* * * * *
They made several leagues before the sun crested over the hills in the east the next morning. Jurin led the way along the river. He told them that they’d probably see the mountains before midday, but wouldn’t reach them until the next. Bryn hustled up to the head of the column to ask Jurin about the land.
“What will the Isthmus be like?” he asked as he sidled up beside the former soldier.
“Well, I’ve never seen it myself,” Jurin replied. “I know that we can’t reach it by any other way than going through Waigo, though. The Xishan Mountains stretch right down to the sea, their cliffs stretching up hundreds of feet above the waves. They are just as daunting along the rest of their length. Beyond them lies the thick Xi’Tsong Jungle. The foliage is so thick that it’s been said to swallow men whole,” he said, looking down on Bryn and giving a smile when he saw the alarm in the boy’s face. “After that it’s a bit of grassland and prairie like we’re on now, then the desert stretches on and on for leagues.”
“I met a man who crossed it once,” Bryn said. “In Baden for the trade conference was Palen Biln who represented Ithmia.”
“I heard about that march while I was still at Bindao,” Jurin replied. “How those men survived walking across that desert I’ll know. Most were not so lucky.”
“My father also marched across it, and back again when the attack on the city failed,” Bryn said after a moment.
Jurin looked down at him. “Your father was a very strong man, then,” he said.
“Not strong enough,” Bryn replied, “he was killed on the second day of fighting at Baden.”
Jurin didn’t reply to that and quite a few minutes passed by in silence before Bryn spoke again.
“How will we get across the isthmus? Walk?” Bryn asked.
“Just hope that you don’t have to,” Jurin replied. “There’s a good chance that we can secure a ship for you in Waigo.”
“But if we can’t?” Bryn asked.
“Then your uncle’s idea of flagging down a passing fishing boat seems the best chance. Many boats still travel to Yanshide Island to fish, I’ve no doubt. Most likely some’ll be far enough south to spot you on the Isthmus. Trust me lad, the last thing that you want to do is walk across that barren land.”
Bryn though about what it would be like to cross through the Isthmus of foot. Palen seemed to be a very tough man. He’d have to be to survive that. He led the lead detachment of the disastrous Breakout campaign that sent hundreds of men swarming across the isthmus to strike at Waigo from the rear. When they failed to take the city there was no choice but to head back the way they’d come. They’d also pinned their hopes on catching a ship sailing along the Isthmus. Many were lucky, but more were not. It was believed that more died coming back from Waigo than had fallen at the city’s walls.
“What is Waigo like?” Bryn asked after a few minutes.
Jurin though for a few moments before answering. “It’s nestled in the mountains and takes about half a day of hiking up the base of the hills before you reach it. The mountains give the city natural walls on two sides, while the side facing the Isthmus is protected by immense stone blocks which were chiseled from the mountains hundreds of years ago. Beyond the city the road narrows and stretches into the only navigable pass through the mountains. It takes nearly two whole days to travel it, I hear.”
“But if it’s in the middle of the mountains, then how can we find a ship there?” Bryn asked, puzzled.
“True, there are no docks at Waigo, but the city does control some further north along the sea at the base of the Xishans. It’s another two days to reach that.”
“So why do we even need to travel to Waigo at all, then?”
“It’ll be necessary to secure passage in Waigo. The city has a lot of clout with the surrounding area. It’s also there that we can get an official government audience.”
“Do you think that the emperor knows of the attacks on us?” Bryn asked.
“I doubt it. The emperor doesn’t have much actual power anymore, I’m afraid. In fact, I don’t even think that Jonguria would be able to trade with Adjuria at this point. The country’s not as centralized as it once was, and the warlords exert the most power in each region. I’m certain that the man you talked to in Weiling swears fealty to one of the southern warlords, most likely Zhou, even if he does purport to be an imperial official.” Jurin paused and looked down at Bryn. “Tell me, are you certain that this Adjurian you saw in Weiling resembled Grandon Fray?”
