Chapter Twenty

The squadron rode south in the late morning of the same day. They did not linger in Unkabi. Dryden rode at the front of the squadron with Ugruz and Mar. Aisa was tied into the saddle of a horse, her hands bound. Her horse was led by a rope held by Sergeant Steele who did not go far. He had instructions to not let her anywhere near catalysts of any kind. Without them, she had no sorcery to wield. They rode across open country, first at a trot to gain distance from Unkabi, then at a walk to give the horses rest. The rolling plains went on into the distance. To the west, they could see the Shan mountains in the distance. To the east, south, and north, nothing but a vast sea of grass and hills. To the east rain clouds slowly moved across the land, trailing wispy tendrils of virga with it. It was warm, but not hot as they rode. The only difficulty were small biting flies, but they were not so many and disappeared when the wind blew. They stopped before dusk to set a camp and set pickets to guard their camp, with an eye to guarding their rear. It was a fool who set no sentry. They kept their cookfires small and hoped that they would be lost in the vast expanse if any sought to follow after them. Dryden and his officers sat around the campfire together along with Ugruz and Aisa.

“How many days ride to Dau?” Dryden asked Ugruz as they ate a supper of beans and freshly butchered antelope.

“Seven. No matter where you are in the Kizil, the ride to Dau is always seven days.”

“How is that possible?” Khathan asked.

“There is no understanding it,” Ugruz replied as if this were perfectly reasonable.

“You said you had been there. Tell us of it,” Dryden told the easterner.

“It is famous in the east. I decided to see it for myself. I was only curious. I sought no secrets or powers,” Ugruz glanced at Aisa.

“What did you find?”

“A dead city black with rot. I regret that I went and I do not wish to return. I saw things there that cannot be explained. The city is on the steppe up against the mountains. Strange spirits live there. The whole plain grows with aethium flowers. The mountain bleeds onto the steppe and feeds the flowers there. There is a demon-haunted pit in the city, a great bottomless chasm, and...” A wind whipped through the camp and the fire sputtered.

Dryden was suddenly cold, he pulled his coat about himself. The steppe, he found, was often quite cold at night, even in summer. Horses whinnied nearby. A strange cry cut the night in the distance.

“What is that?” Mar asked.

“Only a wild cat,” Ugruz said, though his voice did not seem sure.

“We don’t need a leopard taking any of our horses, or gods forbid a man,” Dryden said, “Lieutenant Albans, make the rounds, see that our pickets are in good order.”

“Yes, sir,” Albans stood and obeyed, disappearing into the night to check the sentries.

Dryden turned his attention to Aisa, “Aisa, you said you would tell me thing I did not wish to hear. Tell them to me now.”

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“There is no saving your wizard,” Haughtiness had returned to her voice.

She had been right, he did not like those words, “I refuse to believe that.”

“Truth does not require your belief.”

“A god has cursed my friend. This is a land where it takes seven days to travel to a city no matter how distant. It is a land of indigo flowers that allow men and women to enact their will upon the world and to raise the very bones of the dead. I refuse to believe this cannot be undone and you will help me undo it.”

“I am your enemy. Even if I knew, I would rather die than help you.”

“What did you learn in Dau?”

She said nothing.

Another cry cut the night, the same as before but slightly closer, “Are you sure that is a cat?” Dryden asked of Ugruz.

Ugruz was already on alert, peering into the dark of the steppe, “No.”

Dryden leaned over to Lieutenant Edmonds, “Quietly now, have the men load carbines and make ready. It may be Vuruni or the Fyrins who have followed us.”

“Or it may be something else,” Ugruz added in a whisper, “There are many things a man might find on the path to the black city.”

The soft-spoken Lieutenant nodded and then slinked away to spread the word amongst the men. The soft sounds of troopers doing as ordered quickly followed.

“You there, halt!” One of the sentries shouted.

Guns blazed in the night. Screams and shouting issued forth from the dark soon after. More shots and shouts. A shape in the dark came running in breathing hard, it was Albans, “Men are coming. I’ve pulled back the pickets closer to camp. We killed one, but there are more. Many more. Dozens at least.”

“Vuruni or Fyrin?” Dryden asked.

“Vuruni.”

“They’re here for her,” Dryden gestured to Aisa, “Are they An-Beya warriors? An-Zhigo?”

The sorceress only smirked, her gold eyes glinting in the firelight.

“Put out the fires,” Ugruz said, “They blind us.”

Edmonds scooped sand and threw it on the fire, smothering it. Others started to do the same at their own fires. Dryden’s eyes began to adjust to the dark. Stars shone above them in the night sky and he could see a faint glow on the horizon where Unkabi lay to the north. The horses grazed nearby, they had not been startled by the gunfire much. Then he saw them, shapes moving slowly in the night, creeping forward in the dark. They were close, just past the sentries. The only light was the faint indigo ember from Mar’s cigarette. He let out a puff of smoke.

“Fire!” Dryden shouted.

Guns flashed again, bright against the night. Howls of pain and fury sounded out in the dark. Dryden gripped his sword. The enemy charged. He did not know how many they were but he saw their silhouettes moving against the starry horizon. He collided blade-first with a man. He ripped the sabre from him and moved to another shape in the dark and cut that one down too. More came. Men fought and died in the dark. There were moments he knew not who he fought, whether the enemy or his own men. For the most part, he could tell by the words they used and the sounds they made. He found as he picked his way through the fight that he nearly ran through Sergeant Major Quint, except that the man cursed in Vastrum at the last moment. After collecting themselves, they moved on and went through the night, killing the enemies they found. Dawn revealed a bloody scene. A dozen of his troopers were dead. Nearly a hundred of the enemy were killed in return. Aisa was gone. Dryden knelt and picked a banner from the dirt. It was black and gold, the banner of the An-Beya clan. Some of her kinsmen had come and freed their princess.

“It makes no matter, Major,” Ugruz said, when he saw the frustration on Dryden’s face, “We cannot help but travel to Dau. We could not go any other way. The ruin pulls you to it once the journey is begun. Aisa too, has begun the journey. We will meet her there no matter how she goes.”

“How does one leave?” Mar asked.

“A sacrifice is needed. We will find her there.”

“Seven days, you said. Six more, then?” Dryden confirmed.

“Yes, six more days.”

Dryden grinned wickedly and spoke to himself, “Very well, witch, I shall meet you in the black city, then, whither thou intend it or no.”

They buried their dead and rode out by midday. They left the dead of the enemy for the vultures and ravens. Six more days to the place where the blood of the mountains spills upon the indigo steppe. Six days to the place Kal’kuris told him of, where Aisa found her power. Six days to the black city of Dau.