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

The ship Zhangyu's soldiers had commandeered waited at the dock below, a large sea barge stacked with crates of unknown cargo. No sooner had Sanli, Zakhar and Kageyama boarded with Zhangyu and his men than the ship cast off, moving into the bay.

A soldier crossed the deck and approached Zhangyu. "Lord Zhen is approaching with Lady Ermi in a small vessel, estimated to make land in about an hour."

"The dragon?"

"He leapt into the bay and... started swimming out to sea my lord."

"Follow him," said Zhangyu. When the soldier hesitated. "Quickly!"

"We should pick up Ermi first," said Sanli, laying a hand on Zhangyu's shoulder.

"Once Guang Han gets outside the Circle, he is beyond our reach," Zhangyu said. "If we want to try him, we need to reach him before he passes through The Wall."

"Get your sister first," Sanli said firmly. His fingers dug into Zhangyu's shoulder.

Zhangyu glanced at Sanli. "Fine." He turned to the hesitating soldier, who had been looking back and forth between the two princes. "Make a course to intercept Zhen's vessel and retrieve my sister."

The soldier saluted and hurried to follow orders, and Zhangyu turned to make his way to the helm, talking with the navigator. Sanli crossed the deck to where Kageyama and Zakhar waited. Zakhar was pulling splinters and bits of broken glass from his back while Kageyama paced restlessly nearby.

"We're going after Ermi," Sanli said.

"Good," Kageyama replied, continuing to pace.

Zakhar looked relieved. "Sanli, there's something in my right shoulder, I can't get at it, can—"

"I'll get it, Big Boy," said a voice. Liang'yi stepped from the door of the cabin and walked toward them, the heels of her leather boots loud on the deck.

"What are you doing here, Liang'yi?" asked Sanli is surprise.

"Rescuing the little princess, obviously. Sit down Big Boy, you're too tall." Zakhar obediently sat on one of the many crates littering the deck. The Dachuo ripped a hole in Zakahr's shirt, exposing his bleeding shoulder. "Good job losing her, by the way, fox," said Liang'yi to Kageyama.

"Fuck you, rabbit!" exploded Kageyama. "Maybe if you did your bloody job for a change, I wouldn't have to look after her!"

Sanli stepped forward to lay a hand on Kageyama's arm. His teacher shrugged away and resumed pacing.

Liang'yi appeared unaffected. "I was busy watching the dragon," she replied, gesturing toward Guang Han's extravagant estate, which was growing smaller behind them. "Piracy, extoration, slavery, fraud.... did you know he robs his own ships?"

No one said anything. No one was surprised.

The storm from last night had stopped, but the dark clouds still hung over head, and the waves were choppy, causing the large ship to roll to the side. As they sailed further out into the bay, the eastern sky above the horizon lightened, a pale cream. With the steel grey clouds, above and the dark ocean below, Sanli felt like he was trapped in a tunnel, with the distant dawn guiding them toward the entrance.

"Ow!" Zakhar grunted. Liang'yi's thin fingers prodded at his cut flesh, still unable to find whatever was lodged in his right shoulder.

"Hold still," said Liang'yi, frustrated. Then she withdrew her fingers, and tugged one of the two short swords at her belt free. "No choice, it's in too deep, we'll have to cut it out."

"Nevermind!" cried Zakhar, staggering away and covering his shoulder protectively. "I'll wait till we make land to find a healer."

"I'll look at it," said Sanli, wanting a distraction. He reached for Tenzetsuto, but was interrupted by a call from the soldier on watch above.

"Vessel approaching!"

Around them soldiers rushed to slow the ship and turn it, bringing it up alongside the much smaller skiff.

Sanli hurried to the side. A man clothed all in dark material stood in the rocking boat, holding a pale Ermi in his arms. He lifted the princess up, passing her to the soldiers leaning overboard. They grabbed the princess and brought her on board.

Sanli threaded through the crowd of soldiers to his niece. He knelt beside her on the deck where she lay.

"Ermi?" he asked. The hope in his voice was painful, even to him.

"Move!" Zhangyu pushed his soldiers aside and knelt by his sister.

Ermi's face was deathly pale. The skin beneath her eyes was purple, as though bruised from lack of sleep. Dull bruises the same deathly purple also appeared at the corners of her mouth. The skin of both her wrists were ringed with a deep purple, where she had been bound.

Sanli felt his stomach twist.

"Ermi?" said Zhangyu softly, taking one of her hands. Ermi's eyes fluttered open.

"Brother?" she asked. "Uncle Sanli? What happened?"

Zhangyu sighed, visibly relaxing. He turned and barked orders to his soldiers. "What are you doing, crowding around here. Go! After the dragon! NOW!" soldiers rushed to do his bidding.

