper liturgy, but it just seemed polite. He had killed, or been responsible for, so many deaths. If he were in their ghostly shoes, he’d be pretty irritated.
“Mount up!” Gongusun shouted, and the soldiers shouted back, leaping onto their horses. One trooper was silent, riding on a shaggy black steed. Gongsun’s horse was naturally a beauty, vivid red coat unmistakable amongst all the brown and black. The soldiers assembled behind the north gate, ballistae loaded behind them, ready to launch and clear them a path if needed.
“Open the portcullis, stand by to open the gate!” The Red Plumed General’s voice fired the blood, and the soldiers leapt into action, hauling away the heavy timbers, pulling the chains to raise the portcullis.
“Dare to Die Squad, stand ready!” Gongsung’s voice wasn’t much quieter. “Wait for the immortals to make their move. Wait for my order!”
Tian and Liren met each other’s eyes. He could see the love in her, and the grief. There was no regret. “I’d do it all again. All of it. Even the horrible parts.” Her thoughts reached him, warming him. “You are worth it. If we live through this-”
“We will. And if we don’t, we will try again in the next life, and the life after that, until we get it right.” Tian smiled. “Sooner or later, I will be taller than you. Then I’ll really show you what’s what.”
“Fool.” She gently snorted. “Right. Let’s not keep the Yuu waiting.” Liren soared up on a flying sword, rising over the city wall. Sunlight gathered on her, haloing her, adding brilliance to her spear. “HONG LIREN COMES FORTH! ANY WHO FEEL THEY HAVE LIVED TOO LONG, STEP FORWARD AND FACE ME!”
She charged straight towards the enemy lines in a blaze of light. Tian came on behind her. A little slower, a little quieter, and every bit as resolved.
“We don’t stop until we reach Iron Hill Fortress! Remember! We don’t stop until the message is delivered! Even if you die, your ghost delivers the message before you get hauled off! If your ghost can’t do it, your bones will do it, ahead of schedule and army fashion!” Gongsun’s voice lashed the soldiers. He yanked his horse’s head around, then crouched over the saddle, spear under his arm. The gate flew open, the road wide and clear ahead of him. “Cavalry! Advance at the gallop!”
The Yuu camps burst into life. Fox spirits jumped into the air from hidden holes, wolves and eagles showed themselves. Deeper into the camps, amongst the tents, horses gathered, and even bears, red eyed, long limbed, boney and heavy-fanged. Arrows, glowing green and heavy with curses, rushed up, hissing through the air. Liren threw out a talisman and continued her charge. The talisman shuddered and grew, becoming an iron wall that flew around her, blocking the incoming arrows.
“Come out and face me, you cowards!” Liren’s voice shook the air over the camps. Wolves howled. One planted itself in front of her, crouching and bearing its fangs, snarling, ghostly saliva dripping from its maw. Two more flanked her, another two coming from behind. “Oh, not this time, little pups!”
She thrust forward, explosive speed burying the blazing spear in the throat of the spirit wolf and tearing it apart. A strong pull and a twisting step turned the recovery into a sweep, ripping through the flanking wolf on the right, continuing until she had spun in place to face the wolves coming from behind. She smiled and kept turning, killing the last wolf and charging deeper into the camp. The two wolves behind her had been silently crushed by Tian. It wasn’t like he wasn’t being targeted. It was just that, when Liren shone, it was hard to pay attention to anything else.
They kept rushing inwards. The spirits didn’t block their way. They spread out, enveloping them, cutting off their retreat to the city. More arrows came, hissing and whirring from every direction. The iron shield couldn’t manage on its own. Liren tossed out another.
“Keep shooting! Shoot more! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! I HOLD ALL THE TREASURES OF THE LONG CLAN AND FORT ASKARMAND! YOU WILL ALL DIE BENEATH MY SPEAR!” Her voice was loud enough to deafen. Loud enough to be heard for miles around. A Grand Shaman was pulling on a great hawk spirit. Not quite fast enough. Liren fell on him like a meteor. The giant wings dispersed, turning into ripping claws. He was fast, fast enough to slash at her left arm. Translucent talons glanced off of hidden armor. Liren returned the favor, smashing her spear into the side of his head. He manifested a hawk’s head over his own, but the strength of the blow sent him flying.
Tian was waiting in the shaman’s path. He was concealing his breath, keeping his movements small. As the grand shaman shot towards him, Tian thrust out with his staff, accurately striking through the hawk-spirit helmet and piercing the acupoint at the top of the head. The shaman died before he hit the ground, with nothing but a bruise for a wound.
It wasn’t that he was invisible. It was just that he was quiet, and still, and Liren was anything but. There was no great art to it. There didn’t have to be. True to her name, Hong Liren blazed, and drew all eyes towards her. No longer hiding beneath a veil, she was the warrior she had always dreamed of being. A shadow of the godslayer to come.
Grand shamans were racing over from the surrounding camps, Tian could count four, then eight, then ten of their strange, quasi-immortal breaths. Some were in the air, carried by spirits of eagles or hawks, others raced over on spirit horses, transformed into wolves, or deer, all carrying a murderous will. The advantage of surprise had ended. They were keeping up the encirclement, sealing the heavens and the earth to trap the enemy who had foolishly rushed too deep.
He allowed himself a tiny smile. This was probably most of the Grand Shamans the Yuu had, or at least, a major percentage of them. They needed some to defend their troops elsewhere, this wasn’t the only place Wuusan was attacking. Killing them all would cripple the Yuu’s advance. If he could kill them all.
One of the grand shamans wasn’t fooled by Tian’s quiet act. A massive bear, fags curling above and below her blunt muzzle, swiped at him with heavy paws. Tian smacked away the long claws with his staff, pushing them to the side rather than contesting her strength. His qi tunneled for her acupoints, but was struggling to reach them. The ghostly bear hide was armoring her, resisting the invasion of his qi. She didn’t let the small pain stop her. The blows came faster and faster, the fangs lunged for his face, forcing him to dodge. His outer robe was slowly torn, revealing the black and gold beneath. More breaths converging, arrows flew in, making him dodge, making him spin his staff and deflect them rather than go on the attack.
No use trying to be quiet anymore. Tian launched a flurry of blows at the bear, then hopped back as three flew in, trying to pin him in place. His twisting body might have looked a bit strange, but the arrows missed and that was what mattered. Unfortunately, his maneuver left him unbalanced, and unable to dodge. The bear rushed in, raising a heavy paw to finish it. And stepped directly on the talisman Tian had dropped on the ground. They worn yellow paper exploded into a heavy spike of stone, stabbing up from the earth, rising nine feet in the air.
She was a tough one. The spike caught her in the guts, but didn’t kill her outright. Her eyes met his, glaring at him through the bear spirit she wore. There was no weakness in them, no plea for mercy. She wasn’t sorry about a damn thing, other than the fact she had failed to kill him. Tian didn’t speak any nonsense. The heavy staff swung once more, and sent her off to wait on the road for her colleagues.
The arrows came faster now. Tian looked over in the direction they were coming from, it seemed to be… the breath was a mile away! He could rush over and deal with them, but that would mean leaving Liren’s back undefended. Not acceptable. He pulled another talisman out, this one a rich gold color, carrying the word “SWORD.” Tian tore it and sent the attack out to kill the archer. A second later, he felt the breath weaken, but not stop. Only wounded. Tian shook his head. So long as the arrows stopped, it would do for now.
Liren had killed another while he fought with the bear and the archer. The enemy was down to seven effectives. That was a good start, but they were still missing the key target. Where was the Great Wolf Shaman?