The Silk Road Saga: Part I - Silkworm

19 - Red Dawn

Yue tried to stop his fingers from trembling as he laced tight Erhi's armour. She'd discarded her furs in favour of a heavy leather jerkin that she wore over a silk undershirt. Erhi explained that the silk would wind itself around the shaft of any arrows that pierced her flesh, making them easier to pull out. Yue didn't think that now was the time to tell her that the sight of blood usually made him faint. He fastened in place a pair of copper gauntlets to protect her forearms and then placed a conical leather hat on her head and secured the strap around her chin.

Stepping back, Yue looked over Erhi as if he were studying her for a composition. Her hat was too big for her head and almost came down over her eyes. Her leather jerkin was too bulky for her height and made her appear round like an apple rather than broad and imposing.

"How do I look?" asked Erhi.

Yue thought that she looked like a child playing dress up.

"Remind me again why leather is better chainmail?" replied Yue, avoiding the question.

"It's lighter and less tiring for Sabar and it'll let me move faster. Plus, I couldn't afford chainmail and it's probably too heavy for me to wear, I doubt I'd even be able to leave the tent" said Erhi with a nervous laugh.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" muttered Yue.

"What was that?" asked Erhi.

"Nothing, it's just something a boxer said. You've got to be quick but ferocious" said Yue.

"I'm not the one who should be worried. Remember what we talked about?" said Erhi.

"Don't let anyone into the tent. Stab them with the pointy end" replied Yue.

"Good, I'm glad that at least something's gone in" said Erhi.

Erhi checked herself over to make sure that her armour was secure, then she drew her scimitar and ran her finger along the curved blade. She drew a thin line of blood and then pointed the blade at Yue.

"Hold out your hand" said Erhi.

Yue hesitated, his eyes focusing on the blood running along Erhi's finger. He fought the queasy feeling rising in his stomach. Erhi grabbed his hand and nicked the end of his finger with the scimitar.

"Owww, what was that for" shouted Yue.

Erhi smeared the blood from her finger across his palm then grasped his hand.

"That's what warriors do before battle. It means that we're blood brothers and that we'll die fighting" said Erhi.

"Well you could have told me that before you attacked me" complained Yue, sucking at his finger.

"I knew you'd pussy out if I told you" chuckled Erhi.

She used a cloth to clean the blood off her blade, then she sheathed her scimitar and grew serious. She checked the tension on her bow and counted out her arrows, twenty in total. Yue had memorised that number. A horn blew in the distance as the first rays of dawn lit up the sky. It was time for Erhi to depart. Yue want to immortalise this moment somehow, transcribe it onto canvas, but he had no paints, not even a pencil, so he had to console himself with committing it to memory. Erhi opened the tent flap and the dawn light streamed in, bathing her in its warm glow. She seemed as if she were afire and for a moment Yue forgot that she was a girl dressed in armour that was too big for her. He saw a warrior, readying themselves for battle. Sabar trotted over to nuzzle its mistress and together horse and rider gazed out over the horizon. For reasons he couldn't' quite fathom, Yue felt his eyes start to water and he quickly rubbed them before Erhi could see.

The horn blew out again and the shouts of men and the bray of horses filled the air. The army was on the move. Erhi mounted Sabar and looked back over her shoulder at Yue. For the first time ever, she gave him a smile. Their eyes met for a brief moment, then she spurred Sabar into a gallop and disappeared into the throng of warriors streaming out of camp.

Yue closed the tent flap and sat down on the floor with a sigh. He looked at his watch. The glass was cracked and the hands were stuck at a little past midnight. The exact time he had smashed it jumping through the portal. He started to count out loud. If all went well then Erhi should be back by nightfall. Thinking of Erhi made him lose track of counting, so he went back to zero. He stared at his palm, still streaked with Erhi's blood. Her fingerprint was smudged into his skin. Yue tried to clear his mind. Today was going to be a long day, a very long day.