Sanli smiled reassuringly at his niece. "Nothing happened. You're fine, Ermi. You're safe now." Behind him, Kageyama and Zakhar stepped forward, eager to see Ermi safe, and Liang'yi crouched beside the girl as well.

"I—" Sanli saw the moment that Ermi's recollection came flooding back to her, and she started to cry. Liang'yi gathered the girl in her arms. "It was horrible, Ma'yi! These men grabbed me, and dragged me down an alley and tied me. And they kept saying something about me being a bride for the dragon. And then when Ao-jie came, they kept hitting her, and I thought, I thought she had—"

"Ao?" asked Sanli, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"On the ship! I think she came to help me, but the pirates caught her, and then tied her and beat her, and—"

"What is she talking about?" queried Zhangyu up to the man dressed in dark clothing. He had plain features and clear, pale skin. His black hair was smoothed back so no strands were loose. His eyes narrowed at the corners, not necessarily more than human eyes would, but there was something about the extreme symmetry of his face that suggested a mu'ren. A Dazhe. 

'Zhen' one of the men had said earlier. Needle. Sanli suddenly realized who he was.

"You," said Sanli, lip curling.

The Dazhe ignored him, instead turning to Zhangyu to report. "The princess's tutor also boarded the ship, I believe in an attempt to save the princess."

"And where is she now? I assigned you to protect both Lady Yunyou and my sister."

Sanli glanced at Kageyama and Zakhar. After searching and failing to find Ermi earlier that night, they had returned to the hotel to find the waiting carriage departed. Sanli had assumed Ao had gotten tired of waiting and had ordered the carriage back to Chuanfang without them. The men had gone from there directly to confront Guang Han at his estate. In his worry for Ermi, Sanli had not even thought about what Ao was doing or where she was.

The man called Zhen's face turned grave. "Forgive me, my lord. By the time I was able to intervene, the girl had already died of her injuries."

Ermi, cradled in Liang'yi's arms, began to cry once more.

"You LIE" hissed Kageyama, swiping a hand through the air at Zhen, as though to cut the snakes words. Zakhar looked stunned.

One of the soldiers approached Zhangyu, interrupting the silence that had fallen. "My lord, at our current speed, we will not be able to catch up to the dragon."

"Tell the scribe to cast a wind spell then!" shouted Zhangyu, still crouched beside his sister.

"Even if we double our speed, it is unlikely we will—"

"Just do it!"

Zhangyu stood and marched to the fore, shouting orders. The remaining scribe sat on the deck. The soldiers brought out a large wooden case and set it before the man, and he opened it with a key about his neck.

Inside the case were hundreds of small bamboo tubes, each containing a prewritten spell, ready for use. In addition, there was a spot for an ink stone and brush, and a smooth wooden board just big enough to write upon. Beside the writing space, a tiny blade, for cutting one's finger, was sheathed, blade pointed up, for easy access.

The scribe, the one who had survived Guang Han, selected a bamboo tube, carefully reading the minuscule words on the label. He extracted the paper contained within, and unrolled it on the small desk. Then he drew out his yinzhang, his seal, hung on a cord around his neck, unsheathed the small blade and slid his finger along the top till red beaded on it.

The scribe smeared his blood across the seal, then brought it down onto the paper's edge.

Immediately, pale red characters leapt up from the paper and spiraled up to the sails, filling them with air. The sails billowed fatter, and the ship surged forward.

Sanli drew Tenzetsuto from its sheath, preparing to help the lone scribe. Kageyama reached out to still his hand.

"You're not in the right frame of mind," the fox said. Kageyama's own face was gaunt. "You already made a mistake. Do not risk it again."

"I'm fine," said Sanli, trying to pull his hand away.

"Follow my instructions, or I will take Tenzetsuto back," Kageyama said firmly. Reluctantly, Sanli agreed, sliding the knife back into the sheath tucked into his yukata belt.

"Man ahead!" the look out yelled.

Sanli climbed onto a box of cargo to better see. Ahead, cutting through the water with swift sure strokes, Sanli could see Guang Han, long dark hair pulled back in the water behind him.

Not 100 lengths ahead of that, the Wall rose, its shifting golden zih waiting to welcome travelers through.

One of Zhangyu's soldiers barked an order. Three men with crossbows took positions at the prow of the ship. The crossbows they wielded had been turned into makeshift harpoons, each bolt attached to a long thin metal cord that was coiled in a pile by the archer's feet.

"Fire!"

The bolts shot out across the water with a smooth looping hiss. They fell into the water with soft splashes several lengths short of Guang Han.

