Outlaw Mountain

by G R Matthews

  Outlaw Mountain

  By

  G R Matthews

  Copyright © 2017 G R Matthews

  All rights reserved

  IN THE SOUTH OF THE EMPIRE

  “You know the problem with outlaws, Liu?” Gang twirled the great hammer above his head and brought it down upon the leather armoured skull of his current opponent.

  “There are always more of them?” Liu dropped under the wild slash of a Dao and hooked an axe blade behind another outlaw’s knee, dragging him forward, off balance. A kick to the downed man’s head sent him into oblivion.

  “No, that’s not it.” Gang swept his hammer left to right, crushing another’s ribs.

  Liu stepped forward, one axe rising high to deflect the sword blow aimed at his head, the other axe burying itself in the attacker’s unprotected neck. “Their lack of skill?”

  “Keep guessing.” Gang reversed his swing forcing the three who faced him to stumble backwards in panic. The large man jumped into the gap and swung again.

  “Gang,” Liu began, twisting around the stab of a tasselled spear and chopping at the hands that held it. “I’m not one for these games.”

  “I have to have something to entertain me in these fights, Liu.” Gang’s hammer clattered into an upraised sabre, snapping the blade and the arm that held it.

  “Battle is not entertainment, Gang.” Liu’s axes rose and fell, chopping down another life. “We came here to help the village. Not to enjoy ourselves.”

  “Why can’t we do both?” Gang drove another thief to his knees with a blow from the studded hammer and grabbed the last in meaty hands, lifting the man from his feet with ease.

  “Keep that one alive, Gang. We need information.” Liu cautioned as he wrenched his axe blade from the collar bone of the last attacker. It came free with a crack and a wet, sucking squelch and the smaller man looked at the blood with a disappointed expression. “Bring him with us.”

  “If you don’t like blood, don’t use axes,” Gang growled as he dragged the outlaw by the hair towards Liu. The outlaw’s legs scrabbled and kicked at the ground. “Stop your moaning or I’ll forget my friend said to keep you alive.”

  “So what is the problem with outlaws?” Liu said, taking a rag from inside his plain robes and wiping the last of the blood from the blades of his axes.

  “They steal things, Liu. I thought you knew that. You should have got that one easily.” Gang guffawed as he finished and shook the outlaw in his grasp.

  The village, Cuandixia, was set at the bottom of a snaking valley that ran northwest towards the frontier. To the west, a series of low ridges and dry valleys and, to the east, the mountains rose into the mist of the early morning. Gang, Liu and the captured outlaw followed the narrow path of the valley floor around another spur of land.

  “Been here before?” Liu asked, pulling the scarf tight about his throat.

  “Never understood why you feel the cold so much, Liu,” Gang said, gesturing with his free hand at the layers of clothes which Liu always chose to wear. “Springtime is warm. If you'd ever let a little bit of sun hit your flesh, you’d be as warm as me.”

  Gang saw Liu’s raised eyebrow and sidelong look.

  “You’ve flesh enough for us both, Gang.”

  The large man laughed and grabbed the stomach that threatened to break through the thin wrapping of the food stained robe Gang had chosen to cover his body at the start of this mission. “Keeps me warm in the winter.”

  “The village,” Liu said, his quiet voice cutting through Gang’s laughter.

  Stone houses lined the dirt track which climbed up the valley. A few one storey dwellings were crushed up against the sheer face of an overgrown cliff and the main bulk of the village, small, courtyard houses and a ragged collection of wooden and plaster built homes, climbed the lower slopes of the hill. Above them all, on a flattened platform a two storey home overlooked them all.

  “Chief’s house.” Gang pointed at the largest home.

  “Let’s go,” Liu said. “Bring the outlaw with you.”

  The thief was sweating in the cool morning air and when Gang grabbed his arm, he could feel the trembling fear in the man’s frame. Gang pulled him round to look into his eyes. “You give me any trouble and I’ll smash what’s left of your brains out of your ears.”

