單刀赴會
dāndāofùhuì
Go among enemies with only one's sword.
To go alone into enemy lines.

-One hour earlier-

As Sanli strode through the Guang Han's manor, flanked on one side by Zakhar and Kageyama on the other, a memory from the past was playing in the prince's mind.

He had been sixteen, and already at war with the world. That day, the taunting of the other boys in the family school had grown unbearable, so Sanli had skipped out on afternoon lessons and disappeared into the forests of Linjing to practice the sword.

Sanli swung the heavy stick he had found forward and backward over his head, savoring the way his back muscles burned. Around him, the woods of Linjing were filled with birdsong. Sanli joined their music with the rhythmic sound of the swish of the stick through the air, enjoying the feeling of finally being free of his classmates' taunts.

'Alone is better,' he said to the trees.

He had just about lost himself in the repetitiveness of his practice when a small voice asked:

"What are you doing?"

Sanli turned. A little girl, perhaps four or five, peered at him from around a bush. Her pink cheeks were plump, and her hair was done up in two huge buns on either side of her head.

"Training." Sanli lowered the stick, raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Why are you training?"

"Sho Sensei says practicing the sword helps discipline the mind, not just the body."

"Oh," said the girl, coming out from behind the bush. Her dress was bright fuschia pink, contrasting terribly with the bright green bows in her hair. The dress was too big for the girl, and she stepped on the hem, tripped, and then righted herself.

"Are you a warrior? You're too skinny." The girl asked, plump face serious as she brushed off her dress.

Sanli frowned. "Sho Sensei says reflex is more important than muscle."

"Sho Sensei? Who's that?"

"My yah'ying. He's the one who taught me the sword."

"You have a yah'ying? Me too! Her name is Liang'yi. She's a Dachuo. What's your yah'ying?" The girl breathed out her words in a rush, as though afraid Sanli would disappear before she could say them.

"He's a kitsune. From the Eastern Isles."

The girl had come closer to him, and tugged on his sleeve, soft brown eyes round. "A kitsune? Is he scary?"

"No." People are far more scary, Sanli thought. He wondered who the girl was. One of the many cousins from the outer houses? Most didn't have mu'ren yah'ying though. And the girl's face was familiar...

Suddenly a voice called out. "Lady Ermi! Where are you?"

Then Sanli realized who the girl was. Ermi, the daughter of his older sister Erli. The girl had been living in the capital with her aunt since she was a baby, and had only just returned. He had not recognized her, grown as she was.

At the sound of the servant's voice, the small girl tugged on Sanli's sleeve and pulled him down into the foliage, out of sight. Together they crouched, thrills tingling on their skin as the servant passed close by their hiding place and away.

The little girl giggled, then sighed. "They won't let me play where I want."

Sanli looked at the small hand clutching his sleeve. "You're Erli's daughter, aren't you? I'm your Uncle."

"You're my Uncle? But I only have one Uncle. And you're too young to be an Uncle."

Sanli grunted.

"Can I play with you? Will you teach me the sword too?"

Sanli immediately thought to deny her. He hated his sister Erli, and anything associated with her. But then he caught himself. The girl was young, and bore him no ill intent. Unlike the rest of his family.

And though he would never admit it, Sanli was very lonely in his world, all alone. It would be nice to be loved.

He nodded. His little niece's face brightened like dawn and she clapped her hands.

"Alright, before you can begin training, first go find a stick. A nice straight one like this."

The memory came sweetly and then disappeared with a wrenching suddenness as Sanli remembered Ermi was missing.

A thought had appeared in his head when they realized Ermi had disappeared, something he had once heard someone say. It is always the innocent who suffer the most.

Ermi had not been ambitious like her brother. She had not wanted fame and money and power. She had not sought out a marriage with a powerful man, like many females were wont to do. She had simply wanted to read her fantasies and day dream her life away.

And yet now she had been taken by a dragon, most likely to use as leverage in international negotiations.

They turned the corner, the final hall in front of them leading to the doors of Guang Han's study. The mens' geta rapped on the hard marble floors.

Sanli tried not to think about what might be happening to his niece right now. Her terror, her pain. He tried not to think about what Guang Han might do to her, if the dragon's wishes were not met.

He tried not to think about it, because every time he did, his skin burned and fury seethed through his body, so strong it caused his vision to fade, till all around him was black.

No. That wouldn't do. Sanli had learned early in life, that there would always be those stronger, more powerful than he. He knew that one of the few places where he held the advantage was in the mind. Losing his mind to emotions meant losing overall.

If you were half as clever as you think you are, you would have predicted this. Prevented it, his self doubt whispered.

