Shades of the Silent: The Hands of A Snake

[aithne]

7/7/1221
Haerbin, China

I woke in the morning with my nose squashed against Zayd's shoulder. I lifted my head and then shifted, snuggling closer and setting my face against his neck. He rolled over towards me, lending credence to my belief that he hadn't been asleep. "Morning," he murmured, throwing an arm over me and kissing the top of my head. "How are you feeling?"

I wriggled, then winced. "Sore. And--oh." The events of yesterday came back to me in a rush. Now that I was coming awake, my shoulder and my leg throbbed, but that was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I curled a little tighter around the pain. "I think sleep helped, but--" A long breath escaped me.

"I know," Zayd said. "Yesui, if there's anything I or any of us can do, you have only to ask."

"I know." I told him. My voice cracked; my throat still felt abraded on the inside. I uncurled a bit, reached out to run my hand down his body. My fingers found the scar on his belly that was his souvenir of Dien Bien Phu, when Hamid had captured him. "Just be here. I have some thinking to do."

"About what?"

Ah, this hurts. "Where we're going next. We need to leave today. We have to assume that Kamil knows where the artifacts we have can be destroyed, which means we may have surprises waiting for us." I sighed. "It has to be Taiwan, before he has a chance to get something really set up there. I don't want to be trapped on an island with Kamil's people. But there's an army between here and there."

"The river gets deeper from here, and runs to the coast," Zayd said. "We were talking to Wahb about it. The river runs to Hunchun, which is a port town, and there are all sorts of barges up here that are abandoned now. From Hunchun, we may be able to find a boat going south." I made a noise and curled up again, my shoulders tense. "What?"

"Boats," I said. "This is silly, but...they scare me. I decided against going there before because I really didn't want to make the boat crossing. It's a long way down the coast to Taiwan. A long time to be on a boat." Said aloud, it felt profoundly absurd. I was of the Ten Tribes. I should not fear a ride on a boat more than the combined forces of my father's army and the dead mage who resided in his head.

Zayd chuckled. "Not so much the boat, but being surrounded by water, yes? As I recall, you don't swim very well."

I shook my head. "Sacha taught me a little."

"I don't swim either," he told me. "I understand the fear. But it's a good bet that Kamil won't anticipate that we'll take to the sea. Just a suggestion. We could swing inland, avoid the armies."

"I'll think about it," I told him. I took a long breath, and then sniffed Zayd, surprised. "You washed."

"There's a bathhouse in town. After we had the pyres going yesterday, we took turns in it, and washed our clothes. That was Sacha's idea."

I laughed. "We're letting this country make us soft. A tribesman doesn't bathe more than once a year, and then only under protest."

"The tribes also live in a land that has little water," he said.

"Granted," I said, and raised my head to kiss him. "I suppose I should take advantage of the chance to have an actual hot bath."

"Sacha mentioned something about building up the fire in the bathhouse for you this morning." He reached up, tucked my hair behind my ear. "Yesui...are you going to be all right?"

I stilled, thinking about it. "I'm not in any danger of harming myself, if that's what you're thinking," I said, finally. "I'm going to take a while to stop hurting. But I'm surrounded by my family. I'll be all right, eventually."

"Good." He kissed me, and held me tightly for a moment. "Much as I hate to suggest it, lovely one, we probably ought to think about getting up."

I sighed. "Probably. Much as I'd enjoy staying in bed all day, we should be gone." I kissed him once more and sat up. I got to my feet, stretching. Zayd, too, got up and started dressing. We didn't speak much as we dressed, and Zayd pulled a comb through his long black hair and pulled it back.

I felt thin as a scraped hide stretched over bone. Zayd showed me where the bathhouse was, and Sacha had indeed built up the fire that warmed the water. I washed the blood and soot and sweat off of myself, scrubbed the clothing I'd been wearing yesterday, and noted that I was going to have to repair the holes in both the shirt and pants.

I kissed Sacha soundly when I found him, standing with the others around a fire. Nomolun handed me a bowl of the meal that had just been cooked. Noodles of some sort, it looked like. Everyone was giving me glances, but nobody asked me anything.

"Zayd mentioned that we could take one of the abandoned barges here down the river, and then hire a boat to take us to Taiwan. As much as I dislike the idea, I also dislike the idea of Kamil having more time to set up a trap for us there. After that, we'll see." I ate a bite of noodles. I couldn't taste them much, but I knew I needed to eat.

Temur gave me a sharp look. "The horses on a boat?"

"I hear people do that a lot," I said, and shrugged. "If anyone can keep horses calm on a boat, it should be us. Besides, this makes the need to acquire some more horses less urgent. We'll need to keep our eyes open, though. I'd like to get back up to the number we had before, and add an additional remount for each of us. We're going to need to travel quickly."

The others nodded, and none argued. Wahb came and sat on his heels next to me, and I glanced over at him. "Would you like to come with us?" I asked.

"This place." He shrugged and waved his hand at it. "There's nothing left for me here. If I could accompany you to the coast, that would be welcome."

