The exploratory parties had advanced seventy miles into the desert. They were past the last known positions of the lost parties. Of those the only evidence so far found was a single cracked piece of lacquer off the elbow joint of a soldier's armor.
"That's suggestive," Shih-ka'i said. "They wouldn't travel in armor. Too hot out there. Search the area more carefully."
The search turned up nothing. This party had vanished six months ago. Nature had obliterated all trace of their passing.
Two days later one party reported having reached the crest of a mountain. The range dropped away beyond. Shih-ka'i donned his battle gear and transferred there himself.
The slope fell away in a long grey slide. In the distance the grey became rust. For as far as he could see nothing stirred. Nothing lived. The sheer magnitude of the desolation overpowered him.
Another party crested the range a few miles to the south. Its Tervola sent a signal. Shih-ka'i responded. He told the commander of the party he was with, "Remain here. Watch them as they descend." He returned to the legion's headquarters.
The fortress was in turmoil. Tasi-feng explained, "Yan-chu is under attack. He requested reinforcements. I sent him a century."
"Take prisoners. Return them immediately. Bring another century to the ready."
Fifteen minutes later two prisoners came through the transfer portal. They were short men in strange armor. They were dead.
"I want them alive," Shih-ka'i said.
Tasi-feng conferred with the Tervola on the scene. "Lord Ssu-ma, Yan-chu says they were alive when they transferred. They had to be driven into the portal."
"Tell him to send more."
Two more pairs came through. They were as dead as the first. Of the last pair one was a tall, dark man whose armor did not resemble that of the others.
"Have them examined," Shih-ka'i said. He strode back to the map room. Another party had reported itself under attack. He wanted to confirm his memory of their positions. "Uhm," he murmured. "Come, whoever you are. Hit me one more time."
He got his wish within the hour. Two minutes later he had strings attached to the points where each attack was taking place, stretching toward the top of the map. Soldiers were shading areas where the three would cross. The launching of additional attacks allowed Shih-ka'i to begin reducing the size of the shaded area.
"Keep it up," he murmured. "I'll have you pinpointed." He glanced at the log of the times the attacks had been reported. Might the attackers have departed the same point at the same time? Their dispersion and lack of coordination suggested that might be the case. "Lord Lun-yu. Let Yang-chu's position be a point on a circle. Let the other attacked positions be points outside that circle. See if you can describe the circle using the lag in the times of attack."
Lord Lun-yu looked puzzled for a moment, caught on, went to work. He received data from two more assaults. He developed a crude, skewed arc. "It doesn't look right, Lord."
"Guess me a maximum and minimum radius. The terrain they crossed should account for the irregularities." He peered at the map. Neither of his methods was working well. The first, in fact, now looked a little foolish. He had, in effect, collected a lot of lone legs of triangles. He did not know any lengths or angles.
The scope of search did seem to be narrowing. He accepted a casualty report from a messenger. "Hmm?"
"Lord?" Tasi-feng inquired.
"These people are reasonably good fighters." Another runner reported that the force attacking Yang-chu had withdrawn. Soon similar reports arrived from the bther attacked parties. Shih-ka'i observed, "Their communications are fair."
Tasi-feng asked, "Shall we pursue, Lord?"
Shih-ka'i glanced at the map. "Slowly." He indicated two parties which had not been attacked. "Move these people to pincer the group dropping off here. We'll take more prisoners. Tell Yang-chu to hold his position. I want to see what he's got."
Yang-chu's group had received the most attention. The slope below his perimeter was littered with bodies. "They took some of their fallen with them," the Tervola told Shih-ka'i. "As many as they could carry."
Shih-ka'i looked across the desert. Among the dust devils he could see a cloud raised by the retreating enemy. "Any wizardry used?"
"Neither by us nor them, Lord."
"Good." He watched the dust. Where could they have come from? How could people exist in this? He glanced at the bodies, quickly averted his gaze. He was not accustomed to seeing the aftermath of battles.
The corpses were of men who had been well-fed, well-clad, and well-armed. "Yang-chu." He indicated the dead. "Collect them. Strip them. Keep each man's things separate. Send the bundles through to the fortress." He summoned his will, looked into a few lifeless faces. They told him very little. All dead men had the same message for the living. It was a message Lord Ssu-ma did not want to hear. They were a curious breed. Both kinds. Shih-ka'i had never seen their like before. But how were they so different? He shrugged. The legion's surgeons would dissect them and let him know.
He took a last look at the dust cloud. It was moving straight out the line he had drawn on the map. He returned to the fortress.
Tasi-feng greeted him with, "Lord, Hsu Shen says there were soldiers of the empire in the band that attacked him.
"Ours?"
"They wore our armor. Their badges were of the Seventeenth."
"Your missing men?"
"Perhaps. I told him to keep it quiet till we can explain it."
"Good. Shift those two intercept groups around. Tell them to double-time and get into position to stop the party. Tell Hsu Shen to go after them and resume contact. I'll want a portal open out there when our people are in position. I want to see this myself."
"As you will, Lord."
Shih-ka'i observed while the legion's Candidates went through the clothing and effects recovered from the enemy dead. Each man had borne much what a soldier could be expected to carry: the tools of his trade and a few personal items that set him off from a thousand more just like him. The things gave no clues. Shih-ka'i examined the lettering on an old coin. He had not seen its like before. "What would you say this head portrays?" he asked one of the Candidates.
"Some sort of fabulous monster, Lord?"
"Perhaps." When he looked directly at it, Shih-ka'i felt an increase in his awareness of the existence of something in the east.
Tasi-feng appeared. "Lord, there seems to have been a continuous, low-grade emanation of the Power since some time before the first attack. The source appears to be near the heart of your circle."
"So." Shih-ka'i reflected momentarily. "Let's take no chances. Establish portals connecting us with the other legions. One cohort each to be ready for immediate transfer here."
"Lord, we're already straining ourselves with the portals we... As you will, Lord."
"Yes. The remainder of each legion is to be placed on first alert. Begin assembling a package that can be sent to Lord Kuo instantly should anything dire happen."
"Lord? You think there's that much danger?"
"No. But I don't believe in leaving anything to chance. Keep the package at a portal. Update it continuously."
"As you will, Lord."
"Also, I want a battery of ballistae readied for long-range work. Let the Candidates handle it. Start now. It'll take them several hours to prepare all the spells."
"Accuracy or destruction, Lord?"
"Destruction."
Shih-ka'i went to the room where the legion's surgeons were at work. One paused to say, "There's something strange here, Lord. We can't be sure, what with the desert heat and so on, but these men look like they've been dead for a long time."
"Oh?"
"Look. Ostensibly, the bodies are less than an hour old. Some of the organs should still show signs of life."