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

Despite her words, Ao slept like a log, and it was just as difficult as always to rouse her in the morning.

Zakhar bent to shake her shoulder, studying Ao's face in the morning light. The cut beneath her eye was already healed, and now was little more than a scratch. The bruises about her neck were already gone.

See, she is fine. She heals quickly. You worry for nothing. But even as Zakhar thought this, he angered that Ao had been hurt in the first place. She should not have to suffer. I should have gotten to the dog faster.

"It's too early," the woman said, yawning as Zakhar finally shook her awake.

Fresh morning sunlight streamed through the open door to the barn. In the doorway, Sanli and Kageyama were arguing.

Ao stood, beside Zakhar, and together they watched the fight unfold.

"We must return to the fortress immediately to report Captain Duan's misconduct," insisted Kageyama.

"We can do that. After we kill that monster," said Sanli firmly.

"Sanli, are you mad? Did you see that thing last night? This is beyond us," said Kageyama with a shake of his head.

"Magic seemed to affect it just fine," Sanli protested. "If we can just lure it somewhere I can—"

"No!" shouted Kageyama. "It is my duty to protect you, not help you in your reckless schemes. Why are you always like this?"

"Because I know what it feels like to be driven from your home! And no one is doing anything to help these people! No one cares!"

"There are no people! Everyone is gone!"

Ao pulled her long hair back with a leather tie. She brushed off her loose linen clothes, covered in dirt from the night previous. "What I wouldn't do for a bath," Zakhar heard her mutter as she began packing up her bedroll.

"You always taught me to do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Even if no one cares," said Sanli, voice firm.

"Arrrgh!" Kageyama buried his face in his hands. "Why are you so stubborn?!"

"You also taught me to stand my ground," said Sanli, smiling. He laid a hand on Kageyama's elbow. "Sho Sensei? Please?"

"Fine!" said Kageyama. "We compromise. We leave today, and take the northern route back to the fortress. If, gods forbid, we encounter that monster again, we will do our best to kill it. If it doesn't kill us first."

Sanli beamed like a child receiving permission to play outside. "Thank you Sho Sensei." He threw his arms around the kitsune.

Kageyama's body went rigid, arms held stiffly at his sides. "Get off, you're too old for that," the kitsune grumbled, pushing Sanli away and going to saddle Makabe.

Zakhar sighed. How he longed to be away from this place. And the north in general.

Beside him Ao had packed her things, tied them in place to In'yii's saddle, and stood with the horse beside her. She was watching Sanli.

"The little prince is either very brave, or very foolish," she said softly.

"Both, probably," muttered Zakhar, and turned to ready Dunya.

*~*~*~*~*~*

That morning in the bright sun, Sanli's idea did not seem so impossible.

However as the day wore on, and it became overcast once more, a sense of foreboding came over Zakhar, hanging around his shoulders like a steel cape, weighing him down.

We will not survive this.

Beside him Ao seemed to be of similar sentiment. Her face was grim, and she hardly spoke a word as they rode further north, into the mountains.

When they stopped by a clear mountain stream midday to rest the horses, she excused herself, saying she wanted to be alone. She made her way upstream, and out of sight.

Zakhar felt uneasy. He knew that eh'lang would not move about during the day, but still, he could not rest.

Finally, after Ao had been gone a while, he followed her.

"Ao?" he called hesitantly. Perhaps she had come to bathe. She had said she wanted a bath earlier.

"Ao?" he repeated, pulling aside a fern frond to let himself pass. He did not want to surprise her, or accidentally interrupt her bathing.

His footsteps grew hesitant, and he was about to turn around when he caught sight of pale linen up ahead.

Ao sat on a boulder beside the stream, gazing down into the clear water below as it flowed over the many colored rocks.

He could not read the expression on her face. Sadness? Sorrow?

Longing. That was it. She was longing for something.

"Ao?' said Zakhar again.

Ao turned sharply, as though she hadn't heard him approach. "Zakhar?" she seemed dazed.

"Are you alright?" Zakhar asked, climbing onto the rock Ao was perched on. The stone was cool beneath his palms.

"I am fine," she said stiffly, looking away.

