Yahui locked eyes with one of the refugees in the camp next to Taya’s as Bjorn left his post to help Ruhak set up a tent.

Nikan eyes met her gaze, belonging to a man draped in a heavy black cloak.

One of Guanyu’s Bane Knights.

The man scooted closer to Yahui and rather conspicuously pressed a small brush into her hands, bound behind her back. She felt the cool sensation of a lesser Shedim within the gift. The man moved away and disappeared behind a cart as she shoved the brush up her sleeve.

Guanyu had opted to be wise for once. Yahui, while still in need of rescue, was also an invaluable source of information on their enemies while she travelled with them.

She let herself smile with a bit of satisfaction.

“What’s got your spirits high?”

Yahui turned to face Bjorn as he set a bowl of stew in her lap. He untied her so she could eat. She took it and gave the meal a whiff. It reeked of exotic herbs, but she actually enjoyed Koini tastes in food.

After setting up camp at the border, the Shedim Masters managed to get their hands on some quality ingredients from merchants that were more worthy of her stature.

“Nothing more than the fact that I can eat something more filling than gruel for once this week.” Yahui said.

Bjorn furrowed his brow as he ate. His Shedemic senses, while unrefined, were still powerful. He likely sensed the unfamiliar Shedim in his midst. Yahui sent a few rivulets of chill power rippling through her to mask the lesser Shedim’s presence before he picked up on it.

“Bjorn, I’ve heard tales told of men from your land who go into battle more bare than a Sklaveni. Apparently they are mad with bloodlust and I wonder how they function in society.” Yahui said, starting the usual conversation the two of them tended to engage in. Bjorn refused to tell much about himself, so instead Yahui indulged her interest in other cultures. And through that, Bjorn still let some secrets slip.

“Hm,” Bjorn swallowed his food, “Believe it or not, most of the stories are true. Berserkirs, you speak of. They are normal men most of the time. But they have a special brew that makes them unparalleled warriors, but also as crazy as an angry bear. Saw one of them rip out a man’s throat once with his bare teeth.”

“By the gods, where have you seen this stuff?”

“I grew up around it. My uncle was a berserkir.” Bjorn said, “Got himself killed when he fought forty Sarfans trying to hold a bridge with nothing but two axes and a lot of mushrooms. Went shirtless too. He actually managed to kill most of them.”

Yahui suppressed a devious grin. He was opening up. He was starting to be vulnerable. She had to strike.

“Your childhood sounds like it was a riot.” Yahui chuckled.

The Ascomanni frowned.

“I mean that as a compliment. Growing up around warriors sounds far more exciting than my life was.”

“What? Were the silk diapers and hairpins worth three villages not enough for you?” Bjorn scoffed.

“I didn’t say it was bad. It simply lacked excitement.” Yahui shrugged, “While you probably spent your days getting high on mushrooms, learning to build boats and fighting with your peers, I was practically raised in a study with a tutor for a best friend. I never had any free time. And on the rare occasions I did, it was spent making sure my older brothers wouldn’t pick on Guanyu.”

Bjorn let out a mean-spirited laugh, “Your brother was the runt of the litter?”

Yahui shook her head, “Oh, no. Many of my other siblings are far weaker. However, Guanyu and I aren’t fully Nikan. Our mother was Fuso.”

“What’s that?” Bjorn asked.

“The Fuso are islanders that live off the east coast of Nikan. When Nikan took over, they sent their first princess to my father to be a concubine as a show of tribute.” Yahui said, “Now the empire just sends their prisoners there to make ships and siege engines for them.”

“So your siblings targetted you because of your mother?”

Yahui sighed, “Well, not me. I was old enough to command respect from my younger siblings and powerful enough to be treated as an equal by my older ones. But they still see us as different. There are other children of the emperor who had mothers of non Nikan descent. But we were the first. We were the ones who were old enough to demand scrutiny.”

“Aren’t there tons ethnic groups in the Empire? Why would they have such a problem with you?”

“Because the other races are meant to be subjugated by the Nikan, not be among them. Or at least, that’s what my father says.” Yahui muttered. Her father also taught her that in order to draw out weakness from her enemy, she must first appear weak.

Yahui acted as though it was a travesty what had happened to her and her brother.