"Done, then. Besides, Kamil knows who you are. Disappearing would be wise, at least until this is finished one way or another." I tried to smile, and didn't quite manage it. Wahb looked away. I assumed one of the others had told him who the man I'd killed yesterday was. I finished eating, and we spent about an hour packing things up. I carried the lead box over to the horses and looked around, wondering why Wind wasn't coming out to greet me--

Oh.

I had to set the lead box down and take a deep breath to keep from bursting into tears. Spirit came over to silently nudge me, and I leaned on him for a moment. When I felt like I could steady my voice again, I went to ask Nomolun if she would let me put the box on Dragonfly.

We were really down to one horse for each of us to ride, and one to carry our supplies. We managed to distribute things evenly, and for the next while the need wouldn't be critical, but once we set off cross-country again we would need to at least replace the three horses we'd lost. I wished we were going by Mongolia any time soon; some more sturdy steppe horses were what I'd prefer to add to our herd. Beggars, unfortunately, couldn't be choosers. The horses here in Haerbin were meant for pulling logs; they were rideable, but ponderously slow. I chose not to take any of them.

We got down to the barges, picked one that looked relatively whole, and loaded ourselves and the horses onto it. We took turns poling the barge down, Wahb showing us how and pointing out the few dangerous places on the river.

At night, we would stop, pull the barge to the side of the river, and make camp. Nobody seemed to be chasing us; in fact, nobody even seemed to notice us go by. There were very few people to notice. Game was plentiful, and Temur came back with more than we could eat most nights.

We all grieved in our own ways. Temur would disappear into the forest after we'd landed for the evening, return an hour later with fresh meat, disappear again, and only reappear right before it was his turn to take watch. Sacha spent a lot of time with Hollow, the mare of his that hadn't been killed, and was thoughtful and quiet even when we were sharing a tent. It was just as well, as I fell into a dark silence on the barge much like the one I'd fallen into after Kamil had killed my mother two weeks ago. Zayd tried to talk to me, but mostly gave up after the first day.

Near the end of the third day, I called Ahmad out of the bracelet and gave him the rundown on what had happened. He listened as I tore the whole story out of my soul and laid it down before him. I also told him all about the dulcimer, and why it had not been able to take over the people who'd used it. "And that was why the minstrel who had it was able to use it without being taken over."

Ahmad's voice was thoughtful. "Then it was possible to stop him, just no one else did. Or seems to have, so far."

"Right. We're getting low on artifacts, so it may be that none of the others were built with that flaw. I'm betting that the eye doesn't have that flaw. I don't know about the snake."

"I doubt it, but it also has a modicum of independence as well."

I remembered what I knew of the snake. It could change size when needed, and it could seek out a person based on a description of them. "True. It has to go on its own to bite someone."

"So it has to have some sort of intelligence. Mind you it might be Kamil's, to sort people and find the right person. All of these things have to be intelligent. This one, though, has to be a bit smarter. Plus, it's delivering memories back from the victim."

"I'm loath to talk to it, though. Kamil can probably at least listen in," I said, shaking my head.

"And it may be a part of Kamil as well. So it may do no good."

I nodded. "There's really no way to cut him off from it, not without intervention that I'm not good enough to do. Almost makes me wish we'd managed to keep that mage and his sister with us. Almost. The sister probably would have gotten up to mischief, and she's a mind reader."

Ahmad suggested, "It might be possible to talk to the snake without it taking you over. No one says you have to use it."

Now there was an idea. "True enough. And if I don't give away anything to it, it won't have anything to report." I chewed on the inside of my lip. "Somewhere dark, in case it can see. There's a place in the hold of the barge that should do."

I got the snake out of the box and headed down into the cramped hold of the barge. Once I was down there, I unwrapped the snake, but did not touch it with my bare hands. "Hello. Do you speak?"

The voice, oddly, was female. Older female, if I had to guess. "I do. What is your command?"

"No command," I said, shaking my head. "I simply wanted to speak to you. Who were you last used on?"

"I have not been used in years. A woman of royal blood was the last bitten."

Royal blood. That was odd, hadn't the mage who'd told me about it in Dien Bien Phu said that his daughter had married the illegitimate son of a king's wife? He hadn't said she was of noble blood herself, but perhaps Bakr hadn't given me the whole story. "What happened to you after you were last used?"

"I was captured from my old master and deposited into a box. I traveled with an old monk and a warrior."

Perhaps I could, if I ever made my way back to Dien, bring Bakr some peace, and some answers. "Who was your old master?"

"My old master was employed by the emperor of China."

Well, that made some sense. "Do you know why he sent you to bite the woman?"

"To end her line."

I sucked my breath between my teeth. They hadn't managed to end her line. Her daughter still lived. Cautiously, I asked, "Why was her line to be ended?"

"She had the only heir to the throne of China."

I blinked. "Surely there are other heirs?"

"None legitimate. The emperor on the throne took the throne when no heir was revealed."

I thought about a serious-eyed six-year-old girl, riding a Mongol horse. Probably best for her that her grandfather had taken her into hiding. "Ah, I see. So, when you are used, does a part of the soul of he who made you take over the person who uses you?"