  “Make sure he can still talk,” Liu said, turning up the street towards the Chief’s house.

  “He’ll talk.”

  Up close it was a less than impressive house. White plaster fading to dirty grey barely covered the woven wooden frame of the walls. The windows were simple shutters that may once have had some intricate carvings and scroll work but age had worn them down to the merest imagining of artwork. The poorest person in the capital would have been ashamed to have such carpentry on display.

  Liu knocked on the door and waited. When there was no answer Gang reached past the smaller man to bang on the wooden door. It rattled on its hinges.

  “I’m hungry,” he explained.

  A moment later the door was wrenched open and small, wiry man with an uncontrolled shock of hair glared up at them. “What?”

  “Greetings,” Liu said, bowing. “We have come to see the Chief of the village.”

  “Why?”

  “On a matter he regarded as important,” Liu answered in a smooth unruffled tone.

  “Who are you?”

  “This is Master Gang,” Liu used a flat open palm to indicate the larger man, “and I am Master Liu.”

  “Who’s he?” The wiry man squinted at the trembling outlaw.

  “An outlaw,” Liu said. “We met him and a few of his friends on the road just south of here.”

  “They’re dead,” Gang added.

  “What?” The little man screamed, hopped from foot to foot and, poking his head out of the doorway, cast desperate glances around. “You shouldn’t have killed any of them. They’ll find out and they’ll blame us. We’ll have to pay them even more of what we haven’t got. No, no, no. You shouldn’t have hurt them. Oh dear, no.”

  Gang sucked in a deep breath to respond, but the words caught in his throat. Behind the old man, a young lady with dark hair tied up in an elegant style and possessing the most beautiful eyes Gang thought he’d ever seen, stepped into view.

  “There you are grandfather,” she said. “Who are these people?”

  “Masters Liu and Gang, from the Capital,” Liu said after a pause. “We came at the request of the Chief?”

  “My father,” the young lady said. “He was injured in an outlaw attack a week ago. Come in. Come in. My name is Nuan. I will get you some refreshments and take you to him. The doctor is with him at the moment.”

  “You honour us,” Liu bowed.

  A sharp pain in his foot caused Gang to complete his own bow and he saw Liu’s foot retreat as he looked down. “Any food?”

  “Of course, Master Liu,” the young lady said.

  “Gang.”

  “My apologies, Master Gang.” She smiled and returned their bow. “Out of the way, Grandfather.”

  They were shown through to the greeting room and seated in chairs that had been hand-crafted with love and polished by years of use. The legs were intricately carved. Monkeys cavorted on the legs of one, climbing vines and playing games amongst the arm rests. On another, long sinuous dragons curled and meandered through the wood.

  “Beautiful carvings,” Liu said. Gang picked up his chair and cast an eye over it.

  “My grandfather’s work.” Nuan nodded to the little man who had followed them in. “He was a gifted carpenter many years ago, when his eyesight was undimmed and his hands did not shake. The chairs are the last thing he made and the only items we have to remind us of his former skills. Please, be seated. I w
ill have a servant bring you refreshment and then we will see my father. The doctor should not be too long. Does your servant require food?”

  “Servant?” Gang looked up at her and tried not to stare. “Ah, no. He is not our servant. An outlaw we captured on the way to the town.”

  He saw Nuan’s face pale and she drew back.

  “He won’t hurt you, Miss,” Gang said. “If he knows what’s good for him, he won’t even look in your direction.”

  Nuan glanced once more at the outlaw and bowed in Gang’s direction. “Let me get you some tea and food. Please, sit.”

  Gang watched her bow once more, turn and hustle her grandfather out of the room.

  “You can start breathing again now, Gang,” Liu whispered, a small chuckle backed up the words.

  “Funny, little man.” Gang leaned his hammer against the wall and sat down in the dragon carved chair. It creaked under his weight, but there was sufficient give in the frame to make it comfortable and the wood was strong enough not to break. He looked over at the captured outlaw. “Go and stand by the wall where I can keep an eye on you. One wrong move and I’ll break your legs.”