In reality, the Fuso only suffered because they deserved it. They became nothing more than dogs once subjugated by the empire. Her mother was sent over as a trophy and was now little more than a gold-adorned, opium addicted depository for her father’s seed. The same was true with all the other foreign concubines of lesser peoples.

But that weakness in her blood made her strong. She utilized the cowardice of the Fuso as cunning.

“Do your people have to suffer anything like that? Be persecuted for something they can’t help?” Yahui asked, feigning a search for sympathy.

Bjorn hesitated, “No...Well, not my people, at least. Me, on the other hand? I had an individual problem which held me back in my society. I was bad at making friends. Horrendously bad.”

More, Yahui thought, Give me more. Those hard on the outside were often soft on the inside. Once they crack open, twirling them around your finger is mere child’s play. The raw power Bjorn boasted was a trophy she wanted out of this expedition. Guanyu could go and waste Taya, turning her head in for a title.

Yahui would master this Northman and forge him into her sword.

“Oh?”

“Ascomanni children are trained in the ways of the warrior and shipbuilder from the moment they can walk. When we turn twelve, we boys are supposed to pair up with a girl to be our shieldmaiden. Only when we pair up with a shieldmaiden are we allowed our own shields for the first time.”

“And you didn’t find anyone to pair up with?” Yahui asked, testing how her faux pity would be received.

“Not at first, no. I was the strongest duelist among my peers. But no girl would pair up with me. Those who actually knew I existed only knew because the boys who mocked me told them about me. They called me ‘pinkarm’ for the longest time. And I hated them so much. I wanted a shield so badly, since it’s somewhat like a symbol for coming of age. And I would forever be a child so long as my arm remained bare.”

“Well you have one now. What’d you do to get one?”

“A girl from a class of older warriors had lost her warrior to a plague that swept through. She went looking for someone to replace him and sat in one day when I challenged Angi, a boy who’d been picking on me for years, to a duel. I lost due to a violation of the grappling rules, but I would’ve killed him. She saw my strength and chose me.”

Bjorn took the wooden shield off his back and rubbed at the black paint that made the shape of a bird upon its surface.

“Are you and this woman still...together?”

“Together?” Bjorn recoiled, “Oh, no. Absolutely not. Never were. Shieldmaidens aren’t wives. Well, sometimes they are. For me, it’s...it’s more like having a sister.”

“Oh. Sorry I asked.” Yahui muttered sheepishly, “Still...that’s all rather impressive. You were strong enough to be brought into an older class of warriors.”

“I just simply enjoy fighting. It’s an art to me.” Bjorn shrugged, “And...I’m not really strong in the ways that matter. Not like Taya. I still have a ways to go.”

“Hm…” Yahui casually sidled up close to him, making his large muscles go tense, “Well for what it’s worth, I think you’re perfectly strong just the way you are.”

“I’ll...uh, um....thanks. I guess.” Bjorn muttered.

What a lonely man she’d found herself with. A lonely, exploitable, powerful man. Men like him had such low standards. All he wanted was a listening ear attached to somebody halfway attractive and a pinch of sympathy for their woes. Yahui smiled to herself. By the time Guanyu came to rescue her, she would have this one on a leash.

__________________________________________________________________

Guanyu grumbled instead of groaning when he was in pain. Especially in front of his soldiers.

Meng Jiao, one of the female Bane Knight twins and the wielder of a Light Shedim, dabbed salve on his wounded leg, where he’d taken a crossbow bolt from that damned stupid rig the Adept had built.

Meng Qing, the twin with a Shade Shedim, re-bandaged his side. Of all his Bane Knights, how had he come out with the worst injuries? Well...maybe it wasn’t a downside. It could mark him as a courageous leader. Or it would equally mark him as an incompetent one.

To be fair, Wu Yan, his fire-wielder, got it pretty bad with a bolt to the thigh that narrowly missed a tendon. But he could still walk, so he had reason to thank the gods. And Jiu Long had shouldered responsibility for Yahui’s capture. So in reality, it was he who had the greatest shame. But thinking that didn’t help.

And there was always a next time, so long as he was still alive. His earth-wielder had been sent to deliver a Banebristle brush to his sister. He wouldn’t lose to someone he thought was powerless again.