"Shit," Sanli heard Zhangyu curse from where he stood, behind Sanli. The crossbowmen hurriedly reeled in their bolts to try again.

"What's happening?" asked Ermi from where she still lay on the deck. "What are they shooting at?"

"Come, little rabbit. Let's go inside until we get back to port." Liang'yi stood, lifting Ermi in her arms. Liang'yi was not a big woman, but her mu'ren nature added strength to her arms, so she was able to lift the princess, who was not much smaller than herself.

"No!  We have to go after the ship. Ao-Jie could still be alive," Ermi protested, weakly trying to get down from Liang'yi's hold.

"My lord!" shouted the lookout. "There's—"

"Yes, yes, I know we're short!" snarled Zhangyu. His fingers were white where they clenched the wooden rail of the deck.

"It's not that, my lord. The ship, the Lanmao. It appears to be at a standstill and in distress, about one li beyond the Wall."

Sanli glanced up. The lookout was the same man from earlier, with the superior eyesight. "Why is it at a standstill?" Sanli called up to the lookout. Kageyama, still pacing nearby, stopped. Zakhar, who had been staring absently at the deck, raised his head.

The man covered his eyes against the fast brightening dawn. "There are men running around with buckets, they appear to be putting out a fire... no, they're bailing water. They must have sprung a leak and— there's a woman on board!"

"Is she alive?"  Sanli called.

The seconds it took the lookout to answer seemed to take an age. "Yes. She's wearing a white dress, in the style of the Eastern Isles."

"It's Ao-jie!" cried Ermi. Sanli glanced around, but the Dazhe from earlier had conveniently disappeared from the deck.

"We have to help her," said Ermi, struggling in Liang'yi's arms. "Brother, please!"

Zhangyu did not reply, instead looking grimly ahead to where Guang Han swam, now less than 50 lengths from the wall.

In the prow, the crossbow men had retrieved their bolts from the water and again loaded them. "Fire!" shouted the soldier in charge.

The bolts shot out across the water, again falling short of Guang Han.

"Hurry and reload," Zhangyu snapped at the crossbow men. "And you," the second prince said, turning to the scribe, who was still sat before his large wooden chest. "I want the most powerful stunning spell you have sent at that dragon. Now!"

"But my lord, the water will interfere with—"

"NOW!" Zhangyu repeated. The scribe hurriedly selected a bamboo tube and took out the spell inside, and brought his still bloody seal to the paper.

The yellow zih rose from the paper and soared across the waves toward the swimming dragon as the crossbowmen reloaded their bolts for a final volley.

"Fire!"

Guang Han dove just as the spell reached him, and it dissolved uselessly on the water's surface. The bolts shot into the water where the dragon had been a moment before.

"Hard to starboard!" yelled one of the soldiers. Those sailing quickly trimmed the sails as the ship turned, slowing and stopping just a few lengths within the Wall. Sanli could almost read some of the larger of the golden characters, where they hung suspended in the air.

"Maintain position," said Zhangyu. The crossbowmen reeled in their bolts. None had found their mark.

No one spoke. There was no sound except the faint wind before dawn and the waves lapping the side of the ship. All eyes watched the dark water where Guang Han had disappeared.

WHOOSHHAAAA.

With a great sound like the shooting of a rocket, a dragon, a real dragon, rose from the sea just beyond the wall in a rush of water and bronzed scales.

Sanli had never seen a Dalong before, in its true form. It was terrifying and awe inspiring, to say the least. The beast was twice the height of the tallest mast of their ship, and most of its body was still submerged beneath the water. If he had to guess, he'd say the beast was 80 lengths or more.

Even more impressive than its length was the thickness of its body. At the chest,  just above where two of the four short legs protruded, Sanli guessed the diameter of dragon's body to be at least ten lengths, probably more.

"Tiger's teeth..." he heard Zakhar mutter in shock.

"Dragon's claws..." Sanli said softly, looking at where the dragon's own claws glinted, reflecting the golden sparks of the wall. Five in total on each foot, deadly dull curved scimitars sprouting from the tip of each toe.

But even more than the famed claws, to Sanli the most incredible thing was the scales. They shone like polished metal in the dull light of dawn. The largest of the scales were the size of dinner plates, the smallest ones, the fine scales on the beast's belly, were smaller than Sanli's palm, and smooth as tile.

Sanli knew that regardless of their size or fragile appearance, dragon scales were one of the hardest substances in the world. A naturally impenetrable shield.

The monster briefly turned it's head to look back through the golden veil of the Wall at the ship. Sanli saw that the monster had only one eye, a great bronze red thing with a long slit pupil. The monster's pupil alone was the length of Sanli's arm.

The dragon drew its lips back, exposing a snout full of metallic looking teeth, in what was a distinctly smirk like snarl.