"Kamil does, yes."

"And are you in communication with Kamil now?"

It was strange, but I thought I could hear a bit of a chuckle in the snake's voice. "He is a separate part of me. I hear his calling to you to attempt for you to use me and I will release him to you upon your command, but for now he rests alone and unable to do much."

I realized that yes, I could hear Kamil. I had gotten so used to his voice that I had been ignoring it. Sorry, Kamil, you never managed to offer me what I really want. My father's forgiveness. My family, safe and whole. Tolui back with me, and himself again. My mother, alive. The endless steppes, and a good horse to ride them with.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to the present moment. "And probably unhappy about it. Sorry, Kamil. You can't give me what I want." I considered the snake for a bit, thinking. "Do you know if Kamil knows where we will be going next?"

"His assumption places you in several places. Bekdash, Taiwan, Beijing or Mashhad."

At that last my spine straightened. Mashhad. I'd heard the name before. Zayd had mentioned that it was his hometown. "Mashhad? Why Mashhad?"

"The location of the bell."

Damn, damn, damn, this has the potential to not be good. "Do you know who has the bell?"

"No, but Kamil's people are searching for it."

"I see. Interesting. Back you go, now." I wrapped the snake up and returned it to the box. I called Ahmad out once more, and said, "Well, that was interesting. I found out where the bell is, more or less, but not who has it."

Ahmad nodded. "That's at least a start."

"Strange thing, though. It's near Zayd's hometown. Coincidence, maybe." Though I doubted it.

He looked like he was doubting it, as well. "Maybe, maybe not. He may have recognized Zayd and was going to get use something against him. His family, perhaps."

I winced at that. "Maybe. I need to talk to Zayd about it. It sounds as if Kamil doesn't know who has the bell. The brotherhood is searching for it."

"So at least it's safe for now."

"For the moment." I slumped a bit, then tried to remember how to straighten my shoulders. "Mashhad is months away, but at least I know where we're going. Kamil knows I'll show up there, sooner or later. He also knows I might be heading towards Taiwan, and Bekdash. He also supposes I might head back into Beijing." I rubbed my eyes. "He's wrong about that last, of course."

"But he has all the bases covered. Mostly the items are leading you back to where they were created, so he knows where you are going."

"Right. Well, I knew he was probably going to have had the chance to get ahead of me. Now I know for sure, and can plan appropriately." And, perhaps, surprise him. I wasn't going back to Beijing. I was starting to have a plan to deal with my father, and it required that the situation with his army be given another half year or so to simmer.

Ahmad nodded. "He is stretched thin."

"And that's our advantage. As many people as he has, they're spread over a very large area."

"Trying to catch a small group moving rapidly."

"And they've got a couple of other groups who are doing their best to exterminate them. I don't know if we'll ever run into Jaida and Todoge, but they're hopefully still out there." I rather hoped we did. I thought I was going to need them, and Chagatai.

"The brotherhood has to be looking over their shoulders as well. Jaida and Sabur are not something you want to run into. Todoge and his party, either."

I smiled, thinly. "Exactly. I'm sure Chagatai's got a grudge against them as well. No idea where he is, even, but I wouldn't want him after me. And as well, the Khan is starting to have issues with his army. Kamil isn't one of us. He doesn't understand how to lead us. The Mongol camp smelled like fear. He's going to start having problems with them soon, I think."

"And Mungke is still there, without Tolui watching over him."

I paused. Mungke would be absorbed into the general army, perhaps brought into the Khan's guards. The only person who had cause to suspect he was a spy, or notice if he was acting differently, was dead. It was an advantage. I shook my head, thinking about what Kamil was doing. "It just makes me angry. Kamil's undoing all of the work my father did to unite the Mongols." I shifted, sighed, rolled my shoulders. "It's not really my problem. I don't think my father will ever forgive me Tolui's death, and I'm probably not going to be the one to reunite them. But Kamil has much to answer for."

Ahmad nodded, and then I went to find Zayd. I located him, sitting on the back of the barge, and beckoned into the same place in the hold that I'd talked to the snake in. It was quite cramped with both of us in there, but we made do. "I just learned something very interesting. There is an artifact in Mashhad."

Zayd quirked his mouth. "Probably not a coincidence."

"No, likely not. Kamil's people don't know where it is, so that's a blessing at least. I'm afraid they may know who your family is, and try to use them against you."

"I'd bet on it," he said, and his voice was low.

"Had you ever heard of a bell that kills, before?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, but I have seen another maze like the one in Shanghai."

I blinked. "Another old drow city?"

"Yes, right under Mashhad. Bet that's where they are looking for it."

It was, oddly enough, better news than I'd hoped for. "Very likely. Fortunately, if it's down there, it may take them some time to find it."

"Many months. It was sealed after so many people never came back." His voice was carefully neutral.

I chuckled. I'd bet Zayd had explored some of it as a young man. Something like that would have called to him loudly, and I didn't doubt that he'd gotten lost a few times within it. "Good thing. It's something like three or four months from Taiwan to there, and that's if we go directly there, which we won't."