Sanli's jaw clenched. He walked faster.

The three men stopped in front of Guang Han's study doors. Guang Han's servants caught up to the trio and flocked around them, frantically protesting and trying to deny entry as politely as they could to a Prince. Their frantic nature and brown livery made Sanli think of dozens of squirrels protecting their cache of nuts and seeds.

Sanli took a deep breath. Then another. In. Out. Until he was calm.

"I don't know if this is the wisest decision, confronting him just the three of us," speculated Kageyama with a sigh. "Perhaps we should wait for Zhangyu to arrive."

"We don't have time to wait. He has Ermi," Sanli snapped, eyes on the doors to the study.

"We don't have any proof of that Sanli," Zakhar said gently. "He'll probably deny it."

Instead of responding, Sanli brushed past the manic servants and pushed the doors open.

The study was dark, excerpt a lantern on the large desk at the far end of the room. Sanli's eye quickly scanned the room, running across shelves, tables of sea charts, and a painting of two dragons fighting.

Guang Han lounged back in his chair, feet on his desk, a sea chart spread on his knees. He looked up as Sanli entered and grinned.

"Ahhh. The bastard prince. Look at you, all dressed up for a festival. So nice of you to pay me a visit, in the middle of the night like this."

Behind Guang Han was a row of wide doors leading onto a balcony. They were open, to let in the breeze. Sanli could see the sea, black except for a faint white along the horizon, where the sky was just starting to lighten before dawn.

"Where is my niece?"

"How bold of you to come in here making demands, in my house, on my land." Guang Han said, calling to mind their last conversation.

"Where is she?" Sanli tried to stay calm, but he felt his vision slipping away again.

"I'm quite sure I don't know who you mean." Guang Han signaled to one of his servants. "Fetch the guards. I grow tired of the prince's questioning."

Sanli seethed, but took a deep breath, then two, weighing his options. His yinzhang was in his left sleeve. He had two spells in his right sleeve. One for binding and one for striking. In addition, he had Tenzetsutou sheathed at his belt, hidden beneath his yukata.

And of course, Kageyama was armed. Sanli knew his teacher had many ways to make the dragon talk.

Sanli steeled himself. "I'll ask you one more time. Where is my niece? Return her unharmed, and your punishment will be lessened."

Guang Han just smiled as his guards filtered into the room, dressed in the brown livery plus armor.

Sanli slid a hand into each sleeve. Behind him Zakhar cracked his knuckles in readiness.

"Show my unwelcome guests out," Guang Han ordered his guards.

One guard wrapped a hand around Sanli's bicep, then tried to tug Sanli toward the door.

Sanli stood firm.

"Remove your hand from my prince, or I will remove it for you," Kageyama growled at the guard. The fox slid his feet apart, hand poised over the air.

For a second the room was still, frozen in suspense.

Then Guang Han laughed. "I know who you are," he said, motioning to Kageyama. "What a sharp sword you have with you, little prince."

Guang Han stood from his desk, walking around to lean on the front of it. He was dressed for the sea, sailor's clothes and boots, as though preparing to leave.

The dragon crossed his arms, looking Kageyama over. "The Yama-no-Kage. What, I wonder, is the Lady of the Mountain's spy general doing here in the west, serving a bastard prince?"

Sanli sensed Kageyama bristle, but the kitsune did not remove his eyes from the hand wrapped around Sanli's upper arm. 

Guang Han continued, voice patronizing. "I had heard you'd been sent on an impossible mission. But to think you would turn your back on your country and your dear Lady so easily..." The dragon tisked his disapproval, as though lecturing a small child.

Sanli glanced at Kageyama. To others, the man's face appeared impassive, but Sanli could see the faint traces of grief written there.

"Enough of this," said Sanli. His hands found his seal and the two spells and pulled them from his sleeves. His thumb found the pin he had affixed to his seal, and he pricked it, coating the carved wood relief with blood.

"What are you doing, restrain him!" Guang Han snapped at his guards, pushing off his desk.

The guard holding him twisted Sanli's arm painfully behind him, causing Sanli to drop the scraps of paper containing the two spells.

"Not the paper! Take his seal, you fools!" Guang Han shouted, striding across the study to do it himself.

Sanli cursed and held on tighter to his yinzhang. More soldiers stepped forward to grab the prince's other arm and take his seal.

Suddenly there was a swish, a scream, and the smell of blood, thick with iron, filled the air.

"I told you I would remove it," said Kageyama, looking down at the sobbing guard clutching the stump where the man's hand had once been. Kageyama's sword had appeared in his hand, a fresh smear of pinkish red across the blade. A wild light burned in the kitsune's eyes.