“Your Majesty.” Zhong Yazhu, his wind-wielder, said, “The Princess Yahui has begun writing.”

Guanyu got to his feet without hesitation.

“Careful, my lord!” Qing exclaimed, “You could further injure yourself. Please sit back down.”

Guanyu sighed, before accepting their help in sitting him back down against a tree trunk. Yazhu brought over a large scroll and laid it out sideways before the prince.

This scroll was actually linked to a Spacial Shedim, an extraordinarily rare variety of lower Shedim, that was trapped in the gift they’d imparted to his sister.

While Guanyu had an intense desire to rescue his sister, he realized there was another option that she would approve of. No matter whether or not she was recovered, he would go after those Shedim Masters again. It would be more useful if Yahui could catch glimpses of the limitations of their powers.

Elder Shedim, whether bound by a mutual connection like the Masters or trapped like the one in Guanyu’s glaive, always had a weakness to their superior power.

Black ink started to appear on the scroll in the form of Nikan characters.

A wise decision you’ve made, dear brother, Yahui wrote. Guanyu grinned at the compliment. I will tell you what I know as of now. The group is heading for the port of Dimale, where our ship is awaiting us. They intend to catch a ferry to Koinelia. For what reason, I know not.

Bane Scrolls like these were only one way, so Guanyu would have to trust that Yahui knew what questions to seek answers to. But of course, this was the Luminous Shadow he was talking about. Of course she would figure it out.

Additionally, I have witnessed limited usage of the abilities of each master. Bjorn, the Ascommani, appears to have control over lightning, but seems to only be able to produce a limited amount of energy. He can absorb power from trapped Shedim from their weapons. Be wary of this. Still, the Sklaveni, Taya, continues to remind him to conserve his power. Though I believe I can neutralize him myself through other means.

“Write this down.” Guanyu commanded.

Just in case, I would dare to say that he cannot steal Shedemic influence over wind, water or other such elements which stray from forms of pure energy.

The Sklaveni girl, Taya, appears to be just as light while she’s using her abilities as she is not using them. This means her muscles are not becoming denser. Rather, I believe her supernatural endurance and strength comes as a result of outside influence. I suspect that beneath the skin, she is as vulnerable as any woman. Look for openings.

Guanyu nodded. That made sense. That girl tormented him the past two times they fought. He needed an edge against her.

The Hikupti, Ruhak, has control over metal. However I have not yet seen what his precise abilities are. He favors those wires over conventional weapons, leading me to believe he is a tactical thinker that likes to have control over his environment.

Cecile, the frailer western woman, I have seen possessing some form of hydrokinesis. However, the manifestation is odd. She can cause water to lurch or stop, but never raises it or moves it without touching it. I believe she made be able to...alter the effect of time on water...if that makes any sense. Chronomatic abilities are always dangerous. Be careful around her. I don’t know the extent of her abilities.

The Adept is the most curious case. I have witnessed his use of ability, but he spends his time practicing by assembling spears from crude materials using some kind of telekinetic power. However I believe I can draw this conclusion: The Adept is helpless in a fight. His ability assists his endeavors in creating machines. He needs time to prepare. Do not give it to him.

I will update you when I find the chance and when I receive more information. Safe travels, brother. Glory to Nikan.

With that, the text vanished from the scroll, meaning she’d capped her brush.

Guanyu gulped and sighed, “Did you get all that?”

Yazhu nodded, “Yes, your majesty.”

“Good. Next time, we won’t just recover my sister. We’ll kill them all. And bring father their heads.”

__________________________________________________________________

The Nikan border was far less attended to than Najeem thought it would be.

They’d passed it without even realizing, as the western part of the border was a random line in the jungle that no one knew. The Tan An mountains were commonly accepted as the true divide between the two countries.

Which explained the rather unnecessary military presence on them.

Najeem sat in the canopy of a tree, looking out towards the Tan An mountains. He unrolled his map and placed himself at the west-most pass, named the Whisper Trail. Why it was called that, he knew not.

This pass really existed simply because the mountains started dissipating into tall spires of rock rather than slopes in this area. Each spire was covered in greenery and trees around the top, but nearly barren on the ground level. Small shrubs and bushes dotted the red stone.