Then it turned and started snaking away through the waves, the giant body creating waves of its own as the sea was pushed aside.

"My lord, the dragon appears to be going after the ship," the lookout called.

Sanli thought back to Guang Han's reaction to Ao's note in the study.

Ao. He's going after Ao.

Zhangyu said nothing. Then, "make a course to return to Zhanghai."

"Brother!" cried Ermi.

Sanli strode across the deck and grasped Zhangyu's forearm. "What are you doing?"

"The dragon is beyond our reach now."

"And Lady Yunyou? Ao?" Sanli tried to force Zhangyu to face him. "You know who she is," said Sanli. It was not a question. Zhangyu met Sanli's eyes in confirmation, and then looked away. "He's going to kill her."

"I am not risking everyone on this ship, my sister included, to save one woman. No matter who she is!" Zhangyu hissed at his uncle.

"Brother, please!" Ermi cried. She weakly struggled in Liang'yi's arms and the Dachuo set her down on top of a crate.

Around the deck, all eyes were on the two princes.

Sanli let Zhangyu's arm go. He knew Zhangyu was making the right decision. Zhangyu always made the right decision, the just decision. Since they had been children.

Thank the gods. That left Sanli free to make the wrong decision.

"Zakhar, load that crate into the skiff," said Sanli, pointing to a large wooden cargo crate on the deck and then to the small boat Zhen and Ermi had been in earlier, which was still tied alongside.

"Sanli NO," said Kageyama, stepping towards Zakhar to stop him. But Zakhar, grinning, had already grabbed the box and hopped down into the row boat.

"Uncle, what are you doing? Are you mad? Are you honestly going to confront a dragon in a rowboat?" asked Zhangyu, disbelief clear in his voice.

Sanli didn't answer. Instead he held out a hand to his nephew. "Let me borrow your tinder and flint. You have some right? You're always prepared."

"Uncle... San... Sanli, don't do this," said Zhangyu, desperately. And suddenly years and rank and hurt were stripped away, and they were just two men who had been close as boys.

"Tinder and flint," said Sanli, holding out his hand. Slowly, Zhangyu withdrew a small pouch from his jacket and handed it to Sanli.

Sanli turned and vaulted to the ship rail, and then down into the small boat bouncing in the waves. Kageyama followed.

Sanli frowned. "Sho Sensei, you do not need to come. I know you—"

"Shut up," said Kageyama, sitting down with dramatic finality in the prow.

Zakhar reached for the oars. Sanli went to tug the mooring rope clear, but it was held firmly in a hand.

"Where are you going without me?" asked Liang'yi, using the mooring rope to pull the small boat close to the ship.

Zhangyu protested. Sanli shook his head. "I can not ask you to risk yourself. Stay here, Liang'yi."

"Well, lucky for Noodles, I don't serve either of you. Little rabbit?" the Dachuo asked, looking to her princess.

Ermi, pale and propped against a crate on the deck, nodded. "Please help Ao-jie, Ma'yi."

With that, Liang'yi leapt into the boat, mooring rope in her hand.

And then they were free. Sanli tried not to look at the staring soldiers, or his niece or nephew. Aside from Ermi, all those on deck were looking at the small boat as though they did not expect to see it or its passengers again.

Zakhar began to row. Sanli saw the big man wince slightly, and blood welled from the cut in his shoulder.

"I'll row," said Sanli, moving to take the oars.

Zakhar pushed the prince back to his seat and pointed to the crate in the bottom of the boat.

"I already know what you have planned. You focus on that," the bearded man told Sanli. Sanli nodded.

They passed through the wall, the golden zih dancing around them like friendly fireflies saying farewell. The wall itself was no more than five lengths thick, then they were through and in the outside world.

The sea was quiet, except for the soft sounds of water lapping their boat and their oars hitting the surface. Above, the steel grey clouds had taken on tones of pale yellow, like butter melted across their peaks. Shades of gold and silver. Below, the waves mimicked the color scheme, the dark water changing to cream where the light from the almost risen sun hit it.

Far ahead, the long neck of the dragon reared above the ocean as it cut its way toward the ship. It had not noticed them. Sanli nervously fingered Tenzetsuto tucked in his belt. Then he remembered; out here, the knife was nothing more than a blade. There was no magic outside the Circle. Not for humans.

His hand instead grasped the small pouch he had received from Zhangyu.

"Lovely morning to die, isn't it?" said Liang'yi conversationally. Zakhar chuckled. "Why are you all dressed in yukata, by the way? You look bloody ridiculou—"

"Don't talk," said Kageyama, arms crossed. Sanli grinned, and turned to face the sunrise.

*~*~*~*~*~*