The study erupted.

The remaining guards leapt forward. There were seven. Two fell almost immediately to Zakhar's punches. Zakhar grabbed a third by the collar and threw him down across the nearest chart table, causing the table's legs to splinter and buckle beneath it.

Sanli dove for the scraps of paper. The four remaining guards went after him. Sanli found himself trapped beneath four bodies, made heavier with armor.

A fist hit Sanli in the face, once, twice. Sanli responded by driving his elbow back behind him, into the face of his attacker, until the assault stopped.

"San! Hold on!" yelled Zakhar. The giant started pulling guards off of the pile, throwing them across the room or incapacitating them with a smashing jab to the face.

Once the guards were clear, Zakhar helped Sanli to his feet. Sanli stepped on something, and looked down to see the picture of the red and blue dragon had been knocked to the ground.

"Thank you," said Sanli to Zakhar, gingerly rubbing his swelling lip. The floor of the study was littered with torn pages and charts and fragments of wood. Groaning soldiers were sprawled where they had fallen or been thrown. Sanli still held on to his yinzhang in one hand, thumb bloody, but the two prewritten spells had disappeared amongst the mess.

Brushing himself off, Sanli looked to where Kageyama stood alone, facing Guang Han.

The two mu'ren paced a circle among the wreckage of Guang Han's study. Kageyama moved with ease, despite the shifting of debris under the geta on his feet and the yukata he wore. Sanli found his own yukata difficult to move in.

Sanli felt his skin prickle with tension. There was a saying: One dragon in a room invites trouble, two invites chaos. Kageyama wasn't a dragon, but he was a powerful mu'ren all the same.

"Are you sure you want to fight me, fox? You seem to prefer cutting up my poor human guards," Guang Han baited.

Kageyama said nothing. He threw the blood from his blade with a flick of his wrist, eyes never leaving the dragon.

"A little bird told me you traded your true form for those blades. Was it worth it?" Guang Han held his fingers curled and open, like claws, ready to grasp and tear.

Kageyama just smiled and sheathed his sword, then held it at the ready, one hand hovering above the guard.

"Shit," cursed Sanli, reaching for Tenzetsuto. The sense of impending violence loomed over them. Zakhar stood helplessly by, knowing to intervene would be foolishness.

"Looks like things escalated rather quickly. You couldn't have waited for me, Uncle?"

The four men still standing in the room froze. Kageyama and the dragon stopped their pacing, turning to see the newest entrant to the study.

Prince Zhangyu was carefully picking his way through the wreckage, a troop of ten soldiers from his personal guard dressed in their non-descript black uniforms behind him.

"And yet another prince!" said Guang Han, laughing. "To what do I owe this honor? Please don't tell me you've come to shower me with more false accusations like your Uncle?"

"I am here to arrest you, Lord Guang—"

"Hah, on what evidence?"

"—on accusations of smuggling, piracy, murder, and most severely treason, against both the Inner Empire and Wa." Zhangyu's face looked very satisfied.

Guang Han frowned. "Treason? What do you mean, treason?"

Zhangyu continued. "Your Captain Rang Mo has volunteered to testify that you instructed him to transport humans from Wa to the Inner Empire."

"That is a lie, little prince, and you know it."

Zhangyu just smiled his most diplomatic of smiles.

Guang Han laughed again, and again, and continued, as though there was something so amusing he could not stop laughing.

Finally he stopped, wiping his mouth with a thumb. "I'm sorry, I'm just imagining all the things that will happen to your sister if you dare go through with this idiocy."

"You do have her!" yelled Zakhar.

Zhangyu's smile didn't change. He nodded to one of his soldiers, a skinny man far less muscular than the others. The man carefully skirted the downed guards and went to the window, where the sky had lightened to a creamy beige.

The man shielded his eyes with his hand. He looked but a moment then turned back. "Zhen and the Princess have safely reentered the circle, my lord."

Sanli realized the soldier must be mu'ren, with superior eyesight. Looking closely, Sanli picked several of Zhangyu's soldiers out as mu'ren, with unusually large physiques, or other trademark characteristics.

The remainder of Zhangyu's guards circled round Guang Han. One held a set of steel manacles, inscribed with zih designed to weaken their prisoner. Kageyama moved to let Zhangyu's soldiers do their work.

The dragon first looked at the chains with disbelief, then held forth his hands, laughing. "Fine. Condemn me. Accuse me of your charges. I own half the magistrates in this kingdom. And those I don't are too afraid to cross me. I'll get off with fines, leave this vermin infested empire, and in a hundred years, I'll return, buy off your successor, and continue where I left off. And you? You'll be dead then, little prince."