This was good, in that it allowed them to pass through it smoothly, but also incredibly awful due to the fact that the group would have no cover.

The Nikan had a large facility set up at the edge of the sloped mountains, creating a dam in front of a river. From that facility, multiple guard posts were perilously set up on the spires and strung together with bridges. They met a real fortress on the other side.

But given that the Nikan were far more powerful a military force than Jambudvipa, this facility was likely more of a factory or training ground than it was a real military outpost.

Most of the soldiers here would be new recruits. Still, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be killed.

There was no sneaking by them with a disguise. The Nikan were extremely strict about foreigners. Especially those from countries they were warring with.

But...the bridges were the only thing connecting the structures on the sides to the middle. If those were severed, they could pass through the middle without a hitch.

Najeem leapt off his tree, much to the surprise of a flock of birds, and landed next to his allies.

“What’d you see?” Shahla asked. She was on her feet and seemed perfectly fine now.

“They can only stop us from passing if they can get to the outposts over the pass. We can cut down their bridges and we’ll be home free.” Najeem said.

“No one’s in the outposts?” Seang asked.

“Not that I could see,” he said.

“That’s it?” Lokapele asked, “I can do that in one move.”

“Hey, this is supposed to be the easy one, right?” Najeem shrugged.

“Well then let’s get this done.” Lokapele rubbed her hands together and started to follow Najeem to the edge of the rainforest.

Najeem stopped in his tracks. A pounding of some kind reached his ears.

“The hell? Do you guys hear that?” He asked.

“Yeah…” Vai muttered.

Najeem’s gaze moved to the right to find an army marching towards the mountain pass. Ranks on ranks of foot soldiers, archers, crossbowmen and cavalry, all bearing Nikan red on the emblems of their lamellar chest plates.

“What the shit.” Najeem hissed.

“Didn’t we just encounter an army storming into Jambudvipa?” Lokapele asked, “Why is there one leaving it?”

“Well we certainly can’t cut the bridges now.” Najeem muttered.

“Let’s just lie low and see what they do.” Seang said, “If they stay in the fortress, we can still run through after cutting the bridges. If they go through the pass, we’ll have to find another way around.”

Najeem kept his eyes on the army.

“You’re wondering about them, huh?”

Najeem drew his scimitar in an instant, placing it at the throat of a masked woman who had suddenly appeared next to them.

She wore a wooden mask painted with white paste and wore a straw farmer’s hat over there black hair, which was tied up in the back. She was dressed in two layers of white padded armor, the first a tunic, the second a sleeveless vest a lot like Najeem’s own black vest, but longer. Layered plates of hardened wood were strapped to her arms. She wore dark blue pants with wooden shin guards and simple shoes.

A glaive with a thin blade on its end was strapped to her back.

“Who are you?” Najeem asked.

“Depends on what you think of Nikan.” she said. Her Qahtanad was flawed, but she correctly identified them, despite being on Jambudvipa’s border.

“They stole our homes from us.” Shakti growled.

“Then we’re in the same boat. I’m a friend.” The woman said.

Najeem hesitantly lowered his sword, but didn’t sheathe it.

The woman took off her mask to reveal a pale face with narrow eyes and delicate features, “My name is Kameko. I’m a member of...shit, what’s it in Qahtanad? Wait, You’re Jambudvipi, right?” she pointed to Shakti.

Kameko said something in Jambudvipi.

“She’s a member of the White Tiger Resistance.” Shakti said.

“White Tiger. Yes. That’s it.” Kameko said, “We are the militia put together by the separatist city of Xinhou. That army there is looking to suppress our revolt.”

“Why have you come out here?” Seang asked.

“To scout, obviously.” Kameko whispered, “I could ask the same of you.”

“That’s none of your business.” Najeem muttered.

“Fine, fine.” Kameko raised her hands, “Though I also found it interesting that a lot of you have Plague Scars.”

“And that makes you want to come...closer?” Shahla raised an eyebrow, very poorly pretending that Plague scars were still about the Plague.

“Well, the Nikan seem to only care about the Unafflicted, so I assume there’s something about you they don’t like.” Kameko said, “Something they think is...dangerous.”

