by Mark Morris
Although everyone had been assigned a task to do, and was undertaking it with the usual industry and efficiency, the atmosphere on the top of the Wall was one of hushed anxiety—which was hardly surprising considering that the Nameless Order had no way of knowing when and how the next Tao Tei assault would come. After last night’s stealth attack anything was possible. For all William and the rest of them knew, the Tao Tei, under cover of the fog, might even have been climbing the outside of the Wall that very moment. In anticipation of this, archers were positioned at regular intervals along the edges of the battlements, behind whom stood a long line of Deer Corps warriors, lances poised. With no specific job to do, William strolled up and down the length of the Wall, offering murmured words of encouragement and every now and again stopping to test the tension on chains and winches to which the harpoons had been attacked. He tried to appear calm, but under the surface he felt nervous, agitated. His encounter with Pero last night kept playing through his mind. What was he doing here? What did he hope to achieve? This wasn’t his battle, and in a way Pero was right. Once the next big attack came, he needed to be out of there. He needed to be at his friend’s side, helping him put their escape plan into action.
His reverie was interrupted by a sharp cry from over near the battlements. He looked that way, heart jumping, half-expecting to see a man missing from his post, perhaps plucked from his perch by some unseen horror below. But the archer who had cried out was still there, hand raised for silence, his head cocked towards the billowing wall of fog. Clearly he had heard something—but what? For several moments all activity ceased and the silence became so profound that not even a breath could be heard.
Then there came an almighty crash, which caused everyone to leap out of their skin and whirl round. The shamefaced culprit was the young Bear Corps warrior, Peng Yong, who, his hands perhaps shaking with nervousness, had dropped a china bowl containing yellow paste to the ground, where it had shattered into a thousand pieces, spattering the noxious concoction everywhere. Now he was blanching and trying to stammer out an apology as Commander Chen stalked towards him. Chen thrust his face into the young soldier’s and hissed a string of furious words. Although William didn’t understand what Chen was saying, the way Peng Yong lowered his eyes and nodded miserably suggested he had been dismissed. Sure enough the young soldier left his place in the line and began to trudge through a silent gauntlet of his fellow warriors, shoulders stooped and head down. When his walk of shame brought him parallel with William, William said, “Psst.”
Peng Yong glanced up with an abject expression.
Winking, William whispered, “I used to throw up my supper before every battle. At least what you did isn’t that bad.”
It was clear that Peng Yong didn’t understand him, but he recognized the note of sympathy in William’s voice and gave a thin, grateful smile in response. Then he walked on by, lowering his head again as he passed through the door of the tower and out of sight.
* * *
In the corridor below, Pero heard someone coming. Grabbing Ballard’s loose-fitting robe, he dragged him through an arched doorway, then into the black wedge of shadow against the inside wall.
They stood, motionless, hardly daring to breathe, Pero peering through the narrow crack between door and frame. He saw the young man who had mislaid the keys to the stockade a couple of days before trudging past, his oversized armour seemingly weighing heavily on his body.
The two of them waited until the Bear Corps warrior had rounded the corner at the end of the corridor, Ballard looking after him curiously. Then Ballard turned his attention to other matters. Waspishly he asked, “Where is William?”
“I don’t know,” said Pero, raising his hands placatingly. “But he’ll be here.”
Ballard looked at him sourly. “He’d better be.”
* * *
William was watching Strategist Wang, who had stopped mixing the yellow paste and was now listening attentively. William listened too, and was able to discern a faint hiss coming from the fog.
What’s that? he wanted to ask, but he didn’t dare speak.
Many of the archers perched on the outer battlements now had listening devices pressed to their ears, which to William looked like long battle horns.
For several minutes there was almost complete silence, all eyes fixed on the men with the listening devices. One of them screwed up his face and leaned a little further out, as if trying to pin down an elusive sound…
Suddenly a shadow loomed from the mist beyond him, and an instant later he was snatched from his perch.