Zhangyu's mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

One guard bravely stepped forward and cinched the manacles over Guang Han's wrists. "Face it, your kingdom is weak. Ruled by a human?" Guang Han sneered. "Hah. You are weak. You try to keep mu'ren down, with your laws and your seals, but we are still stronger than you. The Green Throne is ripe for the taking, and if it is not me, it will be another."

With both his arms chained before him, the dragon let himself be led toward door of his study. As he passed close to Zhangyu, the dragon spat disdainfully at the Second Prince's feet. "Hah, you really are low, little prince. Lying. Pretending to treat with me. Having your slut spy on me. You humans are disgusting."

Zhangyu looked at the spit and then up at the dragon. "On the contrary, Lady Yunyou joined me of her own volition. Most of this was her doing. It seems she has some sort of grudge against you. That reminds me—" Zhangyu reached into his uniform jacket and drew out an envelope. "—she wanted me to present you with this once we had you in custody."

Zhangyu gave the creased envelope to a soldier, who in turn passed it to Guang Han.

"Grudge? I've never met the little whore before in my long life." The dragon ripped open the envelope, then drew out a single sheet of paper, folded over several times. "I should have killed her the second she spread those lies about—"

The dragon froze, eyes on the paper before him. Sanli could not see from where he stood, but he could tell there was not much written on the page.

There was silence. Then: "It's her," Guang Han breathed.

He began to laugh. He laughed as he had before, without stopping, but this time, there was a manic edge to his laughter, as though he could not stop even if he wanted to. He gasped for air.

Sanli moved closer, to see what was written on the single sheet, but Kageyama stilled him with a hand.

"Stay back," his mentor cautioned, tense. 

No sooner had Kageyama spoken then the soldier holding Guang Han's arm went flying.

It was not the same as before, when Zakhar had used all his strength to hurl Guang Han's house guards around. With a simple swing of his arm, Guang Han sent the very sturdy looking soldier through the air, at least ten lengths, into the shelves on the opposite wall of the study. The soldier hit the book shelf with such force that it exploded in a flurry of loose paper and broken wood.

A second of Zhangyu's soldiers followed, then a third, when they tried to plant themselves between Guang Han and the door. Even with the manacles about his wrists, weakening him, the dragon was still a force too strong to be matched.

Two of Zhangyu's soldiers fell back, paper and low level yinzhang suddenly in their hands. Scribes.

The dragon got to one of the two men before he could bring his blood coated seal to the paper. Guang Han's hand plunged through the man's chest like it was a ripe fruit.

"Call your fucking trained dogs off, prince, or I'll rip through them one by one," said Guang Han, lifting the gasping man upaward, so the weight of the soldiers own body forced him down, further impaling him on Guang Han's arm.

The other scribe maintained composure, brought his seal to the paper, and a host of golden zih spread like fireflies across the study, circling around Guang
Han and then tightening in a twisting cyclone of sparks. The ring grew tighter, and the dragon was brought to his knees.

"Take him," said Zhangyu.

The remaining soldiers hurried to do their lord's bidding. The dragon struggled to his feet once more, then started to force his arms apart with a snarl, words forgotten. The brightly glowing bands of zih that bound him flickered, sputtered like sparks, and started to die as they were denied their purpose.

Sanli, who had been standing in shock, turned to Kageyama next to him. "Sho Sensei, what should we do?"

"A stunning spell. Use, Tenzetsuto, it'll be stronger than a prewritten spell," said his mentor quickly, starting forward.

"Wait!" said Sanli, feet rooted in place. Then he pulled out his knife, cut his hand, and followed Kageyama's instruction.

The binding spell broke just as Zhangyu's soldiers seized Guang Han. The dragon spreading his arms out with a roar, breaking the chain binding the manacles together with a squeak of metal. Another soldier fell to a vicious punch to the chest that was met with the cracking of bones, before grabbing the next closest soldier by the throat and squeezing.

Kageyama stepped forward. A small throwing knife had appeared in his right hand from the air. The blade was short, not much longer than a finger. Instead of wood or leather, the grip was made from molded glass.

With a flick of his wrist, Kageyama sent the knife burrowing into Guang Han's right thigh.

The dragon staggered, then dropped the man in his hand and started toward Kageyama. "You'll die for that, little fox."

Kageyama snapped his fingers.

As if on command, lines of glowing crystallized blue spread over Guang Han's leg, starting from the knife and spiraling out like a kaleidoscopic spider web. "What is—" Guang Han shuddered to a halt as first his right leg, then his torso, then his other extremities froze with the spreading of the strange crystal casing across his skin.

