Syà kept moving. She turned the shield sideways and used it to mow down the first row of archers, entangling them with the second row. The scimitar-wielding soldiers slashed into her two at a time, but both her hands were free now and she countered their strikes with minimal movement from her saber. From where Zhu hid behind the statue, she didn’t appear to be blocking anything at all. Her saber moved along their curved scimitars, deflecting their attacks so slightly it was almost unnoticeable. The soldiers put such force into their slashes that their momentum carried them forward. Past Syà and her saber. She ran it smoothly across their necks.
Zhu eyed the other end of the hall and considered making a run for it. Then an arrow bounced off the statue. He reconsidered. Perhaps it was best to stay behind the statue where he wouldn’t die.
From his hiding spot, he watched the archers retreat, their hands reaching for fresh arrows from their quivers. Syà never stopped moving. Zhu had not seen a royal guard fight like she did. Where was she from?
Arrows missed Syà as she zigzagged, some striking the backs of other Mongol soldiers as Syà sent unsteady soldiers stumbling and bleeding into their path. As accurate as the archers were, they seemed unable to anticipate her movement. Zhu watched as the archers killed more of their own soldiers.
Syà moved between them, her black boots smearing their blood across the tiled floor. She skewered two archers before they could draw their curved daggers. Syà kept close to them, moving around and behind them. She used their lightly armored bodies for shields as she weaved her saber across necks and limbs, bleeding them with a precision that shook Zhu’s already trembling body.
When Syà was finished and they were bleeding to their deaths, she plucked a bow and quiver, then moved hurriedly back to Zhu.
‘How …?’ he breathed.
Syà grasped a ball-shaped object, another one of those gunpowder bombs. She crushed it in her hand and threw it over the crumpled soldiers. It bounced near the hole in the wall just as another wave stepped through, then it flashed and crackled down the hall, blinding fresh soldiers and choking them with smoke.
Zhu flinched. ‘What is that?’
‘Blinding powder bomb,’ she said.
‘I hope you have more of those,’ he said. ‘A lot more.’
He clenched his fists to force himself to stop shaking. He needed to be in control if he was going to get out of here. Syà slung the quiver over his head and shoulder, then shoved the bow into his hands.
‘Have you ever used a bow?’
‘I had instruction once.’ He adjusted the strap.
‘How much?’
‘An hour, perhaps two.’
Syà glanced over his shoulder, her eyes on the blinded soldiers.
‘And … now we’re moving,’ she said.
This time, he didn’t protest. He ran as fast as he could manage with the satchel across one hip and the bow in one hand. He was able to keep pace with the woman of unknown origin as she negotiated the hallway to the kitchen and outside the palace.
She seemed to be leading him into the rear of the palace and the Imperial Garden. It was normally peaceful under the moonlight, but tonight was an exception. The garden was occupied with Mongol soldiers wielding lances, axes and scimitars as they charged from the Meridian Gate in heavy rows and punched through the light perimeter of Imperial soldiers. High above, the night sky burned bright with a legion of meteors.
‘The heavens burn,’ he whispered.
‘Not tonight.’ She pulled him forward. ‘Stay close. We’re going for that building on the other side.’
Zhu spotted the building’s multi-tiered roof across the garden. He held his bow tighter as Syà circled a group of Mongol and Imperial soldiers. Around him was the ringing of metal, the roar of fire, meteor fragments crashing in the distance and people screaming.
He checked his sides and realized Syà was already well ahead of him. He started into a run, only to see a heavily armored Mongol soldier launch himself over a hedge and land before him. He rolled an axe between both hands and closed on Zhu. Blood darkened the soldier’s wrinkled face.
Zhu drew his bow, but he wasn’t quick enough.
The axe came in low, glinting under a scolding meteor.
Syà stepped behind the soldier. Her saber raked his legs then sliced through his neck, the tip of the saber pointed through at Zhu. She withdrew it and the soldier toppled, disappearing into the hedge.
‘Run!’ she yelled. ‘The building!’
Zhu’s hands shook. He used the energy to push off both heels and run. He ran past Syà. Past the Mongol soldiers. He wasn’t going to fall behind again.
His labored breathing drowned out the sounds of the burning sky and garden. The building was close. He knew there was a tunnel that led from the inner city to the outer city and through the outer walls. But it had been sealed months ago. He was following a suspicious royal guard through a battlefield to a tunnel he wasn’t even sure they could pass through.
He reached the building with ragged breath and sprinted through the courtyard. Finally in the shadows, he pressed his body hard against the front wall. He scanned the courtyard and saw no sign of Syà. He’d run so fast through the garden that he’d lost her completely. What if she hadn’t made it? His stomach folded at the thought. He needed her help to escape.
He rubbed his eyes and scanned the chaos in the garden for Syà. The Mongol soldiers surged through every entrance to the capital city. The rear of the city seemed to be their favored point of assault, catching those who attempted escape. So much for the surrender, he thought.
He saw Syà. The blade of her saber glimmered between the blood of Mongol soldiers. Her movements were economical. The way she wielded her saber was light and precise. She ran nimbly towards him.
Arrows scythed across the garden. Zhu watched as one arrow caught her arm and then a moment later another struck her leg. She made it to the courtyard and stumbled. He dropped his bow and ran to help her. He pulled her bleeding body back into his hiding place, swathed in the shadows.
‘I’ll get you inside,’ he gasped.
She found Zhu’s bow on the ground beside her.
‘Arrow,’ she whispered. ‘Now.’
He didn’t argue. He took an arrow from his quiver and handed it to her. She drew it with a trembling arm. She screamed silently and the arrow fell from her hand. She turned to him, grasped his collar with her uninjured hand and pulled him close.
‘The archer,’ she said. ‘You need to kill him, or we’re both dead.’
‘Do you have another one of those blinding powder bombs?’
She shook her head. ‘I used them all.’
Blood ran from the arrows embedded in her arm and leg. Teeth clenched, she grasped the arrow with her working hand.
He swallowed, took her bow and searched the darkness. He’d never aimed an arrow at someone before, especially not a moving someone.
There was a shift in the shadows ahead. The archer was stalking them through the trees, trying to find their hiding spot. Zhu saw light reflect off the horned edge of the man’s bow.
The archer slipped into the courtyard and into the shadows with them. Soon the archer’s eyes would adjust to the darkness and he would find Zhu crouched there with Syà lying by his side. Zhu carefully took another arrow from his quiver and drew his bow. The arrow had an unusually large arrowhead that rolled over his knuckle. He adjusted it and drew again.