They both stared down at the clear stream before them. Zakhar's eyes picked out a fish, its sides speckled with black dots, belly colored with rainbows.

Then Ao sighed. "I am sorry, if I seem ungrateful," she said. "You saved my life again yesterday. That's twice in as many days."

"Of course," Zakhar mumbled. "You don't have to thank me. Or apologize."

"I- I am grateful," she continued. "I am just not used to this."

"To what?" asked Zakhar, puzzled.

"This," said Ao, gesturing to her body. "It has been 300 years, and still I cannot come to terms with being so weak. With having to rely on others for my own protection."

"You are not weak, Ao," said Zakhar softly.

"I am," said Ao forcefully. "Compared to what I was."

Zakhar sighed and pulled at his beard. "They say skill and a weapon are just as good as strength. Or better. Do you carry a knife?"

"I did. I lost it on the wall when the damn Daquan dragged me out there."

Zakhar reached into his jacket. "Here. You can have mine. It's not much though. Just for killing birds and small game." He put the knife and its sheath into Ao's hand.

Ao looked at the knife, in its rough leather sheath. Then she tucked it into her right boot.

"Thank you Zakhar. I will replace it when we return to a town where I can buy a new knife of my own."

"No need," he grinned. "Consider it a gift."

Ao nodded, but said nothing. She wrapped her arms around her knees, staring down at the stream before them, where a second fish had joined the first. A dead brown leaf fell from the trees above to the stream, and got rushed away by the clear water.

They both said nothing for a while. Then Zakhar spoke.

"The mercenary company that bought me used to hold a competition yearly, in order to rank us, strongest to weakest. Every man over 16 was expected to participate. If you ranked highest, you had your choice of prize. Freedom, money, women. A senior position within the company."

Zakhar felt Ao turn, to watch him. "If you ranked lowest," he continued. "You were killed."

And suddenly he was there. The shouting, the jeering rang out all around him, hemming him in far more effectively then the rough wooden fence. He tasted the dust of the combat ring on his tongue, as well as blood from the gash in his head. There was so much blood. Zakhar's opponent stood, grinning and untouched before him, swinging his sword like it was a toy, and taking Zakhar's life a game.

Even when Zakhar managed to shake himself free of the memory, the feel of it stayed with him. The terror and fear of knowing your life was forfeit, your fate not your own. That you were just a piece to be played, a pawn to be expended.

Zakhar swallowed, and continued.

"I finally won my freedom when I was twenty-two. Do you know why I was able to win? How I survived?"

Ao's eyes were fixed on his face. "Because you are so large and strong, of course," she said promptly.

Zakhar laughed. "It may surprise you, but I was a skinny little thing, in my youth. There were men in the company far bigger than me. And mu'ren many times stronger."

Ao blinked. "How did you survive then?"

Zakhar sighed, and tugged at his beard. The hated tattoos on his hands stood out in stark contrast to his skin. "You remember I told you, there is madness up here on the plains?"

Ao nodded.

"Many men in the company would lose themselves to it. Either willingly, or as a result of the endless violence they were subjected to. When they fought, they surrendered to it, relying on it to drive their movements, to protect them, to give them strength."

Zakhar reached out, picking up a stick that had fallen atop their stone. He played with it idly while he spoke.

"I never lost myself to the madness. I always kept a clear head when I fought. Many of the others mocked me, but, well, I was able to survive, and beat those much stronger than me. And buy my freedom, eventually."

Zakhar rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "It is one of the few things I am proud of in my life. That I didn't lose myself. That I was able to stay me."

Ao looked thoughtful. "You are trying to tell me that there are many kinds of strength."

"Aye," said Zakhar, grinning.

Ao frowned, then laughed. "Unfortunately, I don't think I possess the kind of strength you are describing either."

"I think you do," said Zakhar. Hesitantly, carefully, he reached out and tucked a strand of Ao's hair that had come loose behind her ear.

Ao smiled at him. A soft, gentle smile that was so rare Zakhar valued it tenfold.

"Thank you Zakhar," she said, catching his hand, and squeezing it before releasing it. "For saving me yesterday. And back at the fortress. And for all your endless kindnesses."

Zakhar's heart seemed to stop, then start again, louder, in his chest. "You're welcome Ao. But I told you, you don't have to thank me."