“I think so,” Bryn stammered. “I’ve seen a picture of what he looks like from a book about the war, but that was drawn ten or twenty years ago. He looked a lot like the Regidian from the conference though, Jossen Fray.”
“Jossen is his nephew,” Jurin said, “and from what I’ve heard they do look alike.”
“But what would Grandon be doing in Weiling?”
“I don’t know. It could be that one of the southern warlords wants to use him to bolster their own prestige. What Grandon would get from the deal I’ve no idea.”
“Could he be planning to take over the throne again?”
“That seems unlikely. I haven’t been in Adjuria in more than ten years, but I don’t think that he was the most popular character when he first tried for the throne.”
“Could Grandon have even survived that long on Desolatia?” Bryn asked. “And even if he did, wouldn’t he be so old now that he couldn’t do much?”
“Aye, I would think so. He was your uncle’s age when he tried for the throne. He’d be an old man now.”
“I think that the sooner we get back to Adjuria and tell the king what has happened, the better,” Bryn said. “I’m sure that a ship will be sent right away to Desolatia to check on Grandon. Most likely he’s still there.”
Jurin nodded and they lapsed into silence as they trudged on along the river. They ate salt pork for lunch while they walked and some berries that Trey found in some bushes by the river and which Jurin said were edible. By the time the sun was high in the sky they could see the Xishan Mountains looming in the distance, little more than specks on the horizon ahead of them. They were dark grey in color with spots of white at the top.
“Maybe Zhou has given up on us,” Pader said after they’d eaten.
“I have to admit I’m surprised that we made it all day yesterday and well into today without any trouble,” Jurin replied.
“It could just be that they’re laying a larger trap ahead of us,” Iago said.
“If they took the road to Waigo they’d be traveling faster than us and could be waiting before the city,” Willem said. “They do have horses. What’ll take us three days they could accomplish in a little more than one.”
“That’s why it’s best not to let your guard down,” Jurin advised. “One of the advantages of being in the open like this is that we’ll see an attack come. That’ll not be the case as we get closer to the mountains.”
By nightfall the mountains were towering walls in front of them. Cracks and fissures could be made out in the immense rock monoliths while the sheer steepness of their sides was clearly evident, even from such a long way off still. Again they found a spot by the river that had a few trees and did their best to find a comfortable spot to sleep on the hard ground.
It was the middle of the next day when they made it to the base of the mountains. The river had grown narrower as the mountains grew taller, eventually becoming little more than a small stream by the time they made it to its source. The hard grey stone seemed to grow straight up from the valley floor, rising hundreds of feet into the clear blue sky before receding back to rise even higher, but not so steeply. The river flowed from a small lake at the base of the mountains which was fed by a large waterfall that fell straight down for more than a hundred feet from the rocks above. Leaving the river behind, they followed the mountains north. Trees grew more abundantly and the air was cooler in the shadow of the large rocks. There was no way that these mountains could
be climbed unless one had hundreds of feet of rope to somehow tie into the hard stone face of the rising cliffs. Bryn could understand now as he stared straight up why going through the mountains at any other location besides Waigo was such an impossibility.
“What most worries me now,” Jurin said as they walked, “is the approach to the city. Two roads come together at Waigo, the one leading from the south that we crossed two days ago, and another coming from the east. If we can expect any kind of ambush, then that would be the most likely place.”
“Would Zhou’s men travel that far north?” Halam asked.
“Aye, they might. But it’s not just them that we have to worry about now. There are many different northern warlords that will have men wandering the roads looking for easy prey. Any one of them could attack us as well.”
“What about the garrison at Waigo?” Pader asked. “If the city is anything like Fadurk on the other side of the Isthmus, then there’ll be a large contingent of troops stationed in the city for border protection.”
“Yes, they’ll be there, but I don’t think we’ll have as many problems with them.”
“It’s not everyday that a large group of Adjurians comes stumbling into the city travel-worn and tired,” Trey pointed out. “Our presence won’t raise any eyebrows?”
