Empire of the Dragon Read online

  “The only reasonable crossing point for General Kang and his army is three miles further on, Master. We are heading for the village of Ti Zuay.”

  “You and your men will not join me at the river, General. I have another task for you and your guard that I could not explain adequately in front of the elders and the council.”

  The General watched as Li Zheng eased his horse into the creek that fronted the small village of Ti Zuay. The wooden huts were dark. That was when the General noted that there was absolutely no sign of life. Even at this early morning hour, farmers and their wives were usually up and preparing for their day. As their horses exited the slow-moving water, Li Zheng eased his horse to a stop. His eyes scanned the darkened living spaces that once held the populace of Ti Zuay.

  “General Jai Li Chang, you have been a loyal friend.”

  The general looked from the darkened and abandoned village and placed his right fist to his chest armor and bowed his head. He suspected something was coming and knew he would not like it.

  “It is time for you to take charge of the people until their new Master comes of age.”

  “New Master? You are the only Master our people have ever known. I do not understand.”

  “Your duty to me ends here, this night. You will not accompany me to the river. Your mission is here, and then it lies beyond the Great Wall, in the ancient lands that will be the people’s new home.”

  The general sat upon his horse as his men held fast in the shallow creek to their rear. He removed his plumed helmet from his head and then lowered it.

  “If I have done something to offend you, Master—”

  He was taken aback when Li Zheng laughed heartily. He removed the hood from his cloak so he could see his old friend better, and in return the general could see the deep brown pools of his eyes. Finally, with the general looking on, Li Zheng stopped laughing as he placed his free hand on the man’s shoulder.

  “Offense? My friend, you have done nothing to have ever given offense. You and your men have laid blood and bone upon this earth to protect me. No, no offense—just a new task, one which I could only give to one I trust above all others. Do you remember when you were but a boy and we spoke of things, events, people, that could destroy the world? What were my two points that I pointed out again, and again?”

  Jai Li Chang closed his eyes as he thought. He remembered, but what did that memory have to do with what they now faced and the Master’s mysterious request? He did remember the lesson.

  “That it is not the horrid acts of men that will kill the world but lies and deception. Every time a man lies it is like a sword point to the heart of the world.”

  The Master smiled. “Yes, and here you sit upon your magnificent mount facing a man that is guilty of both.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “I regret that I could not foster the trust in you that I should have. But many years ago, I foresaw this night of nights when my people would be forced to leave their homeland for the burnt soil of another world. A barren place that witnessed my birth. A place where my father and that of the Emperor found and fell in love with a woman of that far off land. You believe that I am a hermit. A strange being who holds power that is unimaginable.” Again, the Master smiled as another confused look came to the general’s features. “I am all but the most human man. My weakness in my beliefs will be your new mission. To safeguard my legacy to the people.”

  “Master, we are short of time. I can even now hear the thunder of many horses across the far river bank.”

  “My vision many years ago told me I would not further venture with our people after tonight. I took it upon myself to safeguard their future.”

  “Master—”

  “Come, my love,” he called out as he turned to a darkened home at the center of the old village.

  The general peered into the inky darkness but could see nothing. He gestured to one of his men and he was handed a torch. He held it high to see. There, in the deep shadows, a figure stepped into the weak light.

  General Jai Li Chang felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. The woman was dressed in modest clothing. He handed the torch back to the soldier when his Master dismounted and went to the woman. He took her into his arms and kissed her cheek and then held her close. The general was shocked. He watched as Master Zheng turned with the woman and nodded at him as he dismounted. He approached and then the general bowed his head.

  “This is my wife, Mai Li. We have been married for seventeen years.”

  The general almost lost his balance as his continued bow threw him off. He straightened and took in his Master and the woman at his side. Before he could say anything, the joyful scream of a small child erupted from the dark night. Li Zheng broke the embrace of his wife and then took up the weight of a small boy who had burst from the darkened house where he had been sleeping. He watched as his Master picked the child up and hugged him. He swung him around and then approached the general.

  “My son, Tao Mei. It means, ‘big brain’. At four he can already read and write better than most.”

  The general felt his mouth open as his jaw dropped.

  “You see, I am most human, my old friend. If love of family is a human condition, which I suspect it is.”

  General Chang bowed again, and the small boy grabbed for the red feather plumage and missed. The general raised his head and then smiled at the grinning boy-child. He turned and tried to speak but found no words. The woman smiled as she relieved her husband of their son.

  “Wife, are you ready?”

  The woman just nodded her head once. The general could see that she was not happy in the least. The smile and love shown seconds before vanished just as quickly.

  Three women emerged from the same house with large bundles. The general gestured for four of his men to take their burdens. As he watched, Master Zheng assisted his wife and child as they mounted his horse. He nodded at the women and then bade them farewell as they bowed deeply. One even ran to the wife and child and threw herself onto the wet ground at their horse’s prancing hooves. Zheng assisted the woman back to her feet and gently eased her over to the other two.