He shrugged. "Depends on the manpower. They could search the place in a few months with hundreds of people, but if they only have a dozen or so it could take years."

"They're stretched thin now, so they may have fewer rather than more. They know they have some time." Possibly less time than they thought. "At least I may get a chance to meet your family," I said, smiling.

"Yes, well you get to Mashhad and they are all pretty much my family."

"Small town?"

"Not really. Big family." Zayd grabbed an empty sack and sat down on it, then caught my hand and pulled me down with him.

I sat with a thump. "Sounds like fun to me. Sort of like a Mongol tribe, only not in motion all the time."

"That's pretty much it," he said, smiling.

We'd never talked much about Zayd's family; he knew a lot about mine, but I'd never asked him much about his. Curious, I asked, "Are your parents still alive?"

He nodded. "My mother is. My father died. Warrior in the Persian army. My six sisters and three brothers are still alive. As are all their children, well as of two years ago, anyway."

He was one of the youngest, I remember him mentioning before. "What made you leave and go to Nepal, anyway?"

"I needed to find a teacher who was both a mage and a blacksmith. Only one I could find was in Nepal." His voice was colored by a wry tone. "My magic was very specific as young mage. I could only do it with a forge burning to call on its energy."

I remembered the first time I'd met him, shirtless and sweating from an evening spent at the forge, and smiled at the image. There was a sight I wouldn't mind seeing again. "It seems to have gotten less specific, as you've gotten older."

"The mage taught me that it was me in the first place and that I didn't need the crutch of the forge burning to accomplish my magics. To this day, though, a forge burning I can draw from will make my magic stronger."

I chuckled wryly. This was something he hadn't mentioned before, probably deeming it more or less irrelevant. It was probably going to become a lot more relevant once we were done with this, if we lived. "A specialty that doesn't mix well with a life of traveling, I'm afraid."

"Nope, I am afraid not. But it's the price we pay sometimes, for loving too much." He smiled at me in the semi-dark, and my stomach did a little backflip. We'd been lovers almost a year now, and he could still do that to me.

I took his hand, squeezed it. "True enough. And maybe someday we can figure out something portable that would work well enough for that."

He nodded. "Or maybe you will settle down."

I blinked. That was a thought that had occurred before, back in Kengtung. I'd assumed that after this was over we'd go back to living like Mongols, always traveling. The possibility of having a permanent home somewhere was an odd one. "Always possible. I don't know how well me and staying still would work out, but if I have a chance to try it, I might. I might be half Persian by blood, but by birth I'm all Mongol. We all have wanderlust in our souls."

"That is true. Well, maybe long enough to produce some three-quarters Persian children."

I caught my breath. Zayd had never mentioned the possibility of children, before. It was one of the reasons I had some doubts about his willingness to marry me. Sacha mentioned the possibility on occasion, more so recently as we got towards the end of our long battle with Kamil. "Well, that's certainly in my hopes for the future, if I survive this. Women of the Ten Tribes have been having babies and children on the move for centuries, though. It's easy enough, you strap them to your back or attach a basket to your saddle, and you start teaching them to ride as soon as they learn to sit up. Once Kamil's gone..." I put my head down on Zayd's shoulder. "There's a whole world, and I'd like to see more of it. As well as go back and visit some of the people we've met. I could tell Bakr, back in Dien Bien Phu, why his daughter was killed. Maybe learn some from the old mage in Kunming. Study in Lhasa. Go back to Kengtung, if the brotherhood hasn't burned it. Find Rabab again. I hope she survived my father sacking the Khwarezmid Empire."

"And that drow city, I bet as well," he said, chuckling. "Well, we'll see."

And that was that between us, all that really needed to be said.

We arrived at Hunchun a day later, and said our goodbyes to Wahb. I wandered the docks for a bit, getting a feel for the boats that were there. Spirit was at my side, in the shape of a man who might have been the twin of the man whose shape I currently wore. He seemed to be having a good time, now that he had mastered walking two-legged. He was going by Xun, which meant swift, and I was calling myself Zhou.

One boat was leaky enough that I dismissed it out of hand. The other three that were heading to Taiwan were the Yangtse Kian, the Xi, and the Huang. The captain of the Xi refused to carry the horses out of hand; he had a full cargo and no room for them. The captain of the Xi wanted a reasonable amount of money for the trip, but I came away from talking to him feeling prickly. The captain of the Yangtse Kian, a man named Wasi, wanted twice the amount of money that the captain of the Xi had wanted, about a month's worth of living expenses for us, but my impression of the captain was that he was far more trustworthy than the other one. I weighed the two in my mind, and in the end decided that being able to trust the one sailing the ship was worth the extra coin.

I told the captain of the Yangtse Kian that we would go with him, and he told us to go ahead and load up, he was leaving with the tide. Spirit and I went back and got the others, and carefully loaded the horses onto the ship.