“I don’t think it’d be wise for all of us to go into the city at first,” Jurin answered. “In fact, I think all but two of us should stay out of the city entirely. I’ve never been in the city before, so I have no real idea of what possible dangers there could be. If something happened within the walls, it would be better for everyone not to be there.”
“What could happen?” Halam asked.
Jurin thought for a few moments before answering. “While I don’t think that we would have any problems with the authorities, I may be wrong. It’s still forbidden for foreigners to travel in Jonguria without permission; has been ever since the war. While we can do our best to cover our faces with hoods, there is still the chance that we may be seen. A guard could spot us, a rebel could chance a look upon us, or even a beggar may decide there might be a few coins involved in reporting us to the city watch.”
“I thought that we wanted to report ourselves right away,” Bryn said.
“To the right people,” Jurin answered. “With enough coin we can secure passage on a fishing boat to Yanshide Island, and from there it would be easy for you to get on an Adjurian vessel.”
“We have plenty of Adjurian coins,” Conn pointed out. Edgyn had been smart to keep a small pouch of gold with the other supplies that went into the lifeboats. “They may not be what they use in Jonguria, but I’m sure that they still appreciate gold.”
“But what about reporting our attack to imperial officials?” Halam asked.
“The more I’ve thought about it over the past few days the more I think that may not be the best idea,” Jurin answered. “While there may be some honest officials in the city, just as many could be taking bribes from any number of warlords. They’d listen to your story with a sympathetic face and assure you that all of your problems are at an end, then report you to the rebels the first chance they got.”
“All of the officials can’t be like that,” Halam replied. “You said the emperor still had a firm hold on the city.”
“To the best of my knowledge, he does. But my best knowledge is not much. I live in the south and Waigo is in the north. Any number of complex situations could be happening in the city that I don’t have the slightest idea about.”
“If that’s the case,” Pader said, “then we better just book passage on a ship then get out of the city as fast as we can.”
“By getting passage I’m sure that we can also get a wagon to take us to the docks further north,” Jurin said. “There’d be less chance of being spotted that way.”
“So who goes into the city?” Rodden asked.
“I’ll have to go,” Jurin replied. “I speak the most Jongurian among you, so if we are stopped and questioned by anyone we won’t have to worry about that. You’ll have to decide amongst yourselves who else’ll go.”
They walked on in silence for awhile, each of them thinking of who would be the best choice to go into the city.
“Pader, you and Halam speak more Jongurian than the rest of us. If something were to happen, that might be the difference between life and death,” Rodden said to break the silence.
“I don’t think my Jongurian would fool anyone,” Halam replied with a smile.
“You’re the unofficial leader of our party,” Flint said. “Ever since the ship went down you’ve been calling the shots.”
Before Halam could answer Pader spoke up. “And that’s exactly the reason why he should stay with all of you outside the city. If something should occur I think your best chances of getting north to the docks lies with Halam.” Pader paused to look over at the Tillatian for a moment. “He’s gotten us all this far.”
“Not that I’ve done a very good job of it,” Halam objected. “Three of us are dead.”
“And many more could be if things’d gone a little differently,” Willem pointed out.
“I’ll go with Jurin into the city,” Pader announced. “Most likely these fears of ours are unfounded.
The rest of the men agreed, so Pader and Jurin would be the men going into the city. They walked in the shadow of the mountains until darkness came yet again. Jurin allowed a small fire for the night since they were nowhere near the road, and Flint began to cook up the two pheasants that Iago had been fast enough to shoot down earlier in the day. The break from salt pork and the easy travel did much to raise the men’s spirits higher than they had been in days. They were close to getting back home and they knew it. As long as everything went according to plan in the city, they’d be on a boat bound for home in little more than a day. They joked and laughed around the fire late into the night, finally laying down to sleep for what they hoped would be their last night on the hard Jongurian ground.
