"I still say you should have taken the doll," Batro said, sitting on a fallen log. "That's a worthy trophy."
Yazwa sighed, looking out over the open sea as the sun slowly made its way towards the horizon. After hours of waiting for a second attack that never came, Bill ordered them to abandon the Emerald Arrow. They snuck out of the ship one by one, careful to keep under the cover of the trees as they made their way to the shore. Once they found a little grove on the edge of the beach, Aven went on ahead to see what the soldiers were up to. The rest of them stayed behind to await his return. Ru Talas had made a pile of leaves to lay on, and Saiyun was at work drawing something in a patch of dirt. Ji and Bill were off on their own on the edge of the grove, deep in conversation, leaving her to entertain Batro.
"Why would I want a trophy?" she asked. "Isn't the fact that I did it enough?"
"No one's going to believe that story," Batro scoffed, patting the pair of summon dolls he had taken for himself after the battle. "That's why you bring proof or some scars to show off. That tiny little wound on your side isn't going to convince anyone you took out that centipede-thing in one swing."
The bandage Aven had tied around her torso was tight, but she could still move easily. Aven had told her before he left that the barbs hadn't gone deep and the cut would heal fine if she kept it clean. Pride swelled in her heart as she patted the wound. "It was pretty great, wasn't it?"
"I'm feeling a lot better about our chances of getting our ship back," Batro said, picking a twig up off the ground and swirling it in his hands. "If you're looking for work when Bill’s job is done let me know. I know a few mercenary captains that would pay solid coin for you to sign up."
Yazwa blinked at him. "What?"
"If you want to stay on with Bill that's fine," Batro shrugged. "But he's not the type to keep a crew. Real loner most of the time from what I hear. So if he leaves you high and dry, I can help you out."
"You do know," Yazwa said slowly. "You do know I'm just along until I can find the Vathlanri that can lift my curse, right? I swear I remember telling you. After that I'm going back home."
Batro squinted at her. "Still? After all this you're going to go back to swinging a hammer?"
"Well..." Yazwa hesitated. "Of course I am. That's why I'm out here. To get back home."
"What a waste," Batro scoffed. "With your eyes and that cutting trick you could be half a legend."
Yazwa stared at him, fumbling to come up with an answer. "Well...what are you going to do after Bill’s job is done then?"
"Depends on the payout," Batro said thoughtfully, looking up at the leaves overhead. "If it’s as big as I think it's going to be, then I'll sail back to Ankuvan and hire a matchmaker. With my trophies and my coin, I should be able to fix a marriage into one of the big families and be set for life."
"Wait, where do you get off giving me grief for going back home?" Yazwa asked, pointing at him. "That's exactly what you're going to do."
"I'm not going back home to be a blacksmith," Batro huffed, looking back down at her. "Marrying will get me a top spot in my wife’s family's guard, and there's plenty of war to go around in Ankuvan. Only then I'd be giving the orders, not taking them. I've got it all figured out."
"Well good for you," came Bill’s voice.
Yazwa jumped, twisting around to see him looming over her along with Ji. How did someone so heavy move so quietly?
"Don't worry," Batro grinned. "I'll tell plenty of stories about my time with Headless Bill."
"My legend spreads," Bill said wryly. "Yazwa, I need to ask you something."
Yazwa got to her feet and dusted herself off. "What is it?" she asked. Bill and Ji both had serious looks on their faces, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck beginning to rise.
"Back on the ship, when the soldiers were onboard," Bill said, running a hand through his beard. "Did you catch a glimpse of them with your sight? Did anything seem strange about them?"
"The soldiers?" Yazwa asked, thinking back. That's right, they had leapt up onto the deck in one bound. "I never got a good look at them. I was too focused on the bombs and the summons and the bird...thing."
"Nothing," Bill frowned. "Well that doesn't clear anything up."
"They are not Esgan," Ji snapped, glaring up at Bill.
"I said it was possible, not that it was likely," Bill replied. "But we can't rule it out either."
Ji tensed, clenching her hands into fists. "No Esgan would ever stoop so low to serve a pirate captain."
Yazwa slowly raised her hand. "What are you talking about? What can't we rule out about the soldiers?"
"You saw that leap they made," said Bill. "They were stronger than they should have been too. Superior strength and long jumps are signs of an Esgan."
Ji shook her head, braid flopping around. "Impossible. To become an Esgan takes rigorous training and a heart devoted to En Chitei. They were strong, but they had no skill. They were flailing around like novices. There is no way they were Esgan."