They were not happy about this turn of events, especially after we casted off and headed out of the harbor. We all stayed below with them for a while, letting them get used to the rocking motion of the ship, calming them down. The humans were, as a general rule, also less than happy about being on a boat, Zayd being the sole exception. Spirit, too, was calm as ever, though he spent most of his time sitting down. Learning how to walk in human form hadn't included lessons on how to get used to walking when the ground was moving underneath you.

We had calm weather for a week out of Hunchun, as we came between the mainland and a series of large islands that Wasi mentioned were called Nihon. "Interesting people there, but their government's a bit isolationist," Captain Wasi said. "They do some beautiful art, though they're all mad for poetry. Maybe it sounds better in their language than ours."

I stood at the rail and watched the islands slide by. "So much water," I muttered to Sacha, standing next to me. "It's unnatural."

He glanced over to me, and gave me a smile. "Give me dry land any day," he said. We weren't standing close to one another; for these two weeks, I wasn't sharing my bed with either Zayd or Sacha, keeping up my act constantly. I missed them, though I saw them every day. I was aching to touch them, even a simple hug, but there was no room on this ship for such antics. The captain had a sharp eye, though, and I don't think he missed the subtle currents of interaction between me and my two lovers. He mentioned nothing, and I kept my hands to myself.

Mostly.

I ambushed Zayd in the hold once, snagging him as he was walking by and hauling him bodily behind a set of stacked crates. I'd changed to a female form--not my own, but still female--and I had my way with him more or less silently, slaking a thirst that had grown nearly unbearable. After an initial moment of confusion, he figured out who I was and cooperated gladly. Sacha and I slipped off together during middle watch one night, and I didn't bother changing form for him. Sacha was attracted to me whether I was female or male, and I was enjoying the novelty of a male form, still.

I still had my doubts about his proclivities but I found myself uninclined to worry about it, since at the moment the only person he seemed to be interested in was me in whatever form I chose to use.

After a week of calm weather, though, we were treated to a week of rough seas and rain. I had bouts of seasickness, and I wasn't the only one; both Nomolun and Temur were affected. Sacha and Zayd, the reprobates, weren't even green around the gills. I spoke to the captain, and arranged for us to be let off at the mouth of the Chasui River, since it was closer to Changhua, where we were going, and less likely to have watching eyes on it than Taipei. As we unloaded the horses into shallow water, Captain Wasi said, "Good travels to you. Changhua is about a day up the river."

I nodded. "Thank you. Is Taipei the place where one would usually catch a boat back to the mainland?"

"Yes. I will be there in two days, by horse it's probably four. I will be there for a week and then I will be coming back this way heading to Shanghai, if you need a ride."

"We may see you again, then, depending on how long our business here takes to complete." I had not been specific about our business, simply saying we had some people to see in Changhua.

"Good luck," the captain told me, as we offloaded the last of the horses.

I thanked him and walked down the plank, wading through salt water as the sailors pulled it up behind me. When I reached dry land, I resisted the urge to drop to my knees and kiss the sand only by an act of will. Finally, ground that wasn't moving under my feet.

"Up the river. We won't get there tonight, but we can make some time," I told the rest as we mounted. "Keep an eye out for watches. The brotherhood probably beat us here."

It was a nice ride through forest and meadow, the river to our left side. The river was deep and swift, and when it found rocks it roared over them. Not a river good for boating, that was for sure. We began to run out of light and I called a stop. We put together a cold camp; we would move on the next morning very early.

I'd shifted back to a female form, and was curled up with Zayd. I was woken by a hand on my shoulder and over my mouth. Sacha. He breathed into my ear, "We have movement, lots of movement."

I nodded and woke Zayd the same way, and slid out of the blankets and pulled my boots on. "Human?" I asked Sacha on a low voice as I reached for my weapons.

"Sort of. Human and snake bits for the legs."

I nodded, remembering something Ahmad had said to me. "Snake-people. Yuanti. Let's see if we can get them to not attack us."

"Wise, they have us surrounded."

I nodded and got out of the tent, leaving my daggers sheathed. I stopped in the middle of the clearing we'd camped in, and spread my hands to show that I was empty-handed. My voice was low, but pitched to carry. "If you are the yuanti, we have come in search of you. A thousand apologies for trespassing on your territory, but our need is urgent."

Murmurs, then a woman's voice came, strong and clear. "Why are you looking for us?"

"We have with us a dangerous artifact, which requires the hands of a snake to destroy. It needs to be destroyed, or changed so it no longer harms."

The voice was shocked, but filled with hope. "Kamil's curse?"

"Yes."

There was a slithering rustle as the owner of the voice came out from behind a tree. On top, she was a woman, about my father's age and looking almost but not quite Chinese. She was entirely naked, and her breasts were a bit on the overly large side. From the waist down, she was a large snake. The snake half of her had to be incredibly strong to hold her upright and still move. I could see the muscles under the scales ripple as she slithered towards me. She "stood" about a foot taller than me, and the snake part of her was spotted in a regular pattern. Her dark eyes were narrowed. "You have it with you to be destroyed?"

I nodded. "I do. It needs to be washed in the river that the clay came from."

At that, she seemed to relax, her shoulders dropping. "We are close. Come, we can do this at first light."

