Gouts of molten rock had blown out of the stone thing's haunch. "Dead on," he crowed. "Dead on. Now we wait."
They did not wait long.
"Is that someone standing on its head?" Shih-ka'i asked. He squinted, could not be sure. His eyes weren't what they had been.
"Looks like two of them, Lord."
"Curious. Can you tell what they're doing?"
"No, Lord."
A great angry bellow shook the desert. It filled the universe and rattled Shih-ka'i's teeth in his jaws. Dust devils raced across the barrens, circling in panic. Shih-ka'i pictured this as the flight of frightened ghosts. He smiled at his own imagination. "Prepare to defend yourselves," he ordered.
Something had changed. The feel of the situation was different. One of the Tervola said, "Something is happening around the thing's forelegs, Lord."
Shih-ka'i squinted again. "Tell Hsu Shen to get back here now!" he snapped.
Soldiers were pouring into the desert! Out of nowhere. Horsemen. Infantry. Battalion after battalion...
"Form line of battle, gentlemen. Meng Chiao. Prepare portals for an emergency withdrawal. Gentlemen, I'm returning to the fortress. I'll make my arrangements there and come right back."
He descended the rear of the dune, slipping and sliding in his haste. Pan ku was a step behind him. He hoped the others did not think he was fleeing. They might lose heart.
If there was a flaw in Shinsan's military structure, it was the failure of the Tervola to meet the high personal standards they set for their men. They themselves sometimes yielded to emotion on the battlefield.
Tasi-feng was surprised to see him back so soon. "Lord Ssu-ma. Did something go wrong?"
"Not at this end. I may have made a poor decision up there. We've awakened something very old and very nasty. Nine shafts left? I want the first six at thirty-second intervals. Portals are to be arranged to allow the forward group to be evacuated in a hurry if necessary. Inform all legion commanders that Seventeenth is combat operational. They're to be ready to march on short notice. Contact Northern Army. Tell them I may invoke my right to demand reinforcements."
"Lord, we're concentrating too many portals in too small an area."
"I'm aware of the risks, Lord Lun-yu. I'm also certain we've grabbed a monster by the tail. It might not let us turn loose." Shih-ka'i turned to the Candidates manning the ballistae. "Thirty-second intervals. Loose the first shaft."
He watched silver flicker up and into the east, then strode through the portal.
The situation had worsened in his absence. A sea of warriors surrounded the stone thing. A soldier-river swept toward the dune. Hsu Shen's men were kicking up clouds of dust in their race to rejoin their comrades.
Flying things swarmed over the lonely mountain like clouds of gnats. "What are they?" Shih-ka'i asked.
"Dragons with riders, Lord Ssu-ma. Small dragons, probably specially bred. It's impossible to be sure from here, but the riders seem to be nonhuman. Ou-yan is trying to get a better look, but something keeps interfering."
Shih-ka'i moved to where a Tervola sat cross-legged before a wide silver bowl pushed deep into the sand. The man kept chanting the same cantrips over and over. Cloudy pictures would form in the water m the bowl. Then something would interfere and they would fade away.
"Shaft coming, Lord," Pan ku said.
Shih-ka'i turned, caught it, drew a line connected with the flood chasing Hsu Shen. He brought it down perfectly. Whole platoons vaporized. Companies were decimated by splashes of molten stone.
"Shaft, Lord."
Shih-ka'i flung that and the next into the rapidly expanding horde around the stone thing. Huge, steaming holes appeared amidst the darkness of them.
That desert-shaking roar came again.
"I think somebody's mad, Lord," said Pan ku. Shih-ka'i glanced at his batman. Pan ku wore a straight face.
"I think so, yes."
"The flyers, Lord."
The gnat-swarms hurtled toward the dune. "Stand by!" Shih-ka'i ordered. "They could be dangerous."
"Shaft, Lord."
Shih-ka'i drew a line between the shaft and a flyer bobbing in the heart of the swarm. When the flash faded, he saw several objects falling in flames. Two split up as riders separated from their mounts.
The others came on. They bobbed too much for accurate counting, though Shih-ka'i decided there were at least fifty. More were gathering above the stone thing.
He put another shaft in. It was more effective. At least six flyers went down. The last shaft took out another four.
Their weaving and bobbing ceased. They peeled off in twos and threes to streak toward the dune. "Spell of concealment," Shih-ka'i called. "Spell of visual dislocation."
A blackness covered the dune. No one appeared to be where he had stood a moment earlier. The first flyers streaked over so low their passage stirred the dust. The riders struck with shafts of light.
"Casualties?" Shih-ka'i demanded.
"None, Lord."
"If anyone should be injured, send him through the portal immediately. We don't leave anyone they can use against us. Same with any of their people we capture. Through the portal. Does anyone own access to an aerial demon? Meng Chiao? What are you waiting for? Get it up there."
Bolts of power pounded the dune. The Tervola turned most of them aside. They flung back whatever sorceries they commanded. Few had any effect.
"Hsu Shen won't make it, Lord."
Shih-ka'i could see that. He was considering the problem already. He had three shafts left at the fortress. He wanted to use them against the thing of stone. Should he sacrifice Hsu Shen? No. "Pan ku. Come with me. I'll return shortly, gentlemen."
He did not return as quickly as he anticipated. He paused to give the big map a look and to leave Tasi-feng with fresh instructions.
"We've lost control out there," he said. "They've got too much and we've got too little. We'll stall them as long as we can. Here." He indicated a position on the map. "The most likely place for them to come westward. Move a brigade out now. Have them march light. The heat out there is murderous. We'll use portals as much as we can."
"Lord, we don't have enough of them."
"Take them away from the other patrols. Tell them to march to that pass and start digging in. Orders to all legions. Start marching here immediately. Begin reinforcing with their ready units now. Take whatever initiatives you deem necessary. As soon as you man this place with their people, send out the other brigade. I've got to get back. Hsu Shen is in trouble. I want those last three shafts at one-minute intervals."
"As you command, Lord."
Shih-ka'i trotted out to the transfer portal. "Pan ku," he panted, "I don't think I'm young enough anymore."
"If I might be so bold, Lord. Why don't you stay at the heart of the web and let your officers do the running?"
"You make perfect sense. I don't know why. I just want to be on the scene. Maybe because I've never been there before."
They passed through the portal and climbed the dune.
Hsu Shen was in big trouble. He was close now, but horsemen were about to split around him and cut him off. Shih-ka'i checked the sky. The dragon riders were engaged in complex aerobatics, trying to vanquish Meng Chiao's demon. The demon had left his mark. Their numbers had been reduced.
"They're very clumsily controlled, Lord," the demon's master observed.
"They're like the men we met in the mountains?"
"Dead? Yes, Lord. However, the riders aren't human. We obtained a specimen and sent it through for examination."
"Good. Good. Casualties?"
"Only two men so far, Lord."
"Excellent."
"Shaft, Lord," Pan ku said.
"Thank you." Shih-ka'i took another look at Hsu Shen's situation. He would have to spend at least one shaft to salvage the advance party. He caught the weapon, imagined the line. The missile came down. It shattered the pursuing riders.