TWENTY-TWO
The rain finally began to fall. Leisu had been staring at the dark clouds all morning. They’d started innocently enough far off on the horizon, but as the day progressed and they rode further north the clouds had increased in size, grown darker, and moved closer overhead. It was only inevitable that they would begin to pour forth water; it was just a question of when and where. Now less than a half-a-day’s ride from Waigo and with the sun already past the midpoint in the sky, they had decided to unleash their fury on the travelers below.
Leisu heard a horse’s hooves loudly approach and turned to see Ko ride up beside him.
“I thought we might’ve made it to the city,” he said as he pulled his cloak tighter around him. The rain was coming down quite hard and steady now.
Leisu eyed the thick trees at the base of the mountains just a few leagues away and thought about turning his men that way to escape the weather’s onslaught, but decided against it. They were a few hours hard ride from the city, and cowering under some trees would not make the weather any more bearable or do much to keep them dry. Most of the men were already soaked anyway.
“We’ll keep riding, if anything the weather will increase our speed,” Leisu said. “Once the men know that I intend to press on to the city, they’ll push the horses.”
Ko didn’t say anything to that, but he didn’t ride off either. Leisu looked around at the men. They were thirty-strong, all chosen especially by Ko. About half of them were known to Leisu, but the others he didn’t recognize. If Ko vouched for them, however, he knew they were up to the task. They were all mounted and had no wagons with them to slow their journey north. They had left Bindao two days earlier after word had reached the city via carrier pigeon from Hui. He wrote to say that he’d caught the trail of the Adjurians. After coming down from the hills they had followed a series of narrow canyons to where Wen resided. They had apparently stayed the night then set out early, their course a steady walk to the northwest, well away from the roads and toward the
mountains. At their current rate of speed Hui expected that they would reach Waigo in about four days. They were indeed in the company of the soldier Jurin Millos, but of Wen he saw no sign. Leisu was disappointed to hear that, but he didn’t let it bother him too much. If he knew the old man, he was probably following Hui who was following the Adjurians. He chuckled at the thought and Ko looked over at him.
“Is everything all right, sir?” he asked.
“Just a thought about Wen, is all,” Leisu replied. He too pulled his cloak a little tighter about him. The rain was coming in at a sideways angle and the drops stung when they hit his face.
They rode on for a few more minutes with only the sound of the rain hitting the ground around them before Ko broke the silence.
“Sir, there is something that I’ve been meaning to ask you since we left Bindao,” he began.
“What is it?” Leisu asked. He allowed Ko a great deal of latitude, and even encouraged him to ask questions and formulate his own opinions. Leisu knew that when his master had secured most of Jonguria under his firm control that he would need strong men that he could trust in key areas of the country. Leisu was sure he would be one of those men, and he too would then need a strong lieutenant that he could trust. Ko was being groomed especially for that role.
“Your former master Wen,” Ko said slowly, “why do you hate him so much?”
Leisu glanced over at Ko then returned his gaze to the road. It was a fair question, and one the man deserved an answer to. There was nothing reckless about Leisu’s desire to see Wen’s death, preferably at his own hand, and he didn’t go out of his way to bring it about. It had been ten years since he’d seen his former master, and as the years passed by he’d thought of him less and less. Still, the thought of the man helping the Adjurians didn’t sit well with him, and his old feelings of animosity toward his former master came flooding back.
“After the war I left the army for a time like so many other dispossessed and confused soldiers,” Leisu said. “I didn’t know what it was that I wanted to do, but after seeing so many trusted friends die due to a lack of training, I decided that I needed to learn how to fight.”
Leisu paused and looked up at the clouds again then over at the trees far off the road. Perhaps it would be a good idea to head toward their cover, he thought again, but then tightened his cloak and gave an extra kick to his horse, and Ko did the same.