"Can I bring my companions with me?" I asked.

"Certainly." I nodded and turned to everyone, and we swiftly broke camp. The yuanti who had first spoken, named Sahla, handed me a rough piece of chalk. "Mark your horses with large crosses with this."

"So they won't be attacked?" I asked.

She just looked at me, and said flatly, "Eaten."

I shut my mouth and did as I was bid, marking the horses on both flanks with crosses. Spirit was back in horse form, though dappled grey still rather than black. We went upriver a bit, then crossed the river on a suspension bridge. Sacha whistled low. "Look, they can retract it to this side," he said, pointing. "The river's deep and swift enough here that fording's impossible."

The town, if you could call it that, was about a hundred huts and tents arrayed a bit back from the river. In the main square was a large statue. "That looks familiar," I said to Sahla.

She nodded. "We modeled the clay snake after our god. That was a mistake."

"A mistake, how?"

"We were totally human once. Kamil came and asked our help. In return he turned us to this." She gestured at herself, at the thick snake half of her. We were surrounded by other yuanti, all of them naked, their scales in all different colors of brown and green and black. A few were brightly striped; more were a solid color.

"Out of curiosity, what did he offer you in return for creating the clay snake?"

"Immortality," she said as if it were an oath.

"Did he manage to give it to you?"

She nodded shallowly. "Yes, but the price was this body, and having to eat creatures while they are still alive." Sahla grimaced, and I could see now what I had not seen before--her teeth were sharp, the teeth of a creature that survives on meat, such as a cat or a wolf. "A lot of us starved to death those first years."

I shivered. I didn't know if I could have done it, survived when survival meant having to eat the flesh of creatures that were still screaming. "I can imagine." Trying to turn the subject a bit, I asked, "Tell me, have you seen other humans around here recently? Kamil may have sent his people here."

"He did. We still have a few left."

"Captured, I take it?"

"Yes, they tried to attack us." She smiled now, for the first time. It was a macabre sight, with those teeth. "They overestimated their battle prowess."

I snorted. "They often do that. As a general rule, his rank and file isn't particularly bright."

"We have kept their leader until the last so that he can see his men die in front of him. You can speak to him if you so choose," she offered.

I thought about it, then inclined my head. "I would like to. We have some time before daybreak."

"His name is Tobukha. A Mongol, he claims. This way."

Tobukha. Where had I heard that name--oh, yes. Tobukha had been one of Tolui's men, if I recalled correctly. It was probably the same one.

Sahla showed me to the cage, which held three Mongol men. I stepped into the shadows and shifted, then turned to the one Sahla had indicated was Tobukha. "Tobukha," I said, my voice a quiet command. "I would ask what you are doing here, but I believe I already know."

He stood, straightened. I might not recognize him, but he recognized me, and in the set of his shoulders was a sudden stiffness. He bowed his head slightly, and I didn't know if he even knew he was doing so. I was still, in his eyes, a Khanate. He had a black eye, a wound on his arm that looked like it was going bad, a split lip. "Dinner for the yuanti, is my current occupation."

"I believe so. And you ended up as dinner for the yuanti because you came here hoping to either kill them or intercept me." I offered no reprieve for him, and I knew that he wasn't expecting any.

"Those were my orders, yes."

"From Tolui?"

"Yes."

"A member of the brotherhood, who worked for my late brother. Charming." My voice had been dry, but I could hear and feel the bitterness in it. "I have to say that you likely deserve your fate. How many were you sent here with?"

I was watching for truth in him, and was not seeing any falsehood. "We were two dozen. Now, we are the three you see here." He brought his gaze up to meet mine, and I thought I saw a swift plea in them. Freedom, or a swift death. As a tribesman, I owed him only the latter. As a Khanate, I owed him the former. He had done his work faithfully, followed orders though they had led them here.

But who am I now?

"Were you actually a member of the brotherhood, or were you merely following Tolui's orders?"

He shook his head. "I know of the brotherhood but their numbers are small. Tolui ordered us to kill these creatures or to find you and bring you home alive."

Alive? Ah, Kamil. You want me so badly, still, and that is clouding that formidable mind of yours. "To my father?" I asked.

"Yes, he said they were orders from the Khan."

"I have no doubt that they were. Doesn't change the fact that the Khan is under control by a dead mage, and Tolui was."

The man's eyes were turning bitter, as he began to truly believe that despite the fact that a Khanate was standing in front of him, he was only leaving the cage for one reason. "Nor does it change the fact that I am the main course in about three days."

"No, it does not," I said quietly. I am no longer a Khanate. Kamil has seen to that. "Tolui didn't say anything else about what you could expect here?"

"No, just to kill the yuanti and capture you if possible if you happened to show up."

"I see. Well, you may yet be lucky. We'll see." I turned my back on him without waiting for a response, or to see whether hope flared in his eyes. I slipped back into the skin that I had been occupying when the yuanti had found us as I did so, the now-familiar chill of change spreading over me. Back to Sahla I went; the sky was beginning to pale, and she and I began to go down to the river. I glanced down, watching the movement of muscles under her skin. I'd studied snakes I'd caught as a child, liking the smooth feel of their scales and the unexpected strength under their skins. She moved exactly like one of them, movement rippling down from where the snake half of her first touched the ground to her long tapering tail.