"I'll murder you, kitsun—" The remainder of Guang Han's threat was lost as the crystal closed over his mouth, then face. The dragon's single eye burned at them all through the strange blue glass that encased him.

"Hurry, Sanli, Kesshomaru will only work for so long," Kageyama reminded urgently.

Sanli had almost reached the end of the spell, tracing the golden characters into the air using Kageyama's knife.

Sanli was the only scribe he knew who could use Tenzetsuto like this. For most, the time taken to recall and write the characters for a spell correctly was too great, and the first characters would have flickered out of existence by the time the spell caster reached the end.

Why was Sanli able to do what others couldn't? That was because, once he had seen a character or spell, it appeared in his mind when called upon. It wasn't just zih and spells. Anything he could see, he could remember, forever.

It wasn't always a good thing.

Kageyama had once said he envied Sanli, and that in his long life, there were many things he had forgotten. Sanli thought that his mentor must have only been saying that to be kind. It was exactly because of Kageyama's long life span, it was best that he forgot some things. Some things were not meant to be remembered forever.

Sanli was on the last line of characters when a cracking, tinkling sound filled the room, like a hundred ceramic bells being rung at once.

Kageyama cursed in his language and took a fighting stance between the dragon and where Sanli stood. Zakhar joined him, as Zhangyu yelled to his one remaining scribe to prepare another binding spell.

Cracks spread across the strange blue crystal encasing Guang Han, until what had once been transparent was made opaque with thousands of fine white lines.

"Sanli?!"  yelled Zakhar desperately.

"Don't distract me!" snapped Sanli.

The crystal shattered and fell to the floor like a cascade of ice.

Guang Han immediately leapt forward, hands at the ready. Zakhar aimed a punch at the dragon which he dodged under with uncanny reflex. Even with Zakhar's bulk, all it took was a sweep of Guang Han's arm to send the blond man staggering backwards, crashing into a cabinet filled with bottles of amber liquor.

Then it was Kageyama's turn. Guang Han's reflexes helped him dodge the first of Kageyama's attacks; the second caught him on the forearm, leaving a long thin line of red that grew wider and then trickled blood.

Guang Han hissed with anger and stepped back, pacing out of reach of Kageyama's sword.

"What can you do without that sword little fox? If I take it from you, what will happen then?" The dragon snarled, a snarl full of teeth, and pounced, reaching for the blade.

Sanli brought his bloody seal to rest at the end of the final line of glowing completed characters, and the completed spell blazed to life.

Immediately, Sanli realized that something was wrong. The golden zih should have sought Guang Han out, and rendered him unconscious. Instead, they grew brighter and brighter, hanging in place.

Sanli only had to see a character once to remember it. The problem lay it reproducing the character the right way. Muscle memory was not the same as visual memory. And only the slightest variation in the size and length of a stroke could cause a spell to malfunction. He must have made a mistake somewhere.

"Move!" Sanli called, diving behind an upturned table.

The golden zih exploded forward like a giant fist, sending ripped pages flying and furniture shuddering aside. The golden zih slammed into Guang Han and knocked the dragon through the air, through the open double doors of the balcony, and out of sight.

Sanli hurried to the balcony. Kageyama sheathed his sword and followed.

In the predawn light, Sanli was able to pick out the dark shape of a body on the lawn below.

"I thought I told you to use a stunning spell," said Kageyama.

"I imagine he's rather stunned," said Sanli. The body stirred. "Is he still alive after that?" said the prince in disbelief.

In response, the body stood and started sprinting across the lawn toward the sea. "I hate dragons," Kageyama muttered under his breath.

Zhangyu appeared beside them on the balcony. "Excellent job Uncle. You've just knocked him where he wants to go."

"Says the fool who only brought ten men to arrest a dragon," snapped Sanli. He turned back to the room. "Zakhar!"

"Ughhh, I think I'm whole,"said Zakhar, staggering out of the destroyed splinters of the cabinet. Glass and liquor flowed onto the floor around him.

"Go get the fastest ship you can find down there ready to make way."

"No need," said Zhangyu. "My men already commandeered a vessel and are waiting. Come." He gave instructions to his remaining men to assist their injured companions. Two carried out the body of the downed scribe.

Sanli looked down. His eyes sought out a piece of folded over paper sat amid the wreckage of the room. He picked it up and carefully unfolded it.

Only two lines were written in the familiar, chaotically messy handwriting.

"I took your eye. Now I'll take the rest."

*~*~*~*~*~*