He screamed, and as he disappeared from view his listening device flew out of his hand and went spinning away through the murk. Next moment, like a massive shark breaking the surface of a grey sea, a huge red mouth appeared, snatched the listening device out of the air and swallowed it whole!
William had barely taken that in when a number of huge green claws tipped with black talons suddenly appeared over the top of the Wall, gripping on to the stone ledges like grappling hooks. Next moment several Tao Tei heaved themselves up out of the mist and over the Wall.
Instantly Eagle Corps archers began to fire at the Tao Tei, enveloping them in a blizzard of arrows. But although one of the creatures was knocked back immediately and sent tumbling over the battlements to plunge down through the fog to the earth below, the others were only marginally affected. Indeed, the arrows merely angered them rather than disabling them, and before the archers had time to reload the creatures were lashing out with their massive claws. They cut a swathe through the archers, ripping them apart, snatching and grinding them in their jaws.
As more Tao Tei appeared, the Deer Corps soldiers leaped to the fore, thrusting at the creatures with their long lances, aiming for the eyes. Simultaneously Bear Corps warriors ran forward with lines attached to their left wrists, the trailing ends of which they tied swiftly and expertly to hooks on the inner rim of the Wall. The tethered Bear warriors then climbed up on to and over the parapet, the lines enabling them to stand horizontally on the outside of the Wall. Armed with huge axes, they slashed and hacked furiously at the ascending Tao Tei, fighting with such frenzied and fearless purpose that it took William’s breath away.
Despite their bravery, however, it was clear that the Nameless Order were fighting a losing battle. The enemy was simply too plentiful and too strong. Many Tao Tei fell, pierced by lances and arrows, or smashed into oblivion by axes. But for every one that died, another was immediately there to take its place.
The same could not be said of the Nameless Order. Their fighting force was impressive, but it was not infinite. And as the battle raged on, more and more Tao Tei began to break through, to cause devastation in the ranks.
William saw Bear Corps soldier after Bear Corps soldier, like a series of tempting worms for hungry fish, snatched from their moorings and devoured. He saw Eagle Corps and Deer Corps soldiers, their specialist weapons less effective in close combat, being trampled and ripped apart. He saw Lin Mae screaming orders, blue Crane Corps warriors darting about like dragon flies, stabbing and slashing at the enemy.
Every single one of them fought bravely. But it was not enough. It was never going to be enough. And although he was no coward, William thought of Pero and Ballard waiting for him below, of their plan to escape and take as much of the black powder as they could carry with them—and he decided it was time to go.
* * *
Pero was in the room he shared with William, grabbing his weapons and stuffing them into his belt, into his boots. Even here, this deep within the complex of corridors, tendrils of fog had infiltrated the interior of the Wall, and were curling and probing, hazing the air. As Pero armed himself he watched Ballard, who was prowling back and forth like a caged animal, his eyes blazing with rage. In the distance the war drums were pounding incessantly, a background beat to the sounds of battle: the clash of metal; the impact of flesh on flesh; screams both human and inhuman.
As an extra loud cr
ash reverberated through the corridors—the unmistakable sound of shattered and tumbling masonry—Ballard whirled towards the doorway, as if half-expecting to see the green bulk of a Tao Tei standing there.
Spit flying from his mouth, veins standing out on his forehead, he snarled, “What curse have I provoked so deeply it plagues me thus?”
Calmly Pero said, “He’ll be here.”
Ballard rounded on him. “When? When it’s over?”
Pero batted away his invective as if it were a troublesome fly. “We’ll make a start. He’ll find us.”
“Start?” Ballard pivoted on his heels, eyes rising to the heavens as if he had never heard anything so idiotic. “As if what? As if we were descending a flight of stairs and might turn back if the fancy became us? We’re jumping from a cliff here!” He waggled his head and began speaking in a simpering falsetto, mocking their earlier questions. “‘Do I have keys?’ ‘Do I know the way?’ I have everything! Keys! Powder! Tools! Maps! It’s all hidden and arranged along the route! Once we start there’s no turning back! Understand?”
