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Episode
I The Corsair
Melissa remained impassive as the sharp edge
of the razor cut into her. It
hurt a great deal, but she had learned to endure all manner of pain in the
three years she had been under the guidance of Chang
Jao. The application of a tattoo,
even one as large as that which had been cut into her torso over the last
few weeks, was but a minor pain compared to some of the other things that
had been done to her. A few feet
away other members of the Dragon Warriors watched
her. She was naked, but few of
them noticed her still obvious female charms, instead their minds were fixed
on the final stage in her initiation into the Society of the Dragon
Warriors.
The tattoo artist made the final
cut. After rubbing in the red
dye, he swabbed her skin with a damp cloth, sweeping away the
blood. Melissa got to her feet
and bowed to the artist. He returned
the bow more deeply, and then retired.
Now came the final part of the
ceremony. Melissa turned to the
assembled members of the Dragon Warriors.
She did not bow. It was
not yet proper that she do so. A
figure strode toward her. It
was Chang Jao, a man Melissa had truly come to
respect. He handed her a black
costume, identical to the one he wore.
In front of the watching members of the society, Melissa donned the
garment. As she finished the
last tie, Chang Jao handed her the black belt that signified her entry into
the society. Then for the first
time since she had known him he bowed to her
first. It was not a deep bow,
but it signaled that he recognized her as a Dragon
Warrior. As she returned the
bow and then turned to bow to the other assembled warriors, Melissa felt
a deep sense of pride. The Dragon
Warriors were the elite of the Shang
armies. Many of the men and women
facing her had trained their entire
lives. Somehow, she had managed
to acquire the skill and toughness necessary to join their ranks in only
three years. It was an advance
unprecedented in the history of the
society. But there was one more
part to the ceremony.
Chang Jao handed her the long black scarf worn by other members of the
society. Carefully, Melissa wrapped
it over her face. From now on
her features would be concealed as was her
past. She was no longer Melissa
Noble. She was
Sha
zhu, the Red Dragon.
Vayasha moved stealthily through the
forest. The enemy was so close
now she could almost smell them.
She was in her element, sliding silently from tree to tree and bush
to bush, taking advantage of every bit of
cover. She would have to be very
very careful. She had never seen
so many Shang. They were all
around her, moving clumsily through the woodlands on every
side.
She knew that as long as she kept to the brush,
she was almost invisible to the enemy.
The Shang would have to stumble directly into her in order discover
that she was there. Her clothing
helped her blend into the forest.
She wore a leaf-green cloak that hung down to her knees and knee high
brown boots. On her head she
wore a small green cap decorated with three eagle feathers: white, symbolizing
purity of mind and body; gold, attesting to her skill with the bow; and gray
proclaiming her talents as a forester.
Beneath her cloak she wore the white blouse
and trousers of an unmarried woman.
Over her blouse she wore a light blue vest trimmed with
white. The outfit was cinched
at the waist by a wide brown leather belt from which hung several pouches,
and a long bladed hunting knife. In
her right hand she carried a bow almost as tall as she
was. A quiver of goose feathered
arrows was slung over her shoulder.
She was tall and of slender build, with slim
hips and small, firm breasts. A
head of white-gold hair cascaded down her shoulders framing an oval face
set with brilliant blue eyes a straight nose, a wide, sensuous mouth, and
a strong chin. When she moved
it was with fluid deer-like grace.
She held her breath as a heavily armored Shang
warrior passed within a bow length of
her. It was time to leave and
report what she had found. She
waited until the Shang had moved off a safe distance and then shifted her
position. Swiftly, she moved
deeper into the trees to a hidden trail the Shang had overlooked and then
ran to where she had tethered her horse.
Her horse, a gray mare, waited obediently,
but stamped nervously as she approached.
She sent out a calming signal.
I am here, she sent.
Be calm.
The horse whinnied in
greeting. Shush,
she cautioned, youll give us
away. The mare quieted
and she mounted, vaulting lightly into the
saddle.
She did not urge the horse into a
gallop. She was still too close
to the advancing Shang. It was
important that they did not know they had been discovered, and so she kept
the mare to a walk for the first ten minutes, before pushing it to a
canter.
She wondered at the number of Shang she had
seen. She had not been involved
in previous battles with the warriors of the Shang Empire, but she knew that
most expeditions against her people had consisted of only a few hundred
men. She had counted thousands
of warriors. It was imperative
that she give her people adequate
warning. She urged her horse
into a gallop.
