引狗入寨
Yǐn gǒu rù zhài
To lead a dog into the village.
To introduce a potential source of trouble.

*~*~*~*~*~*

In the morning, they packed up camp and prepared to set off.

It was Ao who found the tracks. Just on the edge of the clearing, in the mud near the clear pond.

"What sort of animal was out here last night?" she asked skeptically, fingers tracing a paw print, then a cloven hoof.

Then her fingers found a third print, long and slender, but human like still.

"Let me see," said Kageyama. They all crowded around, staring down at the prints in the mud.

Zakhar knew instantly what the assorted prints belonged to. It was old, this eh'lang, and had consumed much, to be this far mutated.

An eh'lang. A hungry wolf.

Zakhar caught the panic that coursed through his chest, and quickly reined it in, before it could run out of control.

"It is big," Kageyama said, fingers finding the depth of the prints.

"And it knows we are here now," said Captain Duan, from behind them. "We should move on to the village."

They mounted and rode further up the narrow valley. The air grew colder as they rode higher into the mountains. The day was brighter than it had been, but still overcast, white-grey light filtering over everything, the pine trees, the red dirt of the road. The horses' coats, and their riders' clothes. The tall grey peaks that rose toward the sky on either side.

Like rain, the light washed away the colors, making the world seem grim and void of life.

They reached the village around midday. What was left of it.

"What happened here...?" said Sanli.

Wudan village had been surrounded by a high wall of wooden planks, with a large gate, near twice Zakhar's height. The name of the village, was carved into the trunk of the tree that stretched over the gate.

The doors of the village gate had been broken open, and hung in shattered splinters from their hinges.

"The Black Lord's raiding parties came first, sometime last spring," Captain Duan said, in answer to Sanli's question."Those that survived the raid soon went south, after the other attacks started."

"The eh'lang?" asked Ao.

"At first it only took animals," said Captain Duan, steering his dun horse beside In'yii. "Sheep, cows, pigs, ripped to pieces where they had been caught, not taken and devoured as it would be with a regular animal attack. Then dogs, cats, household animals were found."

Captain Duan grinned, and leaned closer to Ao, in his saddle. "And finally, a child was found. After that, the remaining villagers fled south."

Ao frowned, steering around the grinning Daquan, and kicked her horse under the arch and into the village. Zakhar glared at the captain and nudged Dunya to follow.

"You," Captain Duan's voice came, in his reasonable tone. "You serve God Xuanhei, don't you? I smell the ink under your skin. Why do you glare at me so? We are all brothers in arms up here."

Zakhar's back stiffened. He reigned in and turned back to spit "I am no brother of yours."

Captain Duan laughed. "It does not matter what master you serve. We are all soldiers in the end, and in the end all soldiers have the same opponent. Death."

Zakhar did not like the thread of truth he felt in the captain's words. He hurriedly kicked Dunya after Ao, through the village gates.

The village had been small, no more than 30 households. The houses were all made out of wood, the surrounding spruce and pine forests providing the building materials. Long, low buildings, with few, small windows, and steeply sloping roofs to help snow slide off the wooden shingles in the long, cold winters.

Zakhar was reminded of the village they had stopped at some months ago, in the beautiful valley, where they had participated in the firefly festival. The one with the deceptively strong blueberry wine. Mengxiang, it had been called?

But this village was not so scenic. Or, it was, but the scene was one from a terrible tragedy. Everywhere windows had been boarded over. Grass, dead and brown, grew from gutters, and weeds sprouted in front of doors. One house appeared to have been abandoned in such haste that a fire had been left burning, and it had creeped up one wall, leaving the house open on one side to the elements.

And these were the lucky houses that still remained. For among the still standing houses, Zakhar picked out the burned frames of ruined homes, no doubt torched when the soldiers had come raiding.

Zakhar wondered whether the inhabitants had perished in the fire. Or been taken by the Black Lord's troops, to be sold as slaves. He wondered what fate was worse.