  The tea was hot, clean and refreshing. The food, some rice and meat, did little to fill the hole in Gang’s belly. Still, he tried not to spill too much of the sauce down himself.

  “The doctor has finished with my father,” Nuan said. “We can go and see him now.”

  She led the way up the wooden creaking stairs and knocked lightly on the door at the end of the short corridor.

  “Father,” she bowed towards the figure lying in bed, “these men have come to help us with the outlaws. Masters Gang and Liu. Masters, my father, Keung Li.”

  The older man, grey peppering his temples and lines around his eyes the result of too long spent under the bright sun, shuffled into a seated position. “You honour my house.”

  “You sent for help,” Liu said, bowing to the chief.

  “And here we are.” Gang added his own bow.

  “You are very welcome,” Keung Li replied.

  “The outlaws did that?” Gang nodded to the bandage wrapped around Keung Li’s upper arm and shoulder.

  “They came demanding more food and we had little to give. I tried to explain that to them, but they did not wish to listen. Already the children are going hungry. Before long we will be boiling grass and leaves.” The chief shook his head and winced at the pain the movement caused.

  “Lay still, father.” Nuan bustled over to her father.

  “Do not fuss so, daughter. The wound is healing despite the foul smelling poultice the doctor insists on applying.” He looked up, an apologetic look on his face. “Daughters worry about their fathers. It is a hard lesson to learn, that your parents are not immortal. Her mother died when she was very young. She has taken care of us all since then.”

  “All of you?” Gang answered and received a sharp elbow in his ribs from Liu. “What was that for?”

  “Myself, my father and my son.” Father and daughter shared a look.

  “Son? We have yet to meet him,” Gang said and felt another elbow gouge into his ribs.

  “The outlaws took him,” Nuan said without looking at them. “A year ago.”

  “He’s dead?” Gang said. Liu sighed and the large man moved an arm to cover his ribs.

  “No.” Keung Li’s voice was firm, but Gang noted the cracks. “He was taken hostage against our good behaviour. We haven’t seen him in a year, but he is allowed to write letters so we know he is alive. He was… is a good boy. I hoped he would take the Administrator’s exam next summer. He studied hard and the travelling tutors said he was a gifted alchemist. He could have been… could be a doctor too.”

  “It was very brave of you to ask for help,” Liu said.

  “My daughter said that we should not. My father agreed. But the village is dying. We do not have enough food to feed everyone. Soon the people will start to leave or die. I had to do something even if it costs my son his life.” Gang saw Keung Li rest his hand over his daughters.

  “We’ll get him back,” Gang assured them, receiving a grateful smile from Nuan.

  “We will try,” Liu corrected and Nuan’s smile turned to a scowl. “What can you tell us?”

  “They have a base in the mountains. There is a path leading up to it just a little way north. It used to be one of the goat herder’s trails. It led through a ravine and onto a plateau where they would graze their animals if the weather was good.” Keung Li gestured for some water and Nuan complied, pouring it from a clay jug into a small cup and passing it over.

  “How many?” Liu said.

  “We don’t know,” Nuan replied.

  “Based on the amount of food they take. At least twenty, maybe thirty. It depends on how they supplement their supplies. There are stories of outlaw activity on the other side of the mountain and along the road between the villages. We may not be the only village who suffers, but none of the other chiefs will say anything.” Keung Li sipped at the water.

  “We caught an outlaw on the road up here,” Gang said. “He will be able to give us some information.”

  Keung Li sat up straighter in the bed. “He may have news of my son.”

  Gang nodded and grabbed the front of the outlaw’s his armour and dragged him forward. “This is him.”

  “You are one of the outlaws plaguing my village?” Keung Li said and the outlaw nodded. “My son, he is alive and well?”

  “He is alive,” the outlaw said.

  Keung Li nodded and Gang saw some of the worry fade from the man’s face. Nuan’s expression did not change.