* * *
Within the machine-like workings of the inner Wall, Tiger Corps soldiers were busily moving rows and rows of blade carts into position. As levers were pulled and slits opened in the Wall, so each cart was pushed forward until the sharp, broad blade mounted on the front slid neatly through the slit and into the open air on the outside of the Wall.
“Blades ready!” Commander Wu barked, his order being relayed up and down the line. “Left! Right!”
Like a highly trained rowing team, Tiger Corps soldiers began to work oar-like levers rapidly back and forth, causing the lethal blades to slash from side to side. Several ascending Tao Tei, caught between the huge blades, were instantly hacked to pieces, their dismembered parts, trailing green blood, spinning down through the fog to land with assorted thuds on the desert sand below. Those Tao Tei climbing the Wall that were still beneath the level of the blades were now unable to continue, their route blocked by the lethal, constantly moving barrier.
With the blade barrier erected and operational, more Tiger Corps soldiers now began to once again load the trebuchet chutes with spiked cannon balls dripping with boiling oil. As before, the balls were set alight just before being released. Within moments the trebuchets were launching fiery balls of death through the fog-shrouded air at the thousands of Tao Tei milling on the desert sand. Although the Tao Tei had drawn first blood in this particular battle, the Nameless Order were now fighting back.
* * *
William, poised on the stone exit ramp that led down to the nearest guard tower, was in an agony of indecision. Thick fog was swirling around him, hampering his vision, reducing the action on this part of the Wall into a kind of hazy chaos. Mingled with the ever-present pounding of drums were yells and screams as soldiers desperately fought those creatures that had managed to breach the parapet before the blade barrier had stymied their advance. But among the sounds of conflict William could also hear the rumbling of iron wheels and the clanking of heavy chains as the harpoon ballistas were wheeled into position. To attempt to capture a Tao Tei had been his idea, and there was a part of him that was desperately anxious to see it come to fruition.
On the other hand, this moment right now, while the Nameless Order were fully occupied with the Tao Tei attack, was the perfect opportunity to do what they had come to do—steal the black powder and make their escape.
What should he do? Stay or go?
As William hovered, unable to decide, he glimpsed a flash of blue armour through the fog to his right.
* * *
Lin Mae, in the thick of the action, her green-smeared sword clutched in her hand, ran forward to the edge of the parapet and peered over the Wall. She was satisfied to see that the blades had done their work, stemming the Tao Tei advance—for now at least.
As the huge harpoon ballistas were hauled into position, she turned and yelled, “Raise the harpoons! Prepare to fire!”
Her orders were relayed up and down the length of the Wall, Commander Chen running the line to check that everything was in order. Eagle Corps soldiers were manning the huge crossbows, swinging them into position on their pivots. Behind them, Tiger Corps soldiers were loosening the winches with a jangle of heavy chains. As the harpoons, coated with yellow paste, were angled downwards into the fog, Strategist Wang, perched atop one of the command towers, shouted, “Make it count! Aim for the body!”
All they needed was one harpoon to find its target.
One captured Tao Tei on which to test their theories.
* * *
Pero strode towards the sounds of battle, Ballard at his heels, snapping like a vicious dog.
“Do you possess even a shadow notion of what it means to carry out an endeavor this challenging? What I’ve put into it? What I’ve endured? Or is that beyond your miniature, animal powers of conception?”
Pero swung round on him, hand moving instinctively to the sword at his belt. Ballard scuttled back, eyeing him with a mixture of outrage and wariness. For a moment Pero glared at the smaller man, whose eyes seemed to glint redly in the gloomy, fog-greyed corridor. Then he turned and strode on.
* * *
Lin Mae, still standing at the edge of the parapet, looked up and down the line as crossbow strings on the huge harpoon ballistas were pulled taut, creaking with tension. The metal harpoons, attached to chains, were arrowed down into the sea of fog.
“Fire at will!” she yelled.