I reminded myself that staring was rude, and looked away. "Unexpected things often happen when the artifacts are destroyed," I said.

She nodded. "I understand. Magic is an unstable thing. The magic can be used again if you desire. His soul will be released, and the snake reformed. The second spirit inside is still good. We can reform it into anything you wish."

I raised an eyebrow, understanding her meaning. "I think I know what purpose the magic can be turned to. I would like it to be able to shield the person affected from mental control. If they were controlled, it would free them from the control; if they were not controlled, it would protect them from control for a time."

"It can be done. I am unsure if will stop Kamil's control."

I spread my hands. "It's worth a try, at least. Even if it gives the person a better chance to break free, it's worth it."

We had reached the river, and Sahla nodded. "Then are you ready?"

I took a breath, then said, "I am."

She held out her hands, and I handed her the clay snake. It moved like a live snake as she closed her fingers around it, struggling. She crouched and dipped it into the water, focusing on the snake, chanting. The snake began to dissolve, breaking apart into the river.

From the snake emerged two balls of light. One flitted away down into the earth. The other hovered, apparently waiting for Sahla to finish chanting.

The river had other ideas.

The snake dissolved completely, and the light that always accompanied the destruction of an artifact shone forth brightly. It touched Sahla and she instantly reverted to be completely human, falling face-first into the river, catching herself with her hands, but not before her head went under the water, stopping her chanting.

The ball of light made a frantic circle and then dove down.

Into me.

I felt the impact, and uttered a surprised curse as something warm lodged itself next to my heart. I covered my mouth, swallowing, thinking in a panic, I've become an artifact! After a moment, I realized that I felt all right, and as far as I could tell me mind was still my own. I thought at the warm place in me, Can you talk to me? Do you have a name?

Yes, it's Durra. It was the same voice as the snake had had before, female, warm.

Do you know if you're in me for good, or if there's a chance that you can be put into another item?

It is possible to enchant another item using my energy and taking me out of your body.

I relaxed with a sigh, and leaned down to help Sahla up. She shook herself off, wringing out her dripping hair. I thought to Durra, Well, that's good. What's required to take you out of my body?

Time and a good mage. And an item that can accept me.

I started to sense a certain humor in the situation. Well, we're probably stuck with each other for at least a little while, then. What do you do, now?

Sahla was able to accomplish what you asked but the receptacle wasn't formed yet. So with a single scratch of your finger onto your victim, they will not be affected by mental command. She was doubtful that it could be used to counteract Kamil's control. As am I.

I shrugged. Well, we'll see, I suppose.

My magic is strong. His is stronger, she said. He is weakening, but he is still very strong. I may be able to block him from taking someone new but to eject him once in, probably not.

I knew it was too much to ask, but I needed to try anyway. I looked over at Sahla, who seemed to be done wringing her hair out. "Well, I appear to be the receptacle for this power, for the moment."

Sahla blinked. "That's interesting." She looked down. "So is having legs back."

We made our way back to the rest, and found that all of the yuanti had been changed back to human. "What do you want us to do with the prisoners?" Sahla asked me. "You can have them if you want them, otherwise we'll kill them."

"I'll take them," I told her. "I don't suppose you can have a look at me and see if you can remove Durra to something else?"

She agreed, and I spent the rest of the day being poked and prodded. In between pokings and proddings, I told the story of what had happened several times, first to my little tribe (all of whom looked disturbed) and to the various former yuanti. In the end, all agreed that they could get Durra out, but it would take them three months to create a proper receptacle.

"We don't have the time," I told them. "We need to be gone from here soon, within days. We'll take care of it later." Around the fire that night, I sat down next to Zayd. "Can you make something Durra can go in, given access to a forge?"

He nodded. "It'll take me about three months, just like it would them, but if the process is the one they were talking about earlier, I can do it." He grinned. "Especially with a forge to make it go a bit better. Think about what you want me to make. It's been a while since I've had my hands on metal, and my hands are itching for the hammer."

I chuckled and kissed him, promising to think about it.

In the morning, I and Spirit went to Taipei, to find the captain of the Yangtse Kian. We disguised ourselves as the same Chinese twins as we walked into town. Compared to some of the port cities we had been to recently, Taipei was positively sleepy. It smelled much the same. We found the Yangtse Kian, and in a stroke of luck, Captain Wasi was on deck. He granted permission for us to come aboard, and as I climbed up I said, "Captain Wasi, can I speak to you?"

"Certainly," he responded, and we followed him into his cabin.

It was a cramped space, filled with a bunk and a desk and chests that apparently mostly held scrolls and maps. "I suspect that the port here may be closed in a few days, for an indefinite period of time," I said to him. "If you're going to be leaving, I would do so with the tide today. And if you're leaving, I'd like to talk to you about arranging transport back to the mainland."

He raised an eyebrow. "Some trouble that you know about?"

