by Kivutar » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:08 pm
Calmer now, Dewang can't help but smile at Baozi's praise. Nothing else seems to be needed, and he watches their men moving into place.
Baozi's ability to predict the enemy is uncanny; Dewang is a little awestruck. Everything falls into place, and he sees Wenchang charging, cutting off the enemy's retreat. He feels a little anxious, as he always does when Wenchang fights.
He chides himself as he watches the massive cavalry captain slicing through the rebels. Why should he worry? Wenchang is ferocious as a tiger, brave as a bear. The rebels scatter in front of him. And the other officers too, he realizes. They are winning.
The other sorcerer is panicked, fleeing. Dewang can vaguely sense where he is, feel echoes of his fear.
Suddenly, he is furious. The man is on the other side of all this chaos, and he may even get away. Seeing a column of soldiers entering the turmoil to his left, Dewang shouts for them to follow him.
He doesn't have time to be surprised when they actually respond, nearly a hundred of them. He charges blindly forward towards the magician, and the soldiers enthusiastically cut their way through the Yellow Scarves.
They catch up near the edge of the forest. A paltry few bodyguards cluster around the magician in his yellow robe, and Dewang's soldiers encircle them, spears pointed inwards. The rebels are cornered, and the magician waves his men aside and steps forward to face Dewang. He is a little older, and his fleshy face is impassive.
Dewang storms out to meet him, not noticing how quickly the ring of soldiers moves aside to let him pass. "Do you remember me?" he asks aloud, and behind his voice there is all the wind and sun and mist and struggle of the past few days. He looks the man directly in the eyes, and catches a glimpse of faintly reflected firelight.
To his complete shock, the man drops onto his knees and bows. "Yes, I do. Master."
Dewang stops dead, feeling unaccountably foolish. "Er, good." He pauses for a moment, thinking what to do next. A fight, whether physical or psychic, he would have been ready for, but this...
"Who are you?" he tries.
"Your servant is Xing Shi," answers the sorcerer, which tells Dewang absolutely nothing.
"No, not that name," he says.
"I am also known as Shénqí De Míngzì," says Xing Shi, which is no more helpful. There is a heartbeat's pause, which feels like an eternity to Dewang.
"Very well," he says. "No need for you to kneel there, in the mud. If you come with us quietly, you will not be harmed." He steps back, and lets his soldiers take custody of Xing Shi and his followers, trying to avoid looking anyone in the eye. Some of the soldiers glance at him nervously, others look respectful.
By the time they return to the action, the fight is not quite over but the battle certainly is. When things quiet down, and the victory is complete, he turns his prisoner over to Liu Bei.
He sighs happily. That was unsettling, but it is over. And Wenchang has asked to drink with him tonight.
Last edited by
Kivutar on Sun May 20, 2018 3:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes."
Hosea 3:1