Ao stopped her horse before one charred home. She slid from the saddle, and Zakhar and the other men followed.

Zakhar stooped to slide through the gaping doorframe, feet crunching as he walked over the charcoaled remnants of the house. Kageyama and Sanli followed, scanning the wreckage. Captain Duan also dismounted, and began digging through the piles of burnt wood and belongings.

Zakhar followed Ao deeper into the burnt ruins. She stopped by the main support beam, now just a trunk without a roof to hold. She dragged a white finger along burnt timber, bringing the point away black.

Sanli bent to pick up an object. It was a small clay horse, all the legs broken off. A child's toy.

"This should not have been allowed to happen. My brother should have done something to prevent it," said Sanli bitterly, quietly. Then, he turned his accusatory tone on himself. "I should have done something."

Zakhar did not always see eye to eye with Sanli, particularly where women were involved. But he knew the prince was kind, and he took the plight of the common folk to heart.

After all, he was just one of us once, thought Zakhar.

"There was naught you could of done, Sanli," Zakhar said. "You can't predict or prevent every disaster."

"Still, there should have been more soldiers—"

Sanli was cut off by a long, chilling sound. A howl, echoing off the distant mountain peaks around them.

"What is—?" said Sanli. Before anyone could answer a second howl rang out in answer to the first. Then a third.

"Wolves," said Kageyama, face tilted to the sky. "Normal ones."

The three men and Ao stood, in the burned remains of the house, and listened to the wolves speak to one another. Howl after howl echoed back and forth, across the valley.

"It sounds like it's getting quieter," said Ao.

It was true. With each howl the sound got fainter, as though the animals were moving away from the village.

"They're leaving," said Zakhar. They all continued to stand, in the ruins, thinking on why wolves would willingly leave their territory.

"We should prepare camp for the night," said Kageyama, breaking the silence.

"Camp here?" asked Ao. "There is clearly a reason those wolves left. We should follow them."

Kageyama looked up at the overcast sky. "It is too late now. We're better off here, where there's more shelter."

"I am with the dog on this," said Ao. "I do not want to entrust my fate to Sanli's paper lantern—"

WHOOSH—

Zakhar's mind processed the sound of an arrow even as one thudded into a fallen beam just a finger's length from Ao's feet. Ao yelped and jumped back in surprise, tripping over a fallen beam a falling herself.

They all looked up. Captain Duan stood, a charred bow in his hands, a half full quiver of arrows over his shoulder.

A wolffish grin was on his face.

"Drop the weapon NOW!" shouted Sanli. "That's an order!" the prince furiously strode toward the Daquan, burnt wood cracking and splintering beneath his feet.

The Daquan immediately dropped the bow as though it still burned. "I was only aiming for the—"

Sanli had reached one hand under his collar and drew out a pendent of rough metal with the zih for 'command' pressed into it. Zakhar had seen Commander Sha present the drop of metal to the prince before they had left Changsha Fortress, and now he understood what it was for.

"KNEEL," commanded Sanli, his face like thunder. The pendant glowed as the commands were issued. "BIND. CONSTRICT."

As the words left Sanli's mouth, the corresponding zih on the band about Captain Duan's neck blazed bright white. The Daquan fell to his knees, then coughed and reached for his throat, scratching at the metal band about his neck.

Captain Duan's eyes grew wide, and his coughs turned to strangled grunts as the band continued to tighten.

"San, stop, you're going to kill him," said Zakhar, stepping up to put a hand on Sanli's arm.

"Good," said Sanli, eyes blazing. Zakhar had never seen Sanli so angry.

Captain Duan fell to his side on the charred earth, face growing pale. "Little prince, I'm alright," called Ao, climbing to her feet, but Sanli didn't budge.

"Sanli, stop." Kageyama's voice was firm.

Sanli blinked. He waved a hand. "RELEASE," he said.

With a great gasp Captain Duan sucked in air, fingers still clawing at the band.