  “You shouldn’t have asked for help. The chief is not going to be happy. You’ve made things worse for yourselves.” The outlaw looked round the room and his gaze rested on Nuan. “He’ll come for her.”

  “If comes near her, he’ll die,” Gang stated, feeling the blood swell in his heart.

  “You don’t know him. You’re strong, but he is stronger. He will kill you without a thought or worry,” the outlaw said. “He will kill you all.”

  “Tell me about him,” Keung Li demanded.

  “You’ll find out when he comes down from the mountain.”

  “It may be that we will go and see him,” Liu said, interrupting the outlaw.

  “You can’t go up the mountain,” the captured outlaw said, his voice rising in pitch, “the dragon will kill you before you reach our camp.”

  “You know the problem with outlaws, Liu?” Gang said.

  “They think they are invincible?” Liu answered.

  “No,” Gang said with a smile, turning and smashing his fist into the side of the outlaw’s head. “They talk too much.”

  The leather armoured outlaw was a heap on the floor, moaning and groaning.

  “My apologies,” Liu said, bowing towards the village chief. “My companion is not renowned for his patience.”

  Keung Li waved the comment away with a smile. “He would tell us little, I suspect. What are your plans? I am afraid we can muster little in the way of assistance. Peasants armed with farming staves, forks and shovels are no match for armoured outlaws.”

  “A meal, a night’s sleep and we will head up the path, Honoured Keung Li,” Liu said.

  “We’ll clear out this nest of outlaws and make your village safe again,” Gang said and puffed out his chest, catching the glance that Liu gave him. “What?”

  “What do you know of their chief and this dragon our groaning friend mentioned?” Liu said in a quiet voice.

  “From what we can gather, the chief is new. When this was done,” the chief indicated his wound, “they warned us that this was only the beginning. The new chief was going to change things. As for the dragon, I have no idea.”

  “No such things as dragons,” Gang, feeling on firm ground, said. “I’ve travelled a lot of the empire and never seen one.”

  “He seems convinced there is something up there.” Liu pointed to the recumbent outlaw. “Though I would guess
he has never seen it.”

  “What are we going to do with him?” Gang nodded at the outlaw.

  “Tie him up and keep him out of the way,” Keung Li said. “If the villagers find out, they will be sorely tempted to have him executed.”

  “Why don’t we?” Nuan asked a look of surprise on her face.

  “He is a prisoner, Honoured Nuan,” Liu said.

  “He might be useful later on,” Gang said at the same time.

  “He hurt my father and holds my brother captive,” she said.

  “And we may need him,” Liu said. “It would not make sense to give up an advantage.”

  Keung Li shared a glance with his daughter. “The basement is cut from the rock and we can lock the outlaw away. He will be safe and hidden in there.”

  “I’ll take him down,” Gang said.

  “The servant will show you the way and see to the locking of the door,” Keung Li said. “My daughter will show you to a room.”

  “Two rooms,” Liu cut in. “If at all possible.”

  “Liu, really?” Gang turned his gaze on the smaller man.

  “You snore, Gang.”

  “I do not,” he said.

  “Either you snore or you always sleep next to a lumberjack sawing wood.”

  “We have two spare rooms,” Keung Li interrupted and Gang turned to see a smile on the old man’s face and, next to him, Nuan had covered her mouth. It didn’t hide the laughter in her eyes.

  “Liu,” Gang said plaintively.

  “I’m sorry, my friend, but I need my sleep. I’ll make it up to you. There is little point going up the mountain this afternoon. I think it would be good to tour the village and see how it can be made defensible, should it be needed.”

  The afternoon passed quickly as they wandered the streets, dry mud under their feet and frightened peasants casting glances their way. It did not take long to determine the village was indefensible.

  “Fifteen trained men and this village would fall within minutes,” Liu said in a quiet voice.

  “Fifteen. More like five,” Gang said without regard for whoever was listening. “No weapons. No wall. Few fit men and none of them trained.”

  “Then we must stop the outlaws in the hills,” Liu said as they trailed back up towards the chief’s house.