“I asked around about accomplished masters that were looking for students,” Leisu continued. “I eventually heard of a man that’d just returned home from defending Waigo, so I set out into the hills north of Bindao to find him. It was he who found me, however, and almost killed me in the process. I managed to find the network of small canyons that led to his home when he jumped out at me. Before I could react there was a sword digging into my throat. He asked me what I wanted and I told him that I wanted to study fighting. He laughed and walked away. Troubled by this, I followed at a safe distance and came to his home. For three days and three nights I sat outside without food or water waiting for him to approach me. I prayed for a rainstorm such as this during those three days,” Leisu said with a smile.
“So he took you on then,” Ko said.
“Yes, on the fourth morning he came and my training began. It was rigorous and all I could do at the end of the day was fall into my straw bed and fall fast asleep. I didn’t think I could continue for long, and began to regret my decision to come to the man. But somehow I pressed on. The days passed and the weeks turned into months. What was hard became easy and what had been tiring became effortless. I was becoming a fighter. It wasn’t only fighting that Wen taught me, though, but philosophy and morals as well. The time he spent at Waigo during the war had shown him the value of a man’s life and he was now firmly of the opinion that no man’s life should be wasted needlessly. From what I had seen at Bindao, I agreed.”
The rain began to ease up and the sun even peeked through the thick clouds overhead. The roads had taken a beating, however, and Leisu imagined that it would now take them another few hours to reach the city because of all of the mud.
“That doesn’t seem like much to hate a man for,” Ko said when it looked like Leisu wouldn’t continue.”
“No, it was a lot to be thankful for, however. Without Wen’s training I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“So what happened?” Ko asked.
“After a year I began to grow restless. I’d wanted to be trained, and I felt as though I had been. The lessons with the sword decreased while those of the mind continued. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days in the hills with an old man spouting philosophy, so I began to argue with him more and more. He saw what was happening and urged me to go. As a falling out, it wasn’t much of one. We both had come as far as we would with one another and the time to go our separate ways had arrived. So I left.”
“It was that simple?”
“It was that simple. I walked back the way I’d come with no idea where I would go or what I would do. I’d let the winds take me where they willed. It wasn’t long after I got back out onto the wide plains, however, that I was beset by a large group of men. They looked like former soldiers, and I learned later that many like them were roving the countryside terrorizing the population and generally wreaking havoc. They spotted a lone traveler and considered me easy pickings. They thought wrong; with my training I was a match for any of them alone or in small groups, but ten of them together proved too much for me to handle. They beat me mercilessly and left me for dead after they took my sword and the few coins I had. All I could think to do was crawl back to Wen, for I couldn’t even walk, the beating had been so bad. I made it within a few leagues of the canyons when he found me. I’ll never forget the look of disdain on his face as he looked down and shook his head then simply walked off. I knew that I would receive no further help from him, but instead of curling up to die in some rocky crevice, I decided to live, his indifference emboldening me. I managed to crawl back out toward the plains with no idea of what I really planned to do. When I saw another few men approaching, this time on horseback, I was sure that it was the end of me. Instead the men took pity on me and threw me over one of their horses and rode me back to their small camp in the forest. That was how I came to meet my new and current master,” Leisu finished.
“So Wen left you to die and now you will kill him,” Ko said after a few moments.
“It’s that simple,” Leisu replied.
Ko looked over at Leisu once again then kicked his horse and rode off to see how the other men were faring. The weather had improved even if the roads had worsened, and the sun shone down through the opening clouds. They rode on for another few hours. The mountains on their left grew closer and closer and soon they were at their base. The road turned into a narrow pass between them and rose steadily higher. The way was narrow and rocky and grew steeper the further they advanced. The column of men was forced to ride single-file through the steep switchbacks that led higher into the mountains. Leisu had never been to Waigo, but a few men who had had assured him that the way wouldn’t be much further. The sun had passed over the mountains to the west and twilight was descending by the time they came up one last steep rise and found themselves looking down on a small circular valley nestled into the bowl of the mountains, Waigo staring back at them.
Ko rode up to report. “We should have no problems in the city,” he said. “Many of the men fought here during the war and have friends. There are also many sympathetic to Zhou’s cause, although not as many as we would like. The emperor still has a firm grasp on the city; it prides itself on its role as defender of the nation’s border and views itself as above politics.” Ko looked over at him. “We should still be able to find an area suitable to ambush the Adjurians when they show up in a day or two.”
