"Message from Lord Shih-mihn, Lord. They've launched human wave assaults. They've broken through in three places. He thinks they want to force a melee."
"There's your main thrust, Lord Chang. North camp. Melee. We can't permit that."
The price would be defeat. Should the enemy break Shih-ka'i's formations and force his men to fight individually, few would have time to salvage legion dead or destroy enemy fallen. Those would keep coming back into the fray. They would grow more numerous, rather than fewer.
"Lord Chang?"
"Doesn't sound good, Lord. But I suggest we wait before we jump. The men won't fold."
Sheng was right. The defense stiffened under pressure, Shih-ka'i mounted an observation tower to study the north camp.
Huge, stinking fires burned there. His soldiers flung ever more bodies upon them.
The dragons continued to drop warriors into the fortress. The garrison was dealing with them now. Many flyers never left. Their riders were cut down as their feet touched the ground.
Shih-ka'i was pleased.
"Lord." Pan ku pointed. Squinting, Shih-ka'i found the two dragons circling high overhead.
"The white one is their sorceress. Lord Lun-yu says the other commands the dead."
The woman suddenly glowed a brilliant blue. A blue egg formed between her outstretched hands. It tumbled toward the earth. It was a yard thick when it ploughed into the roof of a barracks.
That roof caught fire, though it was made of clay tile.
More eggs fell. Soon there were a dozen witchfires burning. How long would their witchery keep them going?
That didn't matter. The woman could drop more.
She threw a score into the northern camp, where they did more damage.
His Tervola had to stop her. He rushed to the map room... The place was a shambles. Fighting continued in one corner, where a pair of skullfaces exchanged minor sorceries with Tasi-feng's underlings.
"What happened?" Shih-ka'i demanded. "Never mind. I can see. Get some men in to clean up before these bodies reanimate."
Tasi-feng said, "Lord, some of our dead weren't properly disposed. They're roaming the fortress. The men can't tell friend from foe."
"You can, can't you?"
"Yes, Lord."
"We all can." Shih-ka'i clipped a quick series of orders. "Let's get out there. We're useless here now, anyway. Give the witch all the attention you can. Throw up a shaft barrage. That southern attack looks like a feint."
Two hours passed. They left Shih-ka'i perplexed. The witch had been driven from the sky, yet the situation had worsened. A stream of blue balls sailed out of the desert, into the north camp. The camp's defenses had been breached in a dozen places. The dreaded melee threatened.
At least the flyers and skullfaces had been beaten away from the fortress.
Shih-ka'i assembled his officers. "We're going to lose the north camp," he told them. "They're reanimating too many of their men, and we haven't provided an adequate defense against the woman's witchery. Let's review their dispositions."
Shih-ka'i was convinced the enemy was concentrating on the one camp, betting the defense would collapse suddenly, giving him an opportunity to recoup his losses. He would then aim the tireless dead at the south camp, then the fortress.
"We'll give them a surprise," Shih-ka'i said. "Tell Lord Shih-mihn he has to hold till dawn."
In the bloody, smoky dawn troops from the south camp cut through the screen surrounding them and attacked the enemy army. The Tervola harried the witch from one hiding place to another. The dead fought stubbornly. Not till noon was the north camp finally relieved. Shih-ka'i immediately ordered the troops outside to withdraw to the Tusghus River.
"We surprised them this time," he said. "We won't again." Then, "The fortress can stand alone." He surveyed the cables and nets being rigged over areas where flyers might land.
"Suppose they pursue, Lord?" Tasi-feng asked.
"I wish they would. I'd bring up Northern Army and play hammer and anvil."
The Deliverer disappointed Shih-ka'i. For three days he attacked the fortress, scoring only local successes. Stubborn Shih-ka'i always overcame. Undying pyres burned in the drillyards, day and night.
That third day Lord Shih-mihn sent a message saying he was embattled with a horde of natives. Young, old, women, children, armed and unarmed, dead and living. They had swarmed out of the forests screaming, "Deliverer!" The legionnaires were destroying large numbers, but could not continue their withdrawal while the battle lasted.
Shih-ka'i stared out at the ragged thousands surrounding the fortress. "This Deliverer can't be everywhere at once." The enemy stood frozen, in ranks of motionless, slowly corrupting flesh. Something had been lost in the transfer of power. The Deliverer's host was rotting slowly. The stench of corruption had joined that of burning flesh. Before long the Deliverer would need a whole new army. He could not make skeletons walk. "Lord Lun-yu. Take a brigade and sortie. They won't put up much of a fight."
Tasi-feng destroyed thousands of listless besiegers before the air suddenly became angry and the rest returned to life. He withdrew. Shih-mihn reported that the horde attacking him had collapsed.
"Gentlemen," Shih-ka'i said to his Tervola, "if this Deliverer makes one more mistake, we'll destroy him."
No one asked what he meant. He told them without being asked. "One, he could expose himself to injury. Two, he could let us get his witch. Three, he could get too eager and stop recruiting savages. Or let us stop him from recruiting."
Still no response.
"Anyone want to be a hero?"
There was another message from Shih-mihn. His attackers had fled into the forest. He was moving toward the Tusghus again.
"Shall I sortie again, Lord?" Tasi-feng asked.
"No. He'll bring those poor creatures here now, to finish us. We taught him a lesson today. Now he knows he can't bypass us."
The assault began during the night, spearheaded by children and women. It never let up. More natives came out of the wilderness, some having walked a thousand miles. Shih-ka'i cursed them for not having had the sense to stay under the empire's protection. And congratulated himself for having had the foresight to get the majority moved.
Shih-ka'i destroyed them by the tens of thousands, and still they came. And the transfers kept sending casualties to Liaontung. Sections of fortress fell. The courts and cellars and barracks filled with dismembered corpses awaiting destruction. The stench was as wearing as the interminable attack.
"Lord Lun-yu, what kind of monster is this Deliverer? What mad creature depopulates half a million square miles to take one fortress? Is he some demon who's slipped his master's leash?"
"He's just a boy, Lord. Seventeen or eighteen. Normal in most respects. With a big grudge against the empire."
"A grudge!"
"Live prisoners say he's vowed to destroy us."
"You think he will?"
"No, Lord."
"He's made an impressive start, hasn't he? How long can we hold out?"
"Two days, surely. He's short of draftees."
"I'll leave it with you. Keep buying time. We bought enough for Northern Army. Now I'm afraid we're buying it for Lioantung."
Tasi-feng sighed and stared at the floor. "As you command, Lord. Lord... maybe you can contact Lord Kuo now."
"Lord Kuo? I thought he was being retired."
Tasi-feng shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he has been. We haven't been in touch."
Shih-ka'i made a last inspection of the fortress. It was in abominable shape. The witch still lobbed in the occasional blue egg. He suspected Tasi-feng was too optimistic, claiming they could hold two more days.
He and Pan ku went down to the deep cellar where the portals were massed. As always, casualties were passing through. "At least they'll get out," he observed. "This is the last place the Deliverer will reach. The men won't have to make a pointless last stand."