He smiled as they completed the demolition of Shinsan’s fabled Seventeenth Legion.

NINE: YEAR 1016 AFE
THE FORTRESS IN THE BORDERLAND

Lord Lun-yu sent the message via Meng Chiao. “Lord Ssu-ma, they’re attacking again. And there’s a new mind in control.”

“Oh?” Shih-ka’i had a cold feeling. “What makes you think that?”

“Their effectiveness. Their tactics. Perhaps you should come see what we mean, Lord.”

Shih-ka’i considered the Tervola. Chiao was disturbed. His stance and little fidgety movements betrayed his inner turmoil. “All right. Pan ku. We’re going to the mountains.” He glanced at the big map. Everything was shaping up nicely. Eastern Army was coalescing. Should the dead break through the pass, they would find a hard knot blocking their path here.

A few days more would help. Yes. Every minute would help.

Shih-ka’i followed Meng Chiao through the transfer. He sensed the new mind immediately. He said, “We’re in trouble.”

“Yes, Lord,” Tasi-feng agreed. “We won’t be able to hold them.”

“I didn’t expect to. This was a delaying tactic. Stall them as long as you can.” He glanced skyward, where a woman in white circled on a small dragon. “Is she good?”

“The best, Lord. Nearly as powerful as the Princess Mist. She’s given us no chance to support the men, so they’re not having much luck capturing enemy casualties.”

Shih-ka’i glimpsed a second dragon. “Who’s that?”

“We don’t know, Lord. Possibly the new control.”

There had been two people atop the thing in the desert. “I don’t want to waste shafts, Lord Lun-yu, but if you get a good shot, call for one.”

“As you command, Lord.”

“I’ll return to the fortress. Guard your portals carefully.”

“We’re shifting them now, Lord. We’ll fall back on them as they force us.”

“Very well.” Shih-ka’i walked toward the nearest transfer. He told Pan ku, “This new mind is a dangerous one. I sense a whole different outlook.”

“I felt it too, Lord.”

“I think we can expect a siege.”

The Seventeenth remained rooted longer than Shih-ka’i expected. A day passed and another night came before the last soldier retired.

“How many did we lose?” Lord Ssu-ma demanded.

“Less than a hundred, Lord,” Tasi-feng replied. “Permanently, that is. I assume that’s what you meant. Six hundred dead we got out.”

“Good. Excellent. I want you to transfer your wounded again, once new portals are set. To Lioantung. We won’t have to worry about them again unless the enemy breaks through both us and Northern Army.”

Tasi-feng no longer believed his commander was overreacting to an insignificant threat. He tried to buoy his own spirits by saying, “We estimate another twenty thousand bodies permanently destroyed, Lord.”

“Any idea what they have left?”

“Not reliably, Lord. At least fifty thousand. Plus the flyers.”

“Plus the flyers. We may end up wishing we had our own flyers. Chang Sheng! Any luck enlisting the dragons?”

“None, Lord. They won’t explain, but their elders claim they know this evil of old. They won’t face it again.”