“Good,” Leisu said. “Let’s head into the city and get settled then.” It’d been a long three days on the road and he was eager to get cleaned up and changed out of these travel-worn clothes
. A hot bath would certainly be nice, but all of those things could wait. The most important thing was to find a suitable spot with which to lure the Adjurians while also remaining below the notice of the formidable Waigo garrison. Those men were hardened fighters, having repelled the Adjurian advance across the Isthmus during the war, and Leisu didn’t want to anger them. In fact, it would be best if he could keep themselves separate from Zhou’s name entirely. Any further connection between the Adjurians and his master would not be wise.
A few of the men that knew the city well kicked their mounts and headed down the hill toward the city gates while the others hung back for a few minutes. Better to let them announce their presence to whatever friends they had, Leisu thought, and wait to be summoned. The north was not the south, and Leisu’s influence here was minimal. His instructions to Ko back in Bindao had been to choose some men with experience and connections here, now he would find out if his deputy had succeeded.
After waiting for what seemed no time at all two of the riders came back through the gates and up the hill. They reported to Ko, who then rode over to Leisu.
“We have arrangements in a little used warehouse on the west side of the city close to the mountain wall,” Ko said. “The building is on a back street and out of the way. I think it’ll serve our purposes well.”
“Good, let’s head into the city then,” Leisu said.
The men were happy to leave the road for the city, even if it didn’t promise much in the way of relief from their task. They would still have to be on guard and prepared to fight, but at least they’d no longer have to sleep on the hard ground at the mercy of the elements. They passed under the wide gate and steered their mounts left over the cobbled streets. After turning off of a main street and winding around some back alleys for a few minutes they came to a halt in front of a large building beside the mountain. Ko and many of the other men dismounted, so Leisu did the same.
“This is it, sir,” Ko said walking over. “There are stables one street over that’ll see to our horses.”
“Let’s see what this place looks like,” Leisu said, motioning toward the building. It was a two-storey windowless and unremarkable building set behind many others that looked the same. Several large crates were piled up around its walls and even up to the city wall not far away. There was one large door on the ground level and a wooden staircase that led up to a smaller door on the second floor. Ko and a few of the men walked up to the large door and a man produced some keys and unlocked the large lock. A lantern was lit and they stepped inside. The area was large and nearly empty, with only a few crates stacked up against one wall. Leisu nodded, and they headed back out and went up the staircase. The door was unlocked and the inside was much the same as the lower level, except that there were several offices near the back, separated from the larger floor space by thin walls.”
“This is what I think will be the real treat,” the man with the keys said, walking over to the far wall. There was a small metal ladder bolted to the wall and a trapdoor above it. The man climbed up, unlocked the lock that secured the door, and threw it open. Ko and Leisu followed the man up the ladder and found themselves standing on the building’s roof, a clear view of the valley floor outside of the city walls before them.
Leisu smiled. “This has a lot of potential,” he said to Ko.
“When we catch some of the Adjurians we can tie them up and display them for their friends on the rise to see,” Ko said. “Notice how the other buildings block the view of this roof from the rest of the city.”
Leisu looked around him. It was true. The other buildings, while only two storey’s like this one, rose a little higher and obscured their roof from view. It was a perfect place for what they intended.
Leisu walked over to the man with the keys and slapped him on the back. “Well done,” he said, then turned to Ko. “See that the men get some rest, but have them do so in shifts. Send a few men out immediately to keep an eye on the gates for any sign of the Adjurians, and keep another two on this roof to look out at the approach to the city. We have to know when they arrive and intercept them before they can get any help from the authorities.”
Ko nodded and he and the other man both went back down the ladder into the warehouse. Leisu remained standing on the roof looking out into the small valley for a few more minutes. In a day or two he’d be heading back to Bindao, these Adjurians a distant memory.