"I think Ji would know," Yazwa said, reaching over to lay a calming hand on Ji's shoulder. "If they're not Esgan, what else could they be?"
"Akshi," Bill said, rubbing his eyes. "Which is worse."
Yazwa felt Ji tense up more under her palm. "What's an Akshi?"
"Those are the things that Cai is paranoid about, right?" Batro asked. "He told me about them in Chanan Harbor. Didn't they...kill a god and possess people?"
"They're ancient demons of mist that haunt the shadows, broken into three courts that take control of people in different ways," Bill replied, holding up three fingers. “The Telai dominate, the Guashu whisper and the Keiso bargain. Azun has a bargain with a sect of Keiso Akshi. Possession grants the host all the knowledge of the Akshi and unnatural strength. They usually make excellent spies, but if he has enough to use as soldiers, that is...very…worrying."
"Mist demons that killed a god?” Yazwa replied, a shiver running up her spine. She’d grown up listening to stories of heroic deeds and tales around the hearthfire. The ones with monsters and demons had always been her favorite, but…. “I've never heard of such a thing."
Bill reached out and tapped the side of her head. "That's because an Achali can spot them easily. They give off a very strange and distinctive aura. Akshi prefer to operate in secret, which they just can't do in Atemzlite lands. If you'd seen them, we would know they were possessed and which Court they came from. Keep your eyes open if we see them again."
Yazwa bit down on a giggle that came down out of nowhere. As if the monstrous summons and blindingly fast Korav weren't enough, now she had to deal with ancient, god-killing demons that only she could see? There wasn't anything funny about that, so where did this gleeful feeling come from?
"I'll do my best," she said, clearing her throat.
-
The sound of waves gently lapping at the shore was almost calming. Saiyun took a breath and clapped the dirt off his hands, satisfied with the makeshift map he’d drawn in the ground. He took a look around, searching for broken twigs or leaves to work with. “Excuse me,” Saiyun said, pointing at a stick under Ru Talas. “I could make use of that. May I?”
“This stick?” Ru Talas asked, pulling it out and handing it to Saiyun. “What do you need a stick for?”
“It will make an excellent representation of the centipede,” Saiyun said, sizing it up and snapping off one of the ends. “Has there been any word from Aven?”
Ru Talas shook his head and got to his feet. “No, but he did say that he’d be back before dark. He’s got some time left. What are you up to?”
“I’m making a diagram of our battle aboard the Emerald Arrow,” Saiyun said, plucking a few leaves off a bush. “I must study my own actions as well as the Great Martial Texts if I want to improve.”
Ru Talas followed him, scratching his head. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Saiyun said, reaching the map in the dirt. It was mostly proportioned properly; he had redrawn the location of the masts five times before he was satisfied. Careful to not smudge the outline, he placed the sticks and leaves on the ground. “The leaves represent us, the big rocks are the Telshen, the small rocks are the Ashel, this stick is the Krishaka, and this white flower petal is the Korav.”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“The what?” Ru Talas asked.
“These here,” he said, point at the small rocks. “The monkeys covered in barbs were Ashel of Thorns. The ones with four arms are called Clawed Telshen. The giant centipede was called the Jaws of Krishaka. I’ve placed them as they were after the soldiers retreated.”
“I know, I was there,” Ru Talas said. “Even though you didn’t place me.”
Saiyun plucked a leaf from a nearby branch and placed it on the map. “There. Now, this is how everyone was positioned when the second wave came. I can already see one of my mistakes, do you see it?”
Ru Talas stared down at the map. “Son, I’m a fisherman.”
“And I’m a customs inspector,” Saiyun answered, pointing at the map. “Which is why I missed an opportunity. One of the Ashel was separated and alone. It was being used as the eyes of the Vao. Taking it out would have denied the enemy view of the battle as well as giving us one less thing to fight. Before we made landfall I was reading ‘Reflections of Wuleen,’ and he spoke at great length of the value of denying the enemy knowledge of your movements. So does ‘Achings War Diary’. After we get back on the ship, I’m going to read ‘Ears Eyes Nose’, next. It’s a comprehensive treatise on the use of scouts. It should be very informative.”
“Is that right?” Ru Talas murmured.
“Yes, but that’s beside the point,” Saiyun said, kneeling down and grabbing a stick with a few leaves on it and moving it towards the front of the map. “I hesitated when the Korav appeared. I knew the legends, but it was even faster than I expected, I wasn’t sure if Jado could keep up. Then the centipede appeared and I hesitated again. I couldn’t decide which was the greater threat. Eventually I chose the Korav, which in hindsight was the best option because Yazwa managed to take down the Krishaka so quickly. But if she hadn’t, I wonder if that would have been the right call. What do you think?”