Kageyama stood, beside Ao. The arrow Captain Duan had just shot was in the kitsune's hand.

A rat was skewered on the end of it.

"See," said Captain Duan defensively, rolling to his knees once more. "I told you. I was only trying to protect your little mouse. From a big rat." He gave a wink in Ao's direction.

Sanli's lip twisted, and for a second Zakhar thought he would kick the kneeling man. But the prince turned instead and made for a large structure on the other side of the village.

"Let's camp in that barn tonight," said Sanli over one shoulder. "I can set up the barrier inside."

The Daquan chuckled under his breath as Sanli walked away. His eyes followed the prince.

He is baiting Sanli, Zakhar realized. Why?

As Captain Duan stood and shakily made his way toward his dun horse, Zakhar picked up the bow the Daquan had dropped.

The pendant. That is the only thing keeping him in check. And Sanli is wearing it.

Zakhar glanced down at the bow in his hand, and resolved to search the village for any more weapons the villagers might have left behind.

Before he could begin his search, Kageyama beckoned him over.

"Zakhar, look at this fletching. Does this look familiar to you?" the kitsune asked, holding up the arrow, the rat now removed.

Zakhar looked at the dark red fletching. "Aye. Dyed goose feathers. That's what we'd use in the Northern armies. But..."

"But...?" asked Kageyama.

"The tip is wrong," said Zakhar, pointing to the thin metal point affixed to the end of the shaft. "The armies of the Black Lord use barbed arrows. There should be a small hook right here."

Kageyama looked closely. "I agree. It looks like someone simply changed the fletching. The head looks like the arrows used in this kingdom."

Zakhar ran a thumb over the metal tip. He nodded in affirmation. "These aren't Northern arrows. They're from the east. From the Green King's army."

*~*~*~*~*~*

That night they tethered the horses inside the barn with them, after letting them graze in the overgrown ruin of the village during the day. There was hay inside the barn, but it had long grown mold, or become the soiled bedding of more rats like the one Captain Duan had shot today.

"It smells in here," said Ao, nose wrinkling as she sat beside the fire they had made in the center of the old barn.

"Don't complain," snapped Kageyama irritably, where he sat stirring the pot that held their dinner. "We could all be devoured tonight. I won't tolerate you complaining about the smell."

"Oh, how you inspire confidence, Lord Kageyama," said Ao.

They ate a simple dinner of stew made from wild oats and greens that they had all scavenged from the village gardens while the horses grazed. Kageyama cut up some cheese that had been packed in his saddle bag and they shared that as well.

Zakhar had cautioned against hunting. Eh'lang were known to be drawn to fresh blood.

Sanli had set up a four sided barrier along the inside of the barn walls. The paper lanterns each stood in a corner of the barn, rising from the earthen floor like strange mushrooms.

"Well this is cozy," said Captain Duan, coming to sit beside the fire. The daquan carried a small barrel with him that he sat beside the fire to use as a seat. "How nice to be invited to your campfire at last."

"You weren't invited," retorted Sanli.

The Daquan ignored the prince's words and instead turned to Kageyama. "I don't suppose I can challenge you to a friendly match, Lord Kageyama? The sword skills of the Yama-no-kage are legendary, even here in the Inner Empire. I would love to test myself against you."

Ao had been spooning soup into her mouth, but at the mention of Kageyama's old title she coughed and spluttered. "Who!?"

Captain Duan laughed. "You didn't know? Before he served our great Green King, Lord Kageyama was the famed fourth general of Wa. The Yama-no-kage. The Mountain's Shadow."

Ao's mouth hung open, more soup dribbling from the sides. She swallowed. "Yama-no-kage...Kageyama... it's not your name... it's your title."

"No," Kageyama replied curtly to the daquan's request. The kitsune roughly spooned soup into a bowl and passed it to Sanli, who had just finished with the barrier and come to sit beside the fire. "You have no sword, and even if you did, I would not fight you."

