“What are you chuckling about, Vance?” she asked, a sparkling smile brightening her angelic features.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I answered, grinning. “It’s just funny how some things change.”
“Strange indeed, yes,” she answered. “I never could have pictured this, not in my wildest dreams. There is something I wanted to ask. Have you considered how to get your army across the ocean? As much of an adventure as we’ve had in Yeng, I yearn to return to Prand.”
“As a matter of fact, I do have an idea. It’s a pretty simple one, and I know it’ll work, but the only problem with it will be the time it takes to get it done.”
I was about to give her the details of the plan, but Fang’s heat sensors picked up the unmistakable signatures of a large number of living beings ahead. I called a halt to our march and told Elyse I’d explain the details of the plan to her later. I ordered everyone to wait while I sent Talon high up into the air to discern who and what we were up against. There were patches of cloud in the sky, so Talon was able to stay out of sight of the warlord’s troops on the ground.
Hengchun and his forces were occupying the ruins of a stone fort on a hilltop about a mile from us. The morning fog was lifting, but thick, soup-like pools of it still lay in the many valleys surrounding the hills. If we kept to the valleys, we could get very close to the fort without being detected. The east side of the fort was weakest, and most actively defended, so I wasn’t about to launch an attack there. The west side was strongest, with the entire twelve-foot-high stone wall still intact. The entrance lay to the north, and the gates had been heavily reinforced. The south wall was intact, but with Talon’s sharp harpy eyes I saw that there were hairline cracks in the stone and masonry. One well-placed corpse explosion would bring the whole wall down. That was where I would launch my attack from.
Captain Jengshen, the commander of the Imperial Army division, trotted over to me on his horse. He was a big man with a severe-looking face, with long mustaches that hung down to his chest. He was dressed in magnificent yellow and gold fluted armor and armed with a katana and a lance.
“God of Death, may I humbly request that my men and I form the vanguard of the attack?” he asked. “My cousin was among those killed by Hengchun in the recent battle, and honor demands that I avenge his death.”
“It’s an honor I’ll gladly grant you, Captain Jengshen,” I said. “Move your troops through the valleys under the cover of fog until you’re positioned as close to the south wall as you can get. I’ll distract Hengchun by launching a fake attack on the gate, then I’ll blow a hole through the south wall. The moment that wall comes down, you and your troops charge in.”
“We will fight like cornered panthers, God of Death,” Captain Jengshen said, bowing in his saddle. “I will move my men now, and attack the instant the wall tumbles.”
“Excellent. I know you need to avenge your dead cousin but remember that the Emperor’s alchemist is a priority here. He needs to come out of this alive.”
“I understand, God of Death. My men and I will not disappoint you.”
Captain Jengshen and his men galloped off into the fog. I needed to find a corpse to use for a corpse explosion. The easiest thing to do, of course, would be to create one. I harnessed Fang’s heat-seeking senses to search for enemy scouts nearby; Hengchun would surely have some scoping out the hills. I found one close enough to kill; he was two hundred yards away, skulking around a copse of trees.
“Yumo-Rezu, could I borrow your bow for a second?” I asked.
Yumo-Rezu rode up to me and handed me her Ice bow and a blue arrow.
“Here you go,” she said, looking a little skeptical. “I’m not sure how you’re going to hit your target in this fog, but you’re welcome to try.”
“I don’t need conventional eyes to slam an arrow through my enemy’s skull,” I said with a grin, reaching down to scratch Fang behind his ear holes. “Watch this.”
I closed my eyes and focused intently on merging my senses with Fang’s. Through his senses, I was able to clearly see the outline of a human figure glowing red and orange in the distance. No fog or darkness could conceal the man from the giant lizard’s heat-seeking senses. I took aim at him and loosed the arrow. It streaked through the air, arcing up and then speeding downward with silent, deadly speed Two seconds later, Grave Oath buzzed in its sheath on my hip, signaling that I’d made the kill.
“Done and dusted.” I handed the bow back to Yumo-Rezu.
“You really killed him?” she gasped. “Just like that, without being able see a thing?”
“Dead as one of my zombies, yes. But this motherfucker isn’t going to become one of my undead troops. Everyone, prepare for attack!”
I explained to my party how we were going to fake an attack on the fort’s gate. Once the south wall had been blown apart, we’d veer around to that side and follow Captain Jengshen’s troops in.
While me moved silently through the fog-shrouded valleys, I sent Talon to pick up the corpse of the scout I’d killed. When everyone was in place, I positioned Talon just above the clouds. Directly below the harpy was the foot of the south wall.
I drew the Dragon Sword and swung it twice over my head, giving the signal to attack. Fang and I charged out of the fog, leading the attack on the fort, with my party on their various mounts hot on my heels. Hengchun’s archers and crossbowmen, who were
