“Here she is.”
Commander Lin Mae, visible now through the gap that the Bear Corps officer had created by stepping aside, rose elegantly from her seated position behind the desk. Like the rest of the Crane Corps soldiers, she was a lithe and athletic young woman, her shimmering blue armour more lightweight than that of her male colleagues in order to better accommodate the seemingly gravity-defying aerial acrobatics that the Crane Corps were renowned for. Her features were delicate, bird-like, beautiful, her hair framing her face like shimmering blue-black raven wings. Her movements, as befitting her stature, were so economical they seemed barely to disturb the air. She gave the runner a single sharp nod.
“Tell General Shao that I am coming.”
The Great Hall was a huge gathering space, simply but beautifully furnished in black, white and gold. The stone floor was dominated by a massive ceremonial table, which could have sat four dozen people with ease, its dark lacquered surface gleaming.
Lin Mae was the last of the Corps commanders to arrive. Commander Wu of the Tiger Corps, Commander Chen of the Eagle Corps and Commander Deng of the Deer Corps were clustered around General Shao in their lavishly vibrant armour and flowing capes, and looked up at her as she walked in. Lin Mae was flanked by her lieutenants Xiao Yu and Li Qing and a number of Crane Corps soldiers, whose job it was to pass on through the ranks any information or instructions conveyed here today. Arrayed behind the commanders were at least fifty other officers and attendants, all of whom were standing in respectful silence, deferring to the central figure of General Shao, the man who had called the impromptu conference.
Shao, Commander of the Bear Corps, and overall leader of the Nameless Order, was, appropriately, a bear of a man. Taller, broader and a couple of decades older than the other Corps Commanders, the bearded giant cut an impressive figure in his black armour. When Lin Mae entered the room, he was leaning forward over the ceremonial table, his gauntleted fists resting on its edge, staring broodingly down at an object that had been placed on its lacquered surface. Lin Mae barely had time to register that the object appeared to be a massive green claw equipped with curved black talons, when her attention was snagged by two figures sitting off to one side, who were so filthy and ragged that they provided a startling contrast to the immaculately attired gathering and the ancient majesty of their surroundings.
Sitting on the cold stone floor, back to back, William stared at the grim faces of the soldiers as they looked down on the green claw on the table in front of them.
Turning his head towards Pero, he muttered, “They know what it is.”
He felt Pero’s long, straggly hair move against his own as he nodded. “And they don’t look happy to see it.”
“All the more reason to get the hell out of here,” said William. He nodded towards a side table against the far wall. “Our weapons are on that table.”
Pero’s voice was full of incredulity as he realized what his friend was proposing. “Are you out of your mind?”
Stubbornly William said, “I can take out the guards on the perimeter with my bow. You cut the legs out from under the officers.”
Pero looked around the room, at the dozens of soldiers in their resplendent armour, at the guards manning the doors. “I must confess, this is not my favorite plan.”
Both men fell silent as the female officer in the blue armour suddenly rounded the table and stalked towards them. Indicating the claw she barked, “Where was this found?”
William and Pero looked at her in astonishment, their eyes widening in realization that she must have understood every word they had said to one another.
“You speak English?” William exclaimed, trying to sound as if he was pleased.
Pero sighed and slumped back against his friend. “Fantastic,” he muttered.
Lin Mae regarded the two men with distaste. Both had straggly beards and matted hair, and faces that were brown with dirt and dust. Even though she was a good ten or fifteen yards from them, she could smell the high, rank stench that came off them in waves.
Nevertheless when one of the men—the less brutal-looking one—grinned as he asked his question, she couldn’t help but find it disarming. All the same, she would not get drawn into conversation, not here with General Shao and everyone else looking at her. Her voice hardened. “Where was this found? Where?”
The grin slipped from the man’s face. He looked abashed. “It wasn’t found. It was taken. This… thing killed two men and three horses before we took it down.”
“Where?” Lin Mae asked again.
The man gestured vaguely. “North. The mountains.”
Lin Mae looked at General Shao, who stared back at her impassively. In Mandarin she said, “He says north in the mountains. They claim to have killed it.”
General Shao’s eyes narrowed. “A scout? That’s earlier than we expected.” He looked to his right and raised his voice. “Strategist Wang?”
Lin Mae followed her leader’s gaze. She hadn’t even noticed that on the far side of the room, a short, round-faced man, dressed in simple, black scholarly robes and a black skullcap, was bent over a side table, carefully examining a disparate scattering of objects, which Lin Mae guessed were the men’s possessions.
Without looking up, Wang said, “I’m listening, General.”
Unbeknownst to everyone else in the room, a shadowy figure was watching proceedings from an upper walkway. With thin, almost ascetic European features, but dressed in an eclectic mix of Eastern and Western garb, the man was crouched behind a pillar, his eagle eyes darting here and there to take in every detail of the scene below, his sharp ears listening to every word.
He perused the two prisoners with interest, noting that despite their ragged clothes and the layers of filth that coated their bodies, they possessed the brute poise of trained soldiers. The one who was doing all the talking seemed to be English like himself, whereas the other appeared to be… what? Spanish? Portuguese? He guessed the men were mercenaries—and good ones too. Neither was especially young, which meant they knew how to survive.
His eyes darted over the men’s possessions, which Wang was currently examining at the side of the room. He saw weapons, of course—knives, swords, daggers, a longbow and nine arrows—and also wax, pitch, a mixture of strange coins and precious stones, flints and tinder…
There was nothing surprising here, nothing out of the ordinary… except for one item—well, two, if you counted the taloned claw on the ceremonial table. In the center of the side table, dominating it in many ways, was a peculiar black stone. As big as a man’s clenched fist and glittering, as though studded with flecks of crystal.
On the floor below the interrogation was still going on. William wondered when and how it would end. He and Pero had not exactly been treated roughly, but neither had they been greeted with open arms. His attempt to establish a rapport with the beautiful woman in the blue armour, the one who spoke English, had not been entirely successful (much to Pero’s amusement, no doubt), but the green claw had caused a great deal of excitement, which meant it might still provide the key to their continued survival, or even their eventual freedom. William was all too aware that he and Pero were currently standing on very uncertain ground. But at least, for the moment, they were still standing.