"Receptions are of no moment, Hsu Shen. You needn't have interrupted your sleep."
"But... "
"Never mind. It's time to try our luck with the stone thing. They've reached Lioantung. We don't want them doing what they did at the Tusghus."
Hsu Shen nodded. "We've watched as closely as we dared. There's a great rage in the thing. Its servants betrayed it."
"Uhm. Could we enlist it? No. We don't need that kind of ally. Did you find any weaknesses?"
"Have you eaten, Lord? Can we discuss it over breakfast?"
"Fine. We've been up all night, and had nothing since yesterday noon."
Over the meal, Hsu Shen said, "We observed what happened both before and after the battle on the Tusghus." He explained how the woman in white had removed and returned the godling to its home.
"Very good," Shih-ka'i said. "I appreciate it, Hsu Shen. I'll remember you. How dangerous is it in its current circumstances? Can it stop us?"
"I don't know, Lord. When the woman removed it, it seemed happy. No reason to dispute what was happening. When she returned it, it was unconscious. It awakened furious."
"And now?"
"Angry somnolence? Yes. It's in a dreaming rage. But we're really too far away to tell anything for sure."
"I understand." After a few minutes, Shih-ka'i said, "We'll go over tonight. I'd better rest."
"Tonight, Lord? That's cutting it fine. I'll have to send someone now in order to get a portal placed in time."
"Right. Be careful. Don't alert it. And wake me if it does get excited."
"As you command, Lord."
Shih-ka'i retired to quarters hastily prepared for him. Pan ku and Lord Kuo accompanied him.
Lord Kuo took a chair. "This monster... It's what I sensed back when?" Shih-ka'i nodded. "What're you going to do with it once you've taken it out of the stone thing?"
"I'll consider my options when the time comes."
"Did they notice me? I was too nervous to tell."
"No. Let's get some sleep. I've been too long without."
Hsu Shen himself wakened Shih-ka'i. "Sunset, Lord. I've moved a team to within a mile. Hard on the men. The heat was insufferable."
So are you sometimes, Shih-ka'i thought. "Let's have supper before we go."
"It's ready. I'll have the stewards set it out."
"Give us time for our rituals."
"Of course, Lord." Hsu Shen seemed surprised.
"Yes. I still perform mine. We don't outgrow the need, Hsu Shen."
Pan ku came striding into the apartment as Shih-ka'i completed his rituals. "Where have you been?"
"Prowling, Lord. To see if there was any talk about our friend."
"And?"
"Nothing. And they'd come to me if they had questions about my master."
"Good. Satisfied, Lord Kuo?"
"Eminently."
"Pan ku, we may have to leave in a hurry if this raid sours. Be ready. In any case, you'll be the last man off the island."
"It's a good hiding place," Wen-chin observed.
"One thing, Lord. I'm not a political man. Don't involve me."
"You've done more than I deserved already. I won't put you at risk."
"Thank you. Pan ku, suppertime."
Shih-ka'i went through the transfer first. One by one, Hsu Shen's men followed him into the cooling desert. This promised to become a chilly night's work.
Shih-ka'i prepared protective spells, then seated himself on the crest of a dune. The stone monster loomed before him. The thing within was sleeping. The transfer had not alerted it.
Hsu Shen settled beside him. "We go in between the forepaws. There's a stairway to its back. Up near the shoulder there's a plug that lifts out. I'm not sure what we'll find inside. I couldn't probe that closely."
Shih-ka'i nodded. "I want complete silence when we go in. I don't expect it sees or hears in mortal fashion, but why take risks?" He stared at the dark bulk. "I wish we knew more about it."
The last men arrived. Hsu Shen spread them in a skirmish line. Shih-ka'i wondered why he wanted so much help. Numbers meant nothing tonight.
"Let's go." Butterflies mated in Shih-ka'i's gut as he stalked forward. What am I doing here? I'm an army commander. I'm supposed to have people do these things for me.
Lord Kuo remained close, spells of his own prepared. Pan ku carried his longsword at the ready.
Shih-ka'i laughed at himself. Arrogant, puny mortal, attacking what might be a god. Such gall!
There was no moon yet. The desert was illuminated only by stars. They seemed more numerous here than in the skies of Shinsan. The darkness seemed more intense.
Shih-ka'i moved into the deeper darkness between the thing's forelegs, carefully picking his way through the rubble. He paused, knelt. Water. Here and there, plants clung desperately to life. Curious.
He had trouble finding the stair. Its base was masked by rubble. Seconds fled. His heart hammered faster and faster. The thing had to know he was here. It must be waiting to trap him... Still, he sensed nothing but sleeping anger.
He began the climb. Pan ku and Lord Kuo were right behind him. From behind them, Hsu Shen whispered, "Lord, must these men—"
"Silence!" Shih-ka'i hissed. He listened. The thing had not stirred. "They go." He resumed climbing.
From the beast's back he could just make out the men below. Again he wondered what point there was to their presence. To comfort their commander?
Hsu Shen eased past him, felt the stone of the thing's battered shoulder. He lifted the plug out. Shih-ka'i felt the godling grow restless. He shook an admonitory finger at his companions.
Pan ku and Wen-chin bore lanterns. These they now lighted. Shih-ka'i took one and started down into the stone thing's heart. It stirred again, but did not waken.
There was one chamber down deep inside, perhaps fifteen feet by ten. At one end stood a stone altar. Upon it rested a small black box.
Once that chamber had been richly appointed. All that remained was dust and scraps, a few ceremonial weapons, and the altar itself. Shih-ka'i advanced carefully, stood over the altar, stared at the box. He returned the lantern to Pan ku.
Still no more than a restlessness in the box. Shih-ka'i reached for it. His hands quivered.
Hsu Shen sneezed. And sneezed again.
The thing in the box stirred.
Shih-ka'i lifted gently and turned, glided toward the stair.
Pan ku sneezed, cursed softly. Shih-ka'i grimaced behind his mask. Carefully, carefully, he climbed the steps.
Now Kuo was sneezing. It was catching. Shih-ka'i felt the dust in his own nose. He fought the sneeze... There was nothing he could do. He hurried to the top, spun, shoved his burden into Pan ku's arms. Pan ku had gotten his own nose under control by grinding at it with his free hand. Shih-ka'i doffed his mask till the sneezing passed.
The god in the box seemed to have settled back into sleep. "That was close," Shih-ka'i muttered.
"What now, Lord?" Hsu Shen asked.
"Back to the island. We'll put weights on the box, spells on one of the boats, and sail it out to sea. It'll run into a storm and go down."
Hsu Shen nodded. He took Lord Kuo's lantern, signaled his soldiers. They began withdrawing. Most of them had departed by the time Shih-ka'i reached the transfer point. "I'll go last," he said. "Just in case." The godlet still had not wakened. "Be ready when I arrive. Hsu Shen, you go now. Prepare the boat, and begin sending your men on to Lioantung."
"As you command, Lord."
The minutes rolled away. At last there was no one left but Lord Kuo and Pan ku. "Lord," Shih-ka'i said, "I'll give you a few minutes before I come through. Have a good ambush ready. The transfer may waken it." Wen-chin nodded and departed. "Go, Pan ku."
"Lord... "
"I'll be there in a few minutes."
"As you will, Lord." Pan ku disappeared. Shih-ka'i stared down at the box. What would the godlet do? Surely transfer would waken it. Could they control it long enough to put it into a boat? How powerful was it?