“Son,” Ru Talas said slowly. “I’m a fisherman.”
Saiyun frowned. “I know that, but any opinion would be helpful. I need to know if I should adjust my thinking.”
“It would help if you said what your thinking was,” Bill said, stepping up to the map. Ji was with him, peering down at the map.
“Did I interrupt your meditation?” Saiyun said with a slight bow. “I am sorry, I should not have spoken so loudly.”
“Damage is done,” Bill said, squatting down next to the map. “Now, why did you send Jado after the Korav?”
Saiyun took a breath. “I perceived it to be the more dangerous foe, therefore the better target. But I’ve been thinking on Wuleen’s essay on the fourth stratagem. When faced with an army of greater size than your own, seek to engage scattered units, not the main force. Thereby you weaken your enemy while maintaining your own strength. With that advice in mind, I feel it would have been wiser to send Jado after the weaker summons, rather than the Korav.”
Bill looked over the map, nodding gently as Saiyun spoke. “You’ve been reading the diaries and the war manuals, have you looked at any of the martial arts books yet?”
“What? No,” Saiyun said. “I gave them a quick look and they were all about physical conditioning and one-on-one combat. Hardly useful to me.”
“Should have looked deeper,” Bill said, reaching out and grabbing the Jado stick and putting it back where it started. “The Diaries and War Manuals have good information, but they’re hard to apply to brawls like this one. Have you read any of ‘Jeweled Fist’ yet?”
“No, not at all,” Saiyun said. “Well, the introduction. It went on and on about sword duels, so I didn’t think I’d find anything useful in there.”
“What about you Ji?” Bill asked. “Did they ever read from ‘Jeweled Fist’ at the monastery?”
“I have never even heard of that book,” Ji replied, eyes still on the map. “I remember…’Strength of the Mountain’ and…’The Many Akojen Wars’.”
“Sounds about right,” Bill said, stretching his hands overhead and maintaining his squat. “’Jeweled Fist’ was written by bodyguards and duelists in Lai Zeng. It has some pretty graphic descriptions of what goes on behind closed doors. Nothing your elders wanted you hearing, I’m sure. But it has a lot of useful advice for fighting in small groups in close quarters. I’ve found it very helpful.”
Saiyun frowned. Throughout the ages Lai Zeng had been known as a city of wretched excess. The less he knew about what went on there the better. But he could not afford to avoid it. “I will put it at the top of my list.”
“Good,” Bill nodded. “Ji, you were in this fight. Do you think Saiyun made the right call?”
Ji stepped back from Bill. “I am your student. It is not for me to say.”
“It is if I say it is,” Bill said, pointing at the map. “What do you think?”
“I-“ Ji swallowed, kneeling next to the map. She looked it over, casting the occasional nervous glance at a smiling Bill. “I…believe he was correct. The Korav was the most dangerous enemy in the battle. Attacking it with Jado increased our chance of victory.”
“Do you agree?” Saiyun asked Bill, watching him closely. He was starting to see that the pirate liked to drag things out. Hopefully he wasn’t going to make fun of Ji.
“If all we were doing was trying to win this fight, you’d be right,” Bill smiled. “What do you think, Ru Talas?”
“Well,” said Ru Talas. “Speaking as a fisherman…”
Saiyun scowled as Bill let out a belly laugh. “If you could explain a little clearer,” Saiyun said through a clenched jaw. “As far as I know, we were trying to win.”
“To serve an end,” Bill said, reaching out to grab the twig with leaves. “Our goal was to convince the enemy that we needed to protect the ship and drive them off until nightfall. New summons came at us quickly, which means the Vao was nearby.” Bill picked up the twigs and placed it off the map. “Using Jado to attack the Vao would have forced them to withdraw their summons and the Korav to protect themselves.”
“…of course,” Saiyun scowled, clenching his fists. “I was so focused on what was in front of me I didn’t see it. Killing the Vao to destroy the summons is basic.”
“I did not see it either,” Ji added.
“When faced with a mob,” Bill said, rising to his feet, “you are fighting a hundred angry men and must flee. When faced with mercenaries, you are fighting one man’s purse. It’s the sort of thing you’ll learn in ‘Jeweled Fist’. Don’t sweat it, Yazwa won that for us. I think our enemies were expecting their bombs to do most of the work. Beheading that centipede didn’t hurt either.”
“I will do better in the battles to come,” Saiyun said.