They sat in silence a little bit longer, though Zakhar was sure Ao could hear his heart.

Finally, Zakhar stood, tossing the stick in his hand into the water. He watched it bob downstream.

"Shall we go back?" he asked. Ao nodded, and Zakhar extended a hand and pulled her to her feet.

Zakhar jumped down from the rock, and before he could turn to help Ao she had jumped down also. He started to lead them back through the undergrowth, along the stream, to where Sanli and Kageyama waited with the horses.

"Zakhar," called Ao. Zakhar turned back. "I am grateful to you, for saving me."

"I told you, you don't have to thank me," Zakhar laughed. Then his laughter faded. Ao's face was solemn, her voice firm. The gentle smile from a moment before was gone.

"I am grateful to you... but I will not let you save me again," she said.

Zakhar was not sure if Ao's word were a threat or a promise.

*~*~*~*~*~*

As the day got later, the tension in the group started to grow. It hung over the them like a dull cloud, fizzing and uneasy.

Kageyama in particular looked worried. Every time they rounded a bend the kitsune's eyes scanned around them, looking for a good place to camp for the night. But nowhere seemed to meet his criteria.

They kept riding, along a trail that got narrower, trees coming closer and closer to the road. As the sun sunk lower in the sky, the tree's shadows crept across their path, like slowly reaching claws. The tension in the air grew.

Zakhar could still feel his heart, beating hard in his chest. You are nervous, and with good reason. An eh'lang is on the prowl.

Yet, he could not deny that his heart had felt strange since he had spoken to Ao that morning by the stream.

He thought again of her smile, so simple, so honest, and the way she had talked with him, trusting him with her fears.

Zakhar glanced over at Ao, riding on her piebald beside him, and felt his face heat.

You're a bloody idiot, he told himself, pulling at his beard. He was glad it was there, it would help hide his burning cheeks. How many times does she have to remind you, she doesn't want anything from you but friendshi—

"Zakhar, come here!" Kageyama called from up ahead.

Zakhar kneed Dunya, driving her past Ao and Sanli and their horses.

He suddenly registered the roaring of water. He quickly reigned up Dunya beside Makabe.

Before them, the road disappeared into a deep gorge, at the bottom of which a rushing white river ran. The wooden bridge that had once spanned the gorge was gone, destroyed as if a giant hand had come down and crushed it out of the sky. The river below swirled and eddied around jagged rocks, in which beams of wood had become wedged. Splinters of the destroyed bridge.

"The commander failed to mention the bridge on the northern route had been destroyed," said Kageyama, frowning.

Sanli also reigned up beside them. "Magic," the prince said, pointing to the splintered remnants of the bridge. "If they had used powder, the burn marks wouldn't look like that. Even phoenix powder doesn't burn that hot."

All three men contemplated the gorge and the destroyed bridge before them, in the dying light.

"We could take the old road, along the gorge," Zakhar said, gesturing to their left. A narrow track, little more than a ledge, jutted out along the rock wall. The track was less than a length wide, and would be difficult for a man to traverse, let alone a horse.

"It's far too narrow for the horses," said Kageyama. "If the road has been washed away, they can not turn to go back. We'd be stuck." Kageyama's sharp white teeth appeared, as he gnawed on his lip. "I can't recall all of the map the commander showed us. Was there another way we could take back to the fortress?" Kageyama asked Sanli, relying on the prince's perfect memory.

"No," said Sanli shaking his head. "If the bridge is gone, that just leaves the old road. Or we could ride all the way back the way we came. Through the village." No one wanted to return there.

Kageyama continued to frown. "I don't like it. The old road is too treacherous. It's also very exposed. It feels like—"

"It feels like a trap." Sanli finished.

"Trap or no, we should keep moving gentlemen. There is something behind us," said Ao.

Zakhar turned, to where Ao waited on In'yii. The mare's ears were tall, and turned back, toward the way they had come, where the road was fast disappearing in evening shadow.

Dunya's ears also perked, as though hearing something just beyond their sight. "Kageyama?" questioned Zakhar, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Something is following us," Kageyama confirmed quietly.