Captain Duan sniffed. "Shame."

"Anyway," said Kageyama, clearly trying to change the subject. "We should discuss our next move. If we travel from dawn tomorrow, we can be out of the valley by noon."

"I say we stay and kill it," said Sanli quietly.

"What?" said Kageyama. "No, Sanli. Even with a full troop of soldiers, an eh'lang that size is a dangerous opponent."

"It is the least we can do. The villagers can't return here until it's gone."

Zakhar shook his head. "All it takes is one bite Sanli. You don't want to risk that."

"What did we come here for then?!" yelled Sanli, tone heated. "Is this not what princes and royalty and gods and all that nonsense is for? To protect those who can't protect themselves?"

Captain Duan chuckled. "You are naive."

"Watch how you speak to him," snapped Kageyama. Then he turned back to Sanli. "Sanli—"

But Kageyama did not get to finish his words.

Bright blue light suddenly illuminated each corner. Almost immediately following the lanterns' illumination, a scraping sound filled the barn. It started in one corner, near the door, then slowly dragged along to the back of the barn.

It sounded as though a metal rake were being dragged along the wall, its many tines scraping across the rough wood planking. Pulled by a lazy, careless hand.

The rasping sound stopped and the whole barn was still. A log popped in the fire.

Bam!

The impact, like that of a large animal, a cow or a horse, slamming its body into the outside of the barn broke the silence.

BAM! BAM, BAM!

The sound came again. And again. The horses started to stir and whinny uneasily. Ao's horse, the most restless of the lot, shied and bucked, pulling at the head rope that tied her to the rail at the back of the barn.

"It's trying to get in," said Ao. The thudding was coming from the same wall of the barn. The wooden planks shuddered and jumped with each slam.

"Even if the wall breaks, the barrier will repel it," said Sanli, but his voice lacked the confidence of his words.

Zakhar glanced toward the door of the barn. When they had entered at sundown, he had sealed the large double doors behind them, drawing the thick metal bolt across. He remembered feeling grateful the bolt had been in place still, and so well made.

Now that bolt looked flimsy in comparison to the force of the blows that were falling on the wall.

Let's pray it doesn't realize there's a door.

"I served your family for 100 years, and this is what I get. To die in a trap, like a rat," sighed Captain Duan.

"Don't talk," hissed Zakhar. "Their minds are addled. It may forget all about us and leave."

The banging continued in a rhythmic, mindless way, so unchanging it was disturbing. As though a machine were assaulting the wall.

The planks of the barn wall shook and shuddered. Overhead, the roof beams creaked as the whole structure suffered the vibrations.

"We should douse the fire," said Captain Duan.

"And leave us in the dark with you?" said Sanli. "I'd rather open the door and let it in."

At the first slam, they had all jumped to their feet. Now, they sank once more to their seats. The group sat in silence, though their thoughts were as loud as the ominous thudding.

Zakhar closed his eyes. Do I look as scared as I feel?

He felt someone beside him. Ao had moved to perch on the wooden crate he sat on.

He blinked in disbelief. "Ao, are you—"

"I am cold, that is all," snapped Ao quickly. "Not afraid." As if to prove it, she breathed out, her breath misting in the air.

"I didn't say you were," said Zakhar innocently.

After the slamming had continued for nearly ten minutes, without changing in its intensity, it suddenly stopped. There was silence once more.

"Is it gone?" asked Sanli.

"I'll check," said Zakhar, with more bravery than he felt. He stood, leaving Ao sitting on the crate.

Slowly, Zakhar approached the barn wall. Through cracks in the warped wood he could see blackness. Nothing but blackness.

Carefully, carefully, he leaned closer, trying to peer out between the planks into the night. His eyes searched for any trace of movement.

"I think it left—"

Zakhar stopped. Something glimmered there, in the sliver of light that came from the fire inside the barn. It looked like-

An eye. Looking back at him.

*~*~*~*~*~*