Undying Love (On Hiatus)

Who is the betrayer ?

  Uldin had arrived on the scene long ago; the massive raid into Kaida territory had just ended, and the raiding party was heading back to the steppes with their booty.

The Hegurian mountain ranges were fast receding to reveal the great western plains of Kaida. This area was sparsely populated, with the nearest substantial military force stationed on the other side of the Nich River. Out here, the Juni had the advantage.

Uldin had requested the Rai king, Arsaces, for his assurance. It was for purely practical purposes: he would need infantry to storm fortresses and cities, for cavalry would then be useless. Arsaces, eager to curry favour, agreed readily, gathering a host of over five thousand spearmen and footmen to join Uldin's force of two thousand horsemen.

The horde encamped on the outskirts of the mountains, biding their time for the next Kaida army to arrive.

Uldin shooed a few stray sheep out of his tent and allowed his war cabinet in. They deftly avoided the annoyed sheep and gathered around his round table, where they sat.

The war cabinet had been hand-chosen by Uldin and Arsaces. Twelve men, consisting of Dread Riders, military strategists, engineers and a weather forecaster/shaman.

Now they discussed a war plan.

"Reports, gentlemen."

Avitohol, the weather forecaster, spoke first,"The climate in the western plains is most like autumn, with very strong winds in the afternoon hours. Use of fire has to be done at discretion. The direction of the wind changes erratically."

The Dread Riders submitted their routine reports of expenditure and day-to-day happenings. Just an hour ago, a mercenary commander had come to the horde and offered his swords and men to a Dread Rider. Uldin approved, and allowed him five hundred talents to recruit all the men he could.

Lothar, the exiled siege engineer, drew out his plans for siege weaponry in the context of Kaida defenses. Among them was a fortified siege tower that could withstand shots from the Kaida "fire lance", and a type of multi-barreled weapon that combined many "fire lances" and could shoot in rapid succession. From that moment on Uldin was lost about Lothar's ramblings on "alloys" and "refined mixture" and "velocity".

Takeo, the Kaida traitor, then laid out his plans to subdue the entire western plain. Since the west was so vast and so sparsely populated, they would not face any threat from local militias and garrisons. What they did have to worry about was the great Western Army, led by the respected and formidable Kaida general, Nakamura Sundila. The Western Army consisted of a well-trained cavalry arm and five thousand crossbowmen that would shred any force to pieces, on open plains or in cities.

Sundila was smart, Takeo said. He would know more that Uldin had a balanced army, and would dare to engage him on the open plains. In terms of military might, none of them had an advantage, so Uldin needed to outsmart Sundila.

Arsaces then spoke about a small lake that fed the Nich River. It was sufficiently far away from the mountains to be counted as a feature of the western plains, but the terrain there was rocky and elevated. Sundila's cavalry arm would be useless there, but so would Uldin's.

Expanding on that, Avitohol outlined that it was usually during summer that the lake and the surrounding land would be shrouded in thin mist. The wind there would then be blowing in a southerly direction.

But Sundila would definitely not take the bait. He knew better than to deprive himself of his cavalry. So Uldin would need to create a situation that made it logical to do so.

About that, no one had any ideas.

***

Takeshi hid behind a wall, eavesdropping on the conversation. He had tailed those three guards to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

A few days' worth of investigation had yielded results. These guards had been entering the city every day, instead of doing their job in the palace. It was already highly suspicious that they were doing that, and now they were in this remote warehouse.

The guards were talking to a hooded figure, and Takeshi could hear a distinctly Erudian accent from the man.

"Do you have the money, Irb?" one of the guards asked.

The hooded man, Irb, produced a large bag, filled with presumably money, and handed it to the guard.

"Count it."

Another guard took the bag and counted. Then, satisfied, he looked up. "The exact amount."

"Thank you for your assistance," Irb said, bowed, and walked off quickly.

The guards turned back, and they divided the money between themselves, putting their share into their own purses. Takeshi didn't know what that was about, but he found this incredibly suspicious. Was this the plot Kidei was talking about?

"Man, I'm gonna have myself a good time at that brothel," one of the guards said.

"I'm saving it and sending it back home," another said. "You're a real son of a bitch."

Takeshi stepped out of the shadows, and the guards were shocked to see him there. They drew their axes on instinct. He was wearing civilian clothes, so they would not recognize him.

"Who are you?"

Takeshi stepped forward, tensing his muscles for a fight. "I'll be asking the questions. What were you doing with an Erudian spy? Consorting with the enemy?"

"Stay out of this, punk, or you'll be sorry!" a guard thrust his axe forward in a threatening gesture.

There was no one around to witness a fight, so Takeshi could just go ahead.

"You're the ones going to be sorry," Takeshi said.

A guard slashed forward, but Takeshi caught him by the wrist and twisted it savagely behind him, making him drop his axe in pain. Takeshi caught it and gave the guard a kick to the butt, sending him falling to the ground.

Another guard came and slashed, but Takeshi parried with the axe shaft, and slammed the top of the axe head into the guard's face, knocking a few teeth out.

The last guard swung widely, but Takeshi blocked the blow easily, headbutted the guard, and then kicked him in the knee, sending him sliding to the ground.

"Tell me what you know, or I'll have you all tried for treason," Takeshi said coldly. Then he hurled the axe to the ground, the blade slamming into the ground just a hair's breadth away from its owner's nose. "Or worse."

The guard with the missing teeth fumbled around in his pockets, and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Takeshi snatched it away from him and read the contents.

"Provide arms for Erudian insurgents. Ambush to be carried out at Jin Shan Pass, where Masayoshi will be passing. Receive payment from Irb. Signed, Ssuma Po." The stamp bearing Ssuma Po's name was there, clear as day.

Ssuma Po? Wasn't that the imperial Master of Examinations? A scholar plotting against the emperor? Now that wasn't something you saw every day.

"Ssuma Po?" Takeshi asked the guards. "Why is he doing this?"

"We don't know. We were only receiving orders from someone much higher up."

Takeshi scrunched up his face in disgust. "Betraying your emperor and country just for a few coins. You lot are worse than animals."

The guards hung their heads in shame.

Takeshi decided to bring this news to Hayami.

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Thanks to iamnotasmartguy for his help.