"Well, rather than waiting here, I say we try the old road. At least it will be too narrow for that creature from last night to follow us," said Ao, trying to calm her restless horse.

"I agree," said Sanli.

Kageyama hesitated. "We take the old road," the kitsune finally agreed.

Kageyama went first on Makabe. "You go ahead, Ao," said Sanli, motioning for Ao to ride onto the narrow ledge before him. Ao steered her restless piebald onto the narrow track after Makabe, and then Sanli followed on Little Light.

Zakhar was last. He glanced once more back down the way they had come, staring at the shadows between trees. Hurriedly, he kicked Dunya onto the narrow track.

At first the track was as narrow as it appeared. To Zakhar's left the cliff face of the gorge rose, so close that jutting stone occasionally brushed against his knee. Oh the right side, his other knee stuck out into empty space, the rushing white water of the river all he could see far below.

Gradually however, the track widened, though it was still far too narrow for the beast from the night before to follow.

Zakhar thought of the creature, and the way it dragged its bloated body across the ground.

If it attempts to follow us, it will fall into the river below.

As the light grew low in the west, there was still no sign of a place to stop and spend the night.

"Sanli, how long did the road go for along the cliff?" Kageyama called back.

"It should reach the canyon floor in another li or so," said Sanli, frowning as he recalled the map in his head. "It will be a good place to camp. We'll have the river before us and the cliff behind us."

Kageyama nodded and turned to kick Makabe on.

A familiar whistling cut the air. The sound of an arrow.

A blink, and a dark shaft sprouted from Sanli's right shoulder. The prince looked down at it, surprised.

"Sanli!" cried Ao, sliding from her horse. Kageyama turned, horror filling his face when he saw the reason for Ao's cry.

A second arrow whistled it's deadly tune, ending with a wet thud in Sanli's chest below the first.

"Sh- Sho Sensei," said Sanli faintly, looking at the arrows as though confused.

"Sanli, get down! Lie down on Little Light's neck!" said Kageyama, voice frantic. The kitsune had dismounted and was struggling to get to Sanli along the narrow path, but Ao's piebald, nervously shying, blocked his way. "Move, stupid beast!" Kageyama beat Ao's horse out of the way.

Blood started to seep from Sanli's wound, like dark ink from the tip of a brush.

"Shit!" cursed Zakhar. Beneath him Dunya bucked, the smell of blood in her nose. "San, get down! Get off Little Light!" Zakhar called, sliding from his own saddle, just as a third whistle filled the air.

The third arrow clattered uselessly off the rocks by Little Light's hooves. In the space of a second, Zakhar wondered why the archer, who judging by the first two shots had great skill, had let the third arrow go wide.

Then, as Little Light reared in fear, Zakhar realized why.

As Little Light bucked, Sanli tipped backwards, unable to regain his seat. Little Light's hooves slipped and skidded on the loose rocks, and the horse lost balance.

Prince and horse began to fall backward, into the gorge.

"Sanli!" called Kageyama desperately. At last passing Ao's horse, the kitsune dashed forward.

But Zakhar's eyes only saw Ao. The woman took a step back, and then with two wide strides launched herself out over the gorge, reaching for the prince. Her arms closed around Sanli's waist-

-and then they both fell, along with Little Light.

Zakhar reached the cliff edge, and Kageyama a second later. They both looked down, into the rushing white water far below.

Nothing but water and dark stones.

Kageyama began stripping off his coat, then his boots, preparing to follow.

Zakhar felt a similar urgency take him. To jump. To go after them. To go after Ao.

Keep your head.

"Stop," said Zakhar. "Stop, Kageyama. They are already too far away to catch. We need to get the horses and get off this cursed trail." He gripped at Kageyama's arm.

The kitsune shook his arm free with ease. "Let me go, dammit—"

Zakhar grabbed Kageyama's arm more forcefully. "You think I don't want to go after her? Think rationally. We will be no good to them drowned, or shot, or crushed on rocks. Help me get the horses and we will ride downstream to search."

Kageyama took a deep breath. "Yes. You're right."

Together they gathered the horses and continued along the narrow trail in the growing dark. All the while Zakhar's heart thudded painfully in his chest, his thoughts in the white water below.

*~*~*~*~*~*