“Speaking of battles to come…” said Bill as Aven slipped out of the trees. “Time to see what our next one will be.”
Saiyun gathered around Aven with the rest of the crew. He was filthy, covered in dirt and mud and his clothes were torn. Despite that, he had a happy look in his eye. “Is there good news?” Saiyun asked.
“Yes,” Aven nodded, brushing dirt off his face. “You were right Bill, they’re setting up a big camp on the beach. They have tents, and they’ve put up a barrier of sharpened stakes. I saw two Vao and two summons standing watch. They have twenty uniformed soldiers,too, and some sailors to mind the boats.”
“Did they spot you?” Bill asked, leaning against a tree.
“I stayed under cover the whole time,” Aven said, looking up at the leaves above. “If they spotted me then they know where the rest of us are too.”
Bill laughed. “That’s not disturbing at all.”
Saiyun swallowed and looked up as well. He knew there were summons that had extraordinary senses. A few had made it onto the list he wanted to learn from Tsen. He didn’t know of any that could see through a tree canopy, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. “What about the ones on the ground? Are you sure they didn’t see you?”
Aven scowled at him. “They were watching the hills. I came up along the shore. No one saw me.”
“Good to know,” Bill said, looking to the blood-red sunset in the west. “In a few hours we can take advantage of that.”
“How are we going to get back to our ships?” Saiyun asked. “Even under the cover of darkness we’ll be easy to spot in open water.
Bill stroked his beard. “You’ve been reading ‘Wuleen’s Reflections’. How did he break the siege of Hainal?”
Saiyun looked down at the ground. “Hainal…he staged a series of false breakout attempts, then sent out a false spy to tell the enemy that he was going to attempt an even larger breakout the next day. The enemy pulled in all his reinforcements to hold it back. With the enemy's eyes fixed on the city, he sent orders for a cavalry force to attack the besiegers. They were taken completely by surprise and scattered.”
“You’re a quick reader,” Bill chuckled. “They’re certain we intend to protect that ship to the death. With all their eyes on the island, they won’t be watching the sea. We pile onto Saiyun’s turtle, and it will carry us out and around the back of the ships in the lagoon. With the size of the camp on the beach there can’t be anything more than a skeleton crew on both ships. We take them over, disable the mystery ship, and sail away. If we do it right, they won’t even know we’re gone until morning.”
“The Ijose Turtle cannot carry all of you,” Saiyun frowned.
“If it can drag our ship, it can drag us too,” Bill said, tugging on a nearby vine. “We tie some logs to its shell and ride those. Not the most comfortable journey, but it will get us there.”
“There are a lot of things that can go wrong with that plan,” Aven said, sitting on a log. “Assuming we make it there without anyone noticing, we still have to take them over with no one raising the alarm. One shout, one bell ring, is all it will take. Once that happens, I’m sure the Vao will send summons at us while the soldiers are rowing back to the ship.”
“Ijose could swamp the boats,” said Saiyun. “It’s not fast, but I’m sure it could get in between the ships and the boats in time. Its shell is tough too, I bet it could handle a few bullets.”
“See? Problem solved,” Bill said, gesturing at Saiyun.
“What about Tsen?” Aven asked.
Saiyun put his hand to his mouth. How had he forgotten Tsen? The crotchety old man was still back at the Emerald Arrow, transcribing the ship's logs. “We can’t abandon him, we have to go back.”
“This whole voyage is about getting a favor out of him,” Aven added. “And we’re just going to leave him there?”
Bill took a deep breath, looking out to sea at the dimming sky. Some stars were already beginning to twinkle. “I’m not worried about Tsen. He’s going to sit in that cabin until he’s good and ready to leave. I believe him when he says he’ll catch up to us when he’s done. It actually works out in our favor. If they attack in the middle of the night, his response should convince them that we’re still there.”
“You’re going to use him as bait?” Saiyun snapped.
Bill raised an eyebrow. “Yazwa, what do you think of Tsen’s chances?”
“I know it seems wrong to leave him behind,” Yazwa said, leaning on her oar. “But I’ve seen Tsen fight when he rescued me. I don’t think he’s in any danger.”
Saiyun stared at her and the battle they had just survived replayed in his head. Enhanced soldiers hurling bombs. Well commanded, high-skill summons. A Korav, a demon spoken of only in whispers. It had taken all their power and skills to merely survive that. And Tsen wasn’t in any danger? It was almost insulting. “If you say so,” Saiyun said.
“If no one has any more objections, let's get going,” said Bill.