I smiled. "Yes. It's somewhat complicated, but something magical has been destroyed, and the one who created it likely has enough power to close the port here while he searches for the one who destroyed it."

"And that would be you, I take it?"

"It would be, yes. If you don't want to take us back on, I understand, but I wanted to at least bring you warning."

The captain inclined his head. "Thanks for the warning. I can get out in the morning. Are all of you there?"

"We can be at the mouth of the Chasui when you get there," I said.

"I will be there as soon as I can. It will be one day at least. If we aren't there in two, assume the worst and leave." I noticed that he didn't question how I was going to manage to get to the mouth of the Chasui river in that amount of time. I assumed he thought it was better if he didn't know, and I had to admit he was right.

"I will. Do you want to arrange payment for passage now, or later?"

He shook his head. "Later is fine. If I don't make it, I don't need the money anyway."

I felt vindicated in my choice of this ship and this captain. "All right. One or two days, then." I nodded to Spirit and we both left, down the gangplank. We had some time before we needed to leave, and spent some time on the docks, watching. Nothing really interesting happened until I was about to leave. Several people at one end of the docks were clustered around a sign, written in several languages. Only one was a script I could read.

All ships are subject to search before leaving the harbor. Any ship carrying passengers must register the passengers before departure. Any ship trying to leave port without complying to these rule will be destroyed.

It was definitely time to be getting back. Spirit and I left town, he changed, and away we went back to the others.

The next day, we'd made our way to the mouth of the river. We took turns watching for the ship, and everyone other than whoever was watching kept out of sight. Early the morning after, we saw the lights of the ship approaching.

The Yangtse Kian pulled slightly into the bay, and though I was glad we were heading back to the mainland, my heart sank at the prospect of getting back on the ship. Only for a few days, I told myself. A rowboat was lowered over the side, and Captain Wasi himself rowed in towards me. I took off my boots and waded out to meet him. "Did you have any trouble getting out?"

"Some, but I think we are all now. They delayed us with the searching and then we were being followed, but we think we lost them out on the high sea and turned back in to get you."

"Thank you," I said, and looked out at the ship, relaxing into my magical sight. There was a small glow under the waterline, and I blinked. "You have something attached to your ship. You're likely being tracked."

The captain grimaced. "Nice. Where?"

"This side, about ten feet from the back, just below the waterline." I pointed. "I can remove it, if you want."

"I think that would be best," he said. "Get in, I'll take you out."

We reached the ship, and I roped up and dropped over the side to inspect the glow. The water was clear enough for me to not have to duck my head under it to see the source of the glow. It was a metal disc the size of a large coin, and as I spent some time studying it, I could tell that it was rigged to explode if it were removed, or tampered with. It would also rigged to explode if--wait, that couldn't be right. Equines? It was rigged to explode if horses got within some distance of it?

I climbed up the side of the ship. "I need to make a bit of a hole in the ship, I'm afraid. I need to remove the plank the device is on. Can I have someone on the other side ready to patch it? It's meant to explode if tampered with or if horses are loaded into the ship, by the way."

Captain Wasi found and plank and positioned himself on the other side of the indicated place. I pried the board off and he replaced it from the inside. "Since you are out there look for others. If there is one, there is probably more," he said after he was back on board.

I handed him the board, and said, "Good idea. Tie something heavy to this and throw it over the side. I'll go look for others."

There were six total, and once they were all off and sunk, the captain pulled the ship in closer and we loaded the horses on. I held my breath, but I knew my job and I'd done my work well, and nothing exploded. "We may see some pursuit. I hope we've managed to get free, but we'll see," I said to the captain once we were all loaded and the horses safe in the belly of the ship.

"My course that I told them was to stop at Fuzhou, Shanghai and then back to Hunchun."

"You may wish to alter that," I told him.

The captain chuckled. "That's what I was thinking. I can sell the stuff in Hong Kong, so that is probably my next stop. That all right, or do you want off at the coast somewhere?"

I thought about it, and shook my head. "If we could stop off at the coast somewhere, that would be the best. We're going to need to disappear."

"It's two days straight across," he said. "That will drop you a day from Fuzhou to the north."

I could look at a map tonight and figure a route from there. "That will work. Anywhere would be all right, as long as we can unload the horses there."

"I know a cove. They want you bad," he told me.

I looked over at him and nodded. "Thank you, by the way, you've gone to quite a bit of trouble for us, and I appreciate it."

"I know, but I have no love for the emperor."

I smiled thinly. "Many people don't, it seems. I don't care about him one way or another, but the one who's after me appears to have some influence with him."

"Well then, let's get you to your coast." He turned away, shouting orders, and I took my cue to go find the maps and figure out where we were going.

Two days later, we unloaded the horses, and Captain Wasi told me that Fuzhou was a day to the north and Hong Kong was a week to the south or so by horse. I thought about going south, to see if I could find the warrior that Jahm had wounded while taking the snake from him, but there was little chance he was alive, and there was a good chance Hong Kong would be watched.

We turned our backs on the ocean and turned west, grateful to be on dry land once more.

Ten down. Three to go.