148 The Landing

 The swimming and paddling had been hard work, but the progress was far better than expected. In one rather long night, they had made it to where Niao had hoped, the other side of the Reach and close to the forge and her old home.

Gesturing to the others, she pointed to a landing site. Hao recognised it immediately and started steering the raft in the direction where the currents were easier.

A smell of wood smoke rose in the air. They were not alone. 

"Friend or foe?" Five signed.

"Beach first, check after." Niao replied.

Pulling in, they quickly broke the raft into its bamboo poles and used them to create sleeping pods. Tucked into the undergrowth, they couldn't be seen from the river.

Niao signed to Hao, "You come with me, if they are Chen, they will recognise you. If not, then we dispatch them quickly, understood?" 

Hao nodded, as did the pack. They continued setting up camp and with potential enemies surrounding them , their actions were completed in total silence.

 

With the stealth of two seasoned hunters, Niao and Hao stalked their prey. Approaching one of the fires, they saw a group of about five or six men. They huddled around a small fire eating what looked like very meager supplies. Emaciated, with uniforms hanging like rags, they were a pitiful sight.

"I don't think these are Mu." Hao said, looking closely at the men and the remnants of the uniforms they wore. "Cover me," and with that he stepped forward sword raised.

It took the men a few moments to see him but when they did, they baulked at his appearance reaching for their armaments. In a firm but calm voice, Hao spoke, "I really wouldn't if I were you. Raise a sword at me brings immediate death. You are?" He looked around, raising himself to the full title of his rank, "Show me!" The command was clear and the men responded. Quickly, they adjusted their positions to kneeling and with heads bowed, they remained silent and defeated.

"We are from the Seventh Infantry, Chen, Sir. We offer our submission. We are but wretches awaiting annihilation and can run no more." With that they collapsed forward into a full kowtow and remain static. All thought the sword would bring an end to their suffering. They were tired, exhausted, hungry and without the energy or will to fight.

"Get up and face your Colonel in Chief. There will be no more talk of capitulation, we are here to win this war." The men failed to move,  so Hao quietly barked again, "I command you to stand and face your Colonel."

Carefully, the men stood but looked past Hao. They saw a woman, dressed in skins, with fur boots on her feet and a pair of curved knives in her hands ready to kill. 

They recognised her. 

She was that legend. 

She was that killing machine who took out the enemy without a backward glance. This man needed no-one else to support him, she was an army in her own right. Raising their arms, they gave her the hands gesture of allegiance and then turned to Hao, "Sir, we are but wretched, hungry and broken, but if we can offer ourselves to you, then we give our lives willingly."

Niao stepped forward, "are there others? Are there more Chen men in this area, I saw at least four fires but sense there are more groups hidden?"

"Ma'm there are. We split up so as to make it easier for us but harder for them. We are the remnants of the Seventh Infantry. When the Mu army attacked the barracks, we were out patrolling. We didn't go back, we knew there was a blood bath, so Ma'm, we ran and hid." The soldier hung his head in shame, but he wanted to keep his men alive. "We have had a miserable time, Ma'm. We tried but every time we made headway, they beat us back. I lost half the men before I decided it was safer to retreat and wait it out. I knew the bulk of the army would be back eventually." There was a long pause then, "that's it Ma'm. We failed in our duties to protect Chen land and now," he hung his head lower and shaking it, "I feel ashamed."

Niao reached out and gently touched his arm. "It's been bitter wherever we've gone and we have lost many brave men. Now is the time to fight back, but first, we need to round up the remainder of your group. This is General Hao." They looked at him in surprise. Seeing such a powerful man dressed in skins and leather boots was a revelation.

"Sir," they nodded as they softly spoke. "There are five of us here. If we each go out, we can start the reassembling of the unit. Are you willing to wait here?" Niao nodded and crouching down, picked through their belongings.

"Not much here, no wonder they had reach the point of preferring death."

Hao nodded. It reminded him of his feelings up at the front when he'd send troops out to be slaughtered and not be able to do a thing about it. Instinctively, he reached out to Niao and pulled her close, "I'm so glad you came through all of this. If I lost you, I would be like them, no will to go on."

Niao smiled, "imagine how your brother must feel then. He has carried the full weight of the army and yet, underneath it all he is a man who's wife is possibly dead, who's children could be tortured and these thoughts will haunt him every time he closes his eye to sleep. All he can do is his best, and pray she still lives, so he can hold her once more and live a quiet life with her and their children." She looked into his eyes. The young, innocent boy had died years ago, now there stood a man who had seen far too much pain and suffering and carried the weight of these deaths on his shoulders. His arms were scarred, his face slashed and countless cuts lacerated his torso, but to her, he was still that gentle soul. 'One day I'll find it, and when I do, let's hope we too can live a quiet and gentle life.'

Shaking her head, she patted him on the back, "Okay, let's get ready to receive these men. Once we have them assembled we need to get them back to a camp near ours so we can feed them and keep an eye on them. They're not capable of anything right now. We need fit, fighting men, not a rag tag of hollow shells." She paused, "I'm going to take off and hunt. I know where the stags congregate and we are going to need plenty of meat. If we cook close to the water, the smell will carry on it and be harder to pinpoint. I don't want smoke rising, too risky. Get this lot down to the pack they will know what to do."

Hao nodded and within the blink of an eye she vanished back into her wilderness.