The noise as multiple bolts trailing iron chains were released—ZZZPPPTTTT!—rang through her head and vibrated in her jaw, making her teeth tingle. Perched on what felt like the edge of the world, she watched as the harpoons looped out and down, bypassing the barrier of hacking blades, before disappearing into the fog. Some of the harpoons simply paid out the full length of their chains and then hung there, having encountered no resistance. Others thudded into what she could only assume was Tao Tei flesh, judging from the screeches of pain that rose up from the fog below.
As each harpoon came to a halt, whether because it had hit its mark or missed it, Tiger Corps soldiers immediately began to crank the winches, tightening the chains and hauling the harpoons back up.
“Put your backs into it!” Commander Chen shouted, though his order was unnecessary. Utterly devoted to the cause, the warriors manning the ballistas were working as hard as they could.
Suddenly Lin Mae jumped back with a cry as one of the taut chains snapped and flew back up and over the Wall at great speed, like a striking metal snake. The soldiers manning the ballista scattered as the chain lashed towards them. But Lin Mae had barely registered that when another chain snapped—and then another!
Moving back to the parapet, and leaning over to peer down through the fog, Lin Mae could see nothing at first. Then a section of fog thinned, broke apart, and blurrily, beyond the blade barrier, she saw a cluster of Tao Tei clinging to the Wall, their bodies punctured by harpoons. They were thrashing and writhing, trying to dislodge the metal bolts by tearing at their own flesh, causing the chains to whip wildly from side to side even as the men working the winches tried to pull them taut. Then she saw one of the Tao Tei, a harpoon sticking out of its belly, lean forward and bite the bolt in half, causing the chain to snap and whip upwards with lightning speed.
She ducked again—and then again as another chain snapped. Their plan was failing. The Tao Tei were chewing through the bolts before Wang’s sedative, powerful though it was, could take effect.
A few ballistas away to her right, however, the chain was still taut, the soldiers there straining every sinew to winch it and its cargo in. Keeping her head low to avoid being decapitated by a flying chain, she ran across to help, arriving at the ballista at the same time as Commander Chen. Together the two of them helped haul on the winches, the clanking of the chain increasing as it rose a little faster. Then other soldiers were there—big, hefty Bear Corps warriors, who had abandoned their own failed ballistas—and Lin Mae moved a
side, deferring to their greater physical strength. As the soldiers hauled the harpoon and its weighty cargo in, she rushed to the parapet and peered into the fog below. On the end of the chain, its abdomen impaled by a harpoon, was the vast green bulk of a Tao Tei, still struggling, but only weakly now as the sedative took effect.
Perhaps due to the fog, it hadn’t been noticed by its fellow creatures, hadn’t been torn or bitten free from the hooked barb in its flesh. She watched with trepidation as it rose higher with excruciating slowness, half-expecting at any moment for a gaping maw to rise up out of the fog and bite through the chain.
* * *
“Twenty-five years!” Ballard exclaimed. “Twenty-five years I’ve been braiding this together. Twenty-five years of smiling and scheming and burying my intentions in this forgotten graveyard.”
Pero halted again. Took a deep breath. Although Ballard had backed away when he’d swung round on him earlier, it hadn’t taken more than a few seconds before the skinny little man had been scurrying along behind him again, jabbering in his ear as if he was the one jeopardizing their plans.
If he didn’t need Ballard’s help…
If it wasn’t for the black powder…
Pero was not a patient man, but he forced himself to stay calm. Though gritted teeth he said, “I’ve told you, I’ll find him.”
“And I’ve told you—forget him!” snapped Ballard. “Your friend would rather die trying to bed the new General than grab the key to every counting room and brothel in the world!” He darted around Pero to look briefly into his face, as if to check that he was listening. “Good God, man, the time is now!”
Pero’s dark eyes flashed, holding Ballard’s little ratty ones for a second. Obstinately he said, “We can’t go without him.”
Ballard’s voice was suddenly sly, silky. “The more spoils for us should we live.”
Then he quailed at the cold, murderous look that Pero gave him. “We need his bow.”
Before Ballard could respond, a high, wailing screech came ricocheting down the corridor.