Najeem looked between Lokapele, Shahla and Seang.

Shahla murmured, “Do we…”

“No.” Seang said. She’d really taken up a role as a leader among them, though in Najeem’s opinion, they were on about equal footing in that regard.

“I get it if you don’t want to tell. But how about I get you past those mountains and you tell me what it is the Nikan want with you so much at the end.” Kameko said.

“You act as though there’s no way we could be spies.” Najeem said, narrowing his eyes.

“The Nikan don’t use spies. They pay off corporations, small lords and guilds to lick their boots.” Kameko said.

“What’s your plan to get us through?” Seang asked.

“There’s a cave system with another exit in the middle of the pass just south of here.” Kameko said, “But, you can’t enter it without me. It’s run by White Tiger operatives and they won’t let you in without the password.”

Najeem grumbled, “Fine. Are we all okay with this?”

No one spoke up to disagree.

“Then lead on.” Najeem said.

Kameko took off at a startlingly quick pace to the left. Najeem and his allies followed, but failed to keep up with her sprinting, especially considering they were still traversing a jungle.

The Nikan woman burst from the jungle and quickly ran out of sight of the army that was still somewhat nearby. She moved a wooden panel from the ground before dropping into a pit below it.

Najeem and his allies made the same journey, evading watchful eyes and heading down into the pit either by dropping or by a rickety bamboo ladder.

Lokapele pulled the panel back over the hole, as she was the last to enter the tunnel.

The tunnel was held up by regularly spaced wooden frames and lit by dim torchlight. Four men in white garb like her stood guard near the entrance, wearing wooden masks.

“I told them to let you six through.” Kameko said, grabbing a torch for the dark void ahead, “Follow me.”

“She made sure not to say the password in front of us.” Najeem muttered to himself, “She’s tricky.”

“Can never be too careful in times like these, Asasiyun. Hope you’ll forgive me.” Kameko said.

Najeem frowned, “How did you know I’m an…”

“I used to run into you folk all the time on the job.” Kameko said, “Before I joined up with the rebellion.”

“The only people who ever challenged us were...the Emperor’s Shadows. You were one of them?”

Kameko didn’t respond and continued to lead them through the tunnel.

It seemed to go on for ages.

It especially didn’t help that no one was talking, in fear of spilling information to Kameko. A smart move, but God almighty, did it make the walk unbearable.

Najeem let himself float to the back of the party near Shahla.

He whispered, “I’m going to take a look ahead.”

Shahla nodded.

Najeem sank into the shadows, entering a warped reflection of the world. But then again, it was already cast in darkness, so there wasn’t much change. He had more or less free reign of the entire tunnel, since there appeared to be torches only at the exits and with Kameko.

He took off running down the tunnel. His strides covered so much more ground in this world.

Najeem made it to the end and passed a second set of guards. He found himself able to slip around the trapdoor through its own shadow and observed the ground outside the exit.

His eyes widened. Soldiers.

There weren’t enough to be an army, but there were certainly enough to kill them all. They all wore Kameko’s white.

They’d been set up. These ‘rebels’ were probably just Nikan soldiers with a different color scheme.

Najeem rushed back to the group and emerged from the shadows near Shahla. He drew his scimitar and placed it on Kameko’s shoulder, threatening her neck.

“Not another inch.” Najeem growled, “I know you have soldiers waiting for us at the other exit. Maybe should’ve taken some of them to help escort us to your emperor.”

“That exit is a checkpoint we set up camps in for scouting missions. Those men aren’t soldiers.”

“Lies.” Najeem hissed.

“Fine. Think what you want. You have their commanding officer as a hostage, don’t you?” Kameko asked, “Now the real question is how you found out any men were there at all.”

“When you’re in hell, look upwards in about fifty years. I’ll tell you then.”

“Najeem, are you sure we should be doing this?” Shahla asked, “If you were wrong, they might just kill us anyways.”

“I saw them with my own eyes.” Najeem said, “I’m not walking into a camp of a hundred or so armed men without some leverage.”

They walked the rest of the way with Najeem’s blade at Kameko’s throat.

The guards at the other end looked like they wanted to threaten them, but Kameko calmed them down in her language.