  “Go now. You have served my family well.”

  In tears the women departed, crying heavily and consoling themselves as they vanished into the night.

  “You must now leave this world,” he said as he squeezed his wife’s leg as she sat upon the horse. He turned to face the general. “Protect them as best as you can. My son is the people’s future. They will eventually come to call him Master. Then they will call his son the same. There will always be a part of me with the people. Through the centuries I will be there, watching, protecting.” He smiled at his grinning son.

  “But—”

  The general’s words were cut short by the sound of horns. The morning sun was only minutes away. General Kang’s army would soon follow the rising of that sun.

  “Go, get the people to safety beyond the wall.”

  “My husband—” the woman started to protest once again for the millionth time in their married life.

  “I will be with you, wife. Just look into my son’s eyes as he grows to manhood. I will be there. Now,” he turned again to Cheng, “go, flee to the wall with all haste.”

  “Kang’s entire army has arrived, they will overtake not only us, but the people. We have waited too long.”

  “The General is more fearful of my one-time half-brother than he is of military defeat, old friend. He has made a mistake in his choice of offensive operation and lacks the knowledge of a land he has yet to see. You will never see the army of General Kang after this dawn. Now, goodbye my faithful General.” He turned and looked at his hidden family for the last time. “This is for the people, my love. For the people.” He slapped at her horse and with one last look at his old Master, the general bade his men to follow as they headed back north.

  Li Zheng felt the hot roll of tears as they came from his dark, brown eyes. He placed the hood on his
head as he raised a hand to the dark air around him in a final goodbye that only he could see.

  Master Li Zheng turned back and strode across the small creek and started for the river. It was now a time of war for the last of the air benders, the elemental wizard of the great desert.

  * * *

  The flags of General Li Kang crested the small hill that fronted the large river. His scouts had found a place to ford the large force of cavalry, and that mass of humanity soon joined the flags of the army.

  The last to arrive was the general himself with his personal guard. As the sun crested the Earth to the east, the general saw the shiny river and the far bank beyond. He steadied his restless mount as his general’s eyes took in all. He saw the distant deserted village. He also noticed there was no enemy activity on the opposite bank. Then something caught his eye. The lone figure came into view as a small fire flared to life. One of his captains pointed to the lone figure that was stooped to the flame he had just started.

  “A monk perhaps?” the captain asked.

  General Kang watched as the figure, barely discernible in the weak morning light, turned slowly away from the small campfire and then sat easily on the soft, sandy bank. His legs were crossed and his hooded head lowered in prayer. The general looked up at the sky and saw only a few wispy clouds as the rising sun gave them a luminous sheen. His attention then went back to the man across the way. As his ten thousand men formed along the opposite ridge and the tone of assembly horns wafted across the river, the monk they faced seemed not to notice. The small fire was just large enough to cast flickering patterns on the man’s brown robes.

  “That is no monk,” the general said just as his hackles rose as high as his new-found concern.

  Kang had been expecting at least a rear-guard action to give the rogue people the time they needed to disband, or whatever their plan was. Instead his greatest fear may be sitting two hundred yards away. His spies had finally brought the news the Emperor had waited upon for many years. His half-brother and his wayward clan had been found. Upon learning that he had been so close and hiding right beneath their noses, the Emperor had flown into a rage and killed the bringers of the news. After Kang dispatched the people following his brother, his orders were to bring Li Zheng to the emperor in chains. Now the general faced the hard truth—Zheng was alive and ready to face him.

  “Bring me your best archer. We will soon discover the truth of who this lone man is. I fear I already know who it is we face.”

  The captain to his right turned his horse and, in a few minutes, returned with a solitary soldier. The general nodded his head. The soldier looked from the general to the captain awaiting his orders.

  “Get this man’s attention,” the general ordered without taking his eyes from the man with his head bowed and the small fire by his side. The man’s hands were held out and the index fingers and thumbs touched, as his palms were turned toward the brightening morning sunrise.

  The archer nocked his arrow and the longbow came up. The shiny arrowhead caught the rays of the rising sun and it flashed brightly. The arrow was loosed. It traveled high into the sky and then came down and speared the sandy earth only a foot from the praying man. He didn’t react. He didn’t even look up at the sound of the arrow’s impact.

  General Kang watched all of this silently as his men were confused as to their delay in crossing the Huang He River.

  “Kill him.”

  The archer nocked another arrow. The red feathers at its end shone bright in the morning sun until a small wisp of a cloud passed overhead. This time the arrow was loosed with power. It didn’t climb as high as the first shot. It flew straight and without wind, true to the target.

  General Kang saw the man move his right hand in a swirling motion. Suddenly, a small breeze sprang from nowhere. Kang felt the softness of the cool wind just as his heart froze. The arrow was on target, and then it suddenly veered off to the man’s right side. It was if an invisible hand had simply moved it from its track. The long projectile thudded into the sand and buried itself deep. The man’s hand went back to its original position. He had never even looked up from his silent prayers.