The Red Dragon circled the Silvani
village. Close behind her were
four more of her comrades. It
was a small enough force to take on adversaries as clever as the Silvani
but she counted on the large force of Shang warriors a few miles away to
hold the attention of the Silvani and enable her and her companions to carry
out their mission. And in any
case, moving a larger force past a people who were masters of the forest
would probably be impossible. Five
would have to do.
The Red Dragon held up her hand signaling
a halt. She and her companions
were just below the forest wall that protected the village and a few feet
from the gate. Climbing the wall
was out of the question. The
Silvani maintained some sort of mystic relationship with the forest, that
gave them command over plants and
animals. Instead of a normal
stockade as would be expected, the village wall was a tangle of thorn-covered
tree trunks and branches. It
presented an impassable obstacle forcing any intruder to enter by way of
the main gate. If any defenders
remained inside, the narrow entrance could be a
deathtrap.
Cautiously, she signaled an
advance. She would enter first
and then signal her companions to follow.
With liquid grace she moved through the entrance and into the
village. Her senses tingled with
anticipation. Surely the village
would not have been completely abandoned.
And then a very slight movement caught her
eye. With a speed far beyond
normal she whirled in the direction of the
motion.
Vayasha breathed a sigh of relief as the last
of the children and old men and women left the
village. Only she and a few other
foresters remained. The more
experienced warriors had moved out to take on the advancing Shang
army. She and her companions
would hold the village against any intruders who might slip
through. It was an important
job, but Vayasha was disappointed.
It had been she who had first encountered the Shang invaders and it
was she who had carried word of their presence to the clan
elders. But she had been left
behind with several of the less experienced foresters to protect the empty
village. It seemed a useless
task, even if the sacred stone had to be protected at all
times.
The sacred stone,
the Green Heart, was the centre of Silvani
culture. From it Vayashas
people drew the mystic powers that enabled them to be one with the
forest. Its loss would be
devastating, robbing the Silvani of their supernatural powers over
nature. The stone was located
in the most secure part of the village; in the center of the tree of
life. The enormous tree loomed
over the village, its immense branches spreading out fifty feet in all directions
from a soaring trunk that towered 400 feet over the
village. At the base of the tree,
immense buttress roots formed a natural cavity the height of two
men. This natural shelter was
illuminated by the eerie glow of the sacred
stone. Inside the cavity, a massive
boulder served as an altar. Placed
squarely in the centre of a leopard skin was an enormous emerald that emitted
a light of its own. Normally
it was surrounded by a ceremonial guard, but the size of the Shang army had
forced the Silvani to send every available warrior against them, leaving
only Vayasha and a dozen other of the less experienced foresters to protect
the stone. Nevertheless, Vayasha
did not expect much excitement. It
was inconceivable that any of the Shang invaders would make it past the screen
of Silvani blocking the way to the
village. She
sighed. She had been so looking
forward to her first battle. To
be assigned this dull guard duty left her
depressed. And then she saw the
black-clad Shang standing in the middle of the open
gateway.
Vayasha acted instinctively, drawing her bow,
fitting an arrow, and letting loose all in one smooth
motion. She was not
alone. Several of the other foresters
had seen the intruder at the same time.
A half dozen arrows were on their way in
an instant. But not a shaft reached
its mark. With a fluid grace
that Vayasha would not have believed if she had not seen it, the Shang took
a single step forward. That simple
movement sent three of the arrows whizzing behind the black-clad figure,
and then incredibly the intruders hands snatched the remaining arrows
from the air.
Vayasha was so amazed that she forgot to loose
another arrow, and then the figure moved toward her with such speed she had
no chance for a second shot. At
that instant four other black figures darted through the gate and headed
for each of the remaining foresters.
Unprepared for the attack and stunned by the ease with which the first
invader had avoided the volley of arrows, the Silvani foresters fell back
before the attackers, drawing their knives for close in
fighting.
The Shang Vayasha had loosed arrow at closed
with her with amazing speed, barely giving her time to draw her
knife. In the split second before
the warrior attacked, Vayasha realized that her opponent was a woman, and
then she had no time to think of anything
else. Suddenly her knife flew
from her hand, and her feet went out from under
her. She did not remember seeing
the woman strike, but suddenly found herself lying dazed on the
ground. Then, just a quickly,
the woman was gone.
