v5c29: The Wicked Blade Special

Vajra the Boozemaster, servant of the Emperor, was in her element. The world was seen from a thousand eyes, as she and her subjects worked with one will. The numbers were few, compared to the host she could have called upon at her previous height. In the past, she had commanded teeming millions into the slaughterhouse-battlefields that carpeted the ground with their countless dead.

Yet though their numbers were relatively few, the quality was so superior it would not be a contest. Even her Coldguard were a match for her previous foes—and her Immortals, her strongest soldiers, held in stasis for the winter, could slay dozens of her hated foe.

Still, she was slightly rusty. It had been some time since she had been at a true war footing; the skirmishes against the Black Lances were hardly battles, for they were driven before her without much of a challenge.

This promised to be a much harder battle.

The Emperor had declared that Demons had found their home. At first Vajra was confused. Vajra thought she knew Demons, she had fought a war against them—and to her shame, she had been defeated—but compared to the might of the Emperor, the Demons that had destroyed the Great Empire were as strong as the ants upon the ground.

Vajra had then learned that that was true, the ones she had faced were like ants. Handsome and kind Duke Chun Ke had explained to Vajra the different types of Demons, and that the ones that plagued the humans were an altogether different and much more horrifying race of beasts.

They were mighty enough that the Emperor had mobilized his armies and declared he would take to the field himself, and as a loyal subject Vajra had of course heeded the call, despite the weather. She knew well the sacrifices required to operate in the cold. Millions had died when one of her fellow War-Queens had attempted an ill-planned winter offensive, where most of the troops had been lost to the elements before the battle had even begun.

Vajra had been prepared to sacrifice her entire Coldguard and had even made preparations to reawaken the Immortals, sealed away in their overwintering cells. Vajra’s will was the hive’s will, and each of her daughters had been prepared to march to their dooms without hesitation.

The Emperor, however, spared no expense for even the least of his servants. He commanded tiny flames be constructed, to warm her troops, and he opened his larders, gifting his great treasures to the common soldiery so that they may better serve his will.

He had proclaimed they had value. He had proclaimed that if their lives had to be spent, they would not be spent in vain. His words had resonated with the hive and with the other parts of herself… and the scouts had redoubled their efforts.

Truly, the benevolence of the Emperor was without equal, and his strategic mind was the keenest in the land. He instantly grasped the ringed defences and radial search patterns that had taken Vajra years of bitter war to learn—which surely earned her favour. Such was the recognition of her skill that he simply ordered the grassy-smelling one to coordinate with Vajra to improve their communications.

Vajra had to grudgingly admit the other woman was also skilled in the arts of war.

Thus far, Vajra had been left to monitor the furthest scouts. The Emperor had gone to his subjects in Hong Yaowu to aid in directing the religious ceremony surrounding the Longest Night. It was his duty; just as this was Vajra’s. She had sent the scouts out further that day, using stockpiles of Lady Yin’s firestones to further her search and increase the longevity of her troops.

It was an hour before the sun set on this short day. She was monitoring a storm that had sprung up from seemingly nowhere across the north, cloaking the world in mist and driving snow. It blew from the south to the north, but one scout, who had nearly been caught in it, had reported that the cold was much less than it should have been.

Suddenly, there was an alert. Priority, northeastern scout. Vajra’s attention immediately slammed into her soldier, and the dutiful guard surrendered her senses to her.

At first, Vajra was unsure of what she was looking at before there was a sudden blur that shot across the ground.

Then more blurs did, almost too fast for the senses of the soldier to track.

One, however, was slow. A man who touched against the snow with barely a disturbance and then shot into the air again.

Vajra calculated his trajectory.

Then she sounded the alarm.

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To see the Emperor in his full glory was an awe-inspiring and humbling event.

The Lord of Fa Ram kept his power sheathed so his might would not crush his lessers. To feel his strength here and now… to see a portion of the mountain—Vajra could only bow her head.

The Emperor was frowning at her drawn depiction of their enemy. Though Vajra could only see them for brief moments, she had done her best to faithfully render their likeness.

“That style of robe, in that colour…” he said, his voice grim. “Doesn’t it look familiar to you, Xiulan, Tigu?”

“Shrouded Mountain Sect,” the grass-smelling one declared, her voice hard.

“I don’t think our enemies know what happened at the Shrouded Mountain Sect if they’re trying a false-flag attack,” the Emperor mused. His eyes were focused on the interlopers. “Meimei, can you smell anything?”

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The Empress closed her own eyes and took a deep breath.

“A little. One is a lot stronger than the others, but his scent is… strange. Acrid, but… sweet? It’s different than the usual smells. They’re moving quickly.” Her report caused the Emperor’s frown to deepen, before he closed his eyes.

Then, he nodded.

“Let’s roll out the welcome carpet, then. Vajra, start looking in other directions. Make sure nobody is going to try and get around behind us, okay?”

The Emperor’s voice was calm and firm. Vajra bowed her head.

Then he lifted his great shovel and turned to the north.

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All the tension, all the stress leading up to this moment, suddenly seemed to disappear as I headed northeast. All of it faded into the background as my body acknowledged one thing and one thing only.

It was time for action.