  Without a verbal order being given, the captain brought up three more archers. Before he gave the killing command, he noticed that the man across the now brightly illuminated river slowly rose. He placed both of his hands into the sleeves of his robes and that was when General Kang felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. The hood and head of the stranger was still bowed in either prayer or arrogance.

  “Nock!” came the command.

  The four archers drew their arrows taught. They raised their aim and then waited.

  “Loose!”

  All four arrows flew straight and true. They arched into the blue morning sky as the robed man remained still across the waters of the river.

  Again, the breeze sprang from nothingness. This time it was a swirling mass that picked up sand and dirt as it swirled toward the flying arrows in a funnel of moving material. In shock, the cavalrymen watched as the arrows were suddenly upended as they reversed their course just as if they had hit a stone wall. Then the wind picked up even more as General Kang lowered his head as sharp grains of sand pelted him just as the four arrows turned and shot back across the river. One of the killing sticks fell to the water’s surface as it traveled away from the altering current of air. The other three gained speed as they crossed the river in a blinding race to the far shore. They impacted three of the archers and they fell to the ground, as the long shafts pierced their armor and nearly shot through the other side. The three men fell to the ground as the remaining archer lost his grip on the longbow and it fell to his feet.

  It all had happened so fast that Kang’s horse reared up. His eyes were still on the stranger as his men behind him tried to steady their horses as once more the strange wind died down and then ceased altogether.

  “So, we truly face the great one, that is most assuredly Li Zheng.”

  The captain swallowed the lump in his throat as he heard the name. He stiffened his resolve even as he watched his general lose his.

  “Prepare to ford the river!” came the order.

  Before the general could calm his men, the captain gave the order as Kang sat upon his horse in helpless silence. He had grown up on the emperor’s stories about the man they faced and the strange power he wielded.

  The captain drew his sword as he turned to face his cavalry. “Death to the traitor, Li Zheng! First division, prepare to charge!”

  Kang tried to stop his onrushing cavalry, but the charge command drowned his voice out.

  “Charge!” the captain screamed as the first line of men and horses bounded down the slope toward the river.

  As the first three thousand rode forth, the action scared Kang’s horse and it spun in a circle. Finally, the general saw the man across the river slowly lower his hood. The eyes were staring straight ahead as the first of his cavalry struck the river’s edge.

  Li Zheng’s head turned toward the sky as the shouts of the cavalry reached his ears. Their bloodlust was up. Then he lowered his head after calling forth the God of Air. He looked at the water at his feet, then his hands, palms up, shot out and again they raised toward the bright sky. The waters of the calm river rose straight into the air. The wall climbed high, higher, and then it crested. The wall of river water came down on the first three thousand men, crushing man and horse beneath its tonnage, as the river splashed down after reaching a height of a thousand feet. Men, horses, and weapons, were washed away by a sudden rush of river flow. Li Zheng than repeated the move of his hands stretching out across the river. The water rose once more as he twirled both hands in rapidly expanding circles. The wall of river water again shot high, and then even higher. This time, with his face turned toward the heavens and the Gods that powered his magic, Li Zheng held the water. The wall of frothing river now separated the far shore from the near.

  A thousand arrows were loosed at the wall and they all sh
ot straight up and vanished among the violent and writhing wall. Again, and again men and horses tried to charge through, and they too were lifted high into the air and thrown a half a mile away as if swiped aside by the hand of God. Still, Li Zheng twirled his hands. The wisps of clouds over their heads expanded into a dark mass of swirling death as it shot down and joined the impenetrable wall of river.

  Arrows rose into the sky and were brushed aside by the tornado-like barrier as the wind met the river. General Kang tried in vain to steady his horse. Even the stories he had heard could not compare to the power they now faced. He had never thought to see such a sight. Li Zheng was gathering the very forces of nature against them.

  Master of Earth, fire, air and water, Li Zheng felt the power draining as quickly as it had come on. Sections of the wall of water were falling, splashing down into the river bed, and then slowly, haltingly rising again. He knew if General Kang just waited it out, his power to control the elements would soon fail him. He had never gathered all of his strength before this day. Men were even now starting to get their horses through the weakening wall of river. Arrows and lances shot forward, only missing the Master by inches. Finally, he used his left hand and then it too swirled in a rapid and ever-increasing circle. He was using the last of his strength. His hand motions stopped as he reached into his robe and pulled free something that looked like small stones. These stones of silver were flecked through with greenish streaks, the same as the ore that once was necklaced around the great King of Hunan. Li Zheng tossed them into the small fire. The bonfire he had started earlier puffed, enlarged, and then a long line of burning air rose and spread out in line with the raging wall of water as a brightly flamed tornado. Of this, small balls of flame broke away from the tornado and shot across the river. The first cavalry to breach the wall were met by fireballs from Li Zheng. The flames struck man and horse and they burst into flame as they fell into the starved river bed.