Vayasha tried to scramble to her feet, but
found that her knife arm had gone completely
numb. Grimacing, she pushed herself
up with her left arm. The black-clad
woman who had attacked her was sweeping among her comrades along with the
remainder of the other invaders.
Ðragon Warriors! she
thought. She shuddered
involuntarily. They were the
stuff of legends or nightmares.
And then a sudden realization swept over
her. The massive Shang attack
on Silvani lands was no more than a feint to draw the defenders away from
the sacred stone. The loss of
the
Green Heart would destroy Silvani culture, bringing to an end centuries
of resistance to Shang expansion.
Fear of what was about to happen gave her the strength of
desperation. Scooping up the
knife with her good arm she charged after the Dragon Warriors, who by now
had defeated most of the remaining foresters in the
village.
As she closed in on the woman who had taken
her down she saw to her surprise that a long red braid trailed down her
back. Red hair was unknown among
the Shang. She found herself
wondering who this strange assassin was; then she raised the knife to
strike. But she was too
late. Even as she closed the
distance the redheaded assassin turned toward
her. Vayasha saw her eyes widen
slightly. The warrior seemed
surprised that Vayasha was still standing, then
she moved so fast, that she was a blur.
This time Vayasha went down and stayed
down.
A moan escaped Vayashas lips as she
awoke. She tried to move, but
something seemed to be holding her arms.
Opening her eyes, she found to her chagrin that her arms were tightly
bound. Ropes circled her torso,
crisscrossing her breasts and pinning her arms tightly to her
sides. As she struggled to escape
a pair of hands gripped her arms and pulled her to her
feet. Her head spun and pounded
with pain at the sudden motion. A
wave of nausea swept over her, and she swayed
uncertainly. A steadying hand
held her upright. She was being
assisted by the redheaded Shang warrior.
Strangely, the woman who had defeated her held her quite gently, guiding
rather than forcing her to move.
She saw that her fellow foresters were all bound as well and on their
feet. The other Dragon Warriors
were close by keeping an eye on them.
One of the black-clad warriors held a leather
sack. Vayasha guessed that it
probably held the
Green Heart, and her
spirits sank.
A rope was placed around her neck and she
was moved into line with the other
prisoners. Then one of the Dragon
Warriors took the lead and led the column of twelve Silvani out of the
village. Several of the foresters
stumbled as they moved out, and Vayasha had to step carefully to avoid
falling. Their captors led them
at a leisurely pace through the forest, moving in a wide circle to avoid
the concentration of Silvani warriors who had gone to fight off the Shang
invaders. Vayasha considered
screaming for help, but decided against
it. If her kinsmen had gone in
the right direction they would be miles away, and if there were any of the
women, children or old men still nearby, she did not want to lure them anywhere
near the Dragon Warriors. Besides,
she had no doubt that any noise on her part would lead to her immediate death
at the hands of her captors. As
long as she was alive there might be a way to
escape. Her comrades must have
thought the same thing, because except for their breathing and the occasional
mild exclamation when one of them stumbled and fell, they also made no
sound.
Vayasha found it very awkward to walk with her hands tied behind her back. It made breathing very difficult and she was soon out of breath, but her captors pressed on, forcing their prisoners to keep up the pace. In only a short time, she was panting heavily, sweat drenching her blouse. Each time she stumbled she was jerked back to her feet, and although her captors did not beat her, they made sure that she and the others kept up a steady pace. An hour of such progress, pushing through dense bush and tripping over roots and branches, had her in an exhausted daze. She was still feeling the effects of being knocked unconscious and her head ached. Her vision blurred as sweat dripped into her eyes, and she fell more and more often, but her captors did not see fit to call a halt. She was reduced to the status of an automaton, placing one foot in front of the other, hardly aware of her surroundings. And then suddenly they came to a halt. Vayasha was aware of the sound of many voices. A pair of hands seized her by each arm and she was propelled rapidly forward. Then without warning, the hands released her, causing her to fall on her face. More gentle hands pulled her to her feet. She felt her hands being untied. Through a haze of sweat and exhaustion she saw that she was in the midst of many of her own people. But she also saw that they were inside a large bamboo stockade. Grim recognition swept over her. She and the others were in a prison compound. And then she fainted.
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