Najeem went up the ladder first, followed by Kameko. He emerged into the camp full of soldiers. Some looked at him.

As Kameko climbed out, Najeem grabbed her and threatened her throat again.

The soldiers started shouting and picking up their spears, but didn’t dare attack as his allies surfaced.

“See?” Najeem said. He looked down to Kameko, “Tell them we won’t hurt you if they let us pass.”

Kameko relayed the words to her soldiers. A young man snapped back.

“He says to let me go or else they’ll kill you all.” Kameko said.

“Well, I will if they let us pass.” Najeem growled.

“No, they mean now. Let me go or they’ll attack.”

“And they won’t if we do?” Najeem asked. He ignored Kameko’s answer, instead looking very closely at each of the men.

None of them looked like they wanted a fight or that this was some kind of opportunity they’d been waiting for.

They acted tough by saying they would attack, but each of the men were reluctant and looked as if they wanted to run.

Against his instinct, Najeem slowly sheathed his scimitar.

“Najeem!” Seang hissed.

“About time you showed some sense.” Kameko sighed, walking away from his grip. She spoke calmly to her cohorts, who all lowered their weapons, “Sorry about the misunderstanding.”

“Sorry for...threatening you.” Najeem muttered sheepishly. He felt like a fool. But...he’d had a reasonable reaction, right?

“Hard times breed hard men. It’s water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. Though, I think you all owe me an answer to the mystery of how you discovered my scouts.” Kameko said, “And why the Nikan want to specifically capture and kill you people.”

Najeem sighed. He was the most paranoid about sharing information, but this whole situation had been his mistake.

Get over yourself.

Najeem frowned and looked around for the voice that had said that. After a second or two, he gave up and said, “Who wants to show off?”

Lokapele, naturally, manifested her shedim first. The scouts jumped backwards, startled. The Lady of Boiling Earth towered over them as Lokapele melted a chunk of stone and commanded it to swim along her arm.

Najeem decided to manifest his as well. The Steel Hidden in Shadows parted from him, lurking behind him like his actual shadow.

Shahla manifested her Inevitable Wake of the Waning Moon and Seang manifested her...Najeem didn’t know its name. In fact, this was the first time he’d seen her Shedim. It took the shape of a woman, imitating Seang’s face. Its skin was darker than hers and it wore robes and a headscarf of a myriad of vibrant colors like crimson, orange and violet. Around its head, a bright halo shined like a second sun.

“What...the hell are these things?” Kameko asked.

“We call them Elder Shedim.” Seang said, “They allow us to control elements of the natural world, like moonlight, shadow, magma and dawn.”

“So you’re mages? Bane Knights?” Kameko asked.

“No. Bane Knights and mages force their Shedim to serve them. We are bonded with ours.” Seang explained.

“And it’s through these powers that you could see my scouts?”

Najeem nodded.

“So you all are similar to say...magical warriors?” Kameko raised an eyebrow.

Najeem shrugged at that.

Kameko looked to her men and quietly spoke with them in her language before turning back to them, “Then I would have an exchange to propose.”

“What kind of exchange?” Najeem asked.

“That army you just passed is on course for our free city of Xinhou. Koinelia has agreed to temporarily annex our city and put us under their protection, but the army will besiege the city before then. We humbly ask that you aid us in the defense of our city until the Koinis arrive.” Kameko bowed before them, her scouts following her by kneeling.

Shahla opened her mouth to accept, but was cut off by Seang.

“What would be in it for us?” Seang asked.

Najeem was starting to like the nun more, now that she wasn’t trying to kill them.

“We control a network of tunnels like the one we went through all over southern Nikan. We can get you wherever you want to go undetected.” Kameko said, maintaining her bow.

“Even to the Khongirat border?” Seang said.

“Yes.” Kameko affirmed.

“What do we think?” The nun looked around at her allies.

“No objections.” Vai said.

The others, including Najeem murmured in agreement. Though, Najeem did have his suspicions. Occupying a Nikan city wasn’t in the Koini playbook. They had no attached territory. How did they expect to hold such a city, even if it was temporary?

Well, that was a problem for their legions.

“I think that settles it then. Let’s see this free city of yours.” Seang said.