Mark Morris - The Great Wall

William smiled. “No. You knew me right away.”

She smiled back at him, but hers was an ironic smile, even a little bitter. “If I had been right, you would not be here.”

“I’m not here,” he said. When she frowned in puzzlement he explained, “The man who first arrived at the Wall is not here. I’m not him any more. I’m someone else now.”

Before she could reply, they were distracted by the creaking sound of a door opening on the far side of the courtyard. Both of them looked across to see the Imperial Officer pushing his torch forward into a dark entrance, illuminating a slope leading downward. William and Lin Mae watched as Wang and the Imperial Officer conferred for a moment, Wang nodding curtly. As Lin Mae translated what they were saying, explaining to William that beyond the door was a tunnel leading under the Palace complex, Wang marched back to a group of soldiers, who were waiting on the far side of the courtyard, and who had been chosen to stay behind as a last line of defense.

“We need all the time you can buy us,” he said.

As one, the small band of soldiers, fronted by two Eagle Corps warriors in filthy, battered armour, bowed in obedience, their faces masks of duty and grim determination.

Wang called together the procession that were undertaking the journey into the tunnel, and seconds later they set off. He and the Imperial Officer led the way, the Officer holding up a torch to light the route ahead. Directly behind them came two Bear Corps warriors, grunting with effort as they pushed the meat cart. Following them were Lin Mae and Peng Yong, both of whom, like the Officer, also brandished torches. Then came the three biggest and burliest warriors that the Nameless Order had at their disposal, all of whom wore black Bear Corps armour, and all of whom panted and strained and sweated as they maneuvered the heavy cart holding the recumbent Tao Tei through the tunnels. And finally, bringing up the rear of the group, came William, their last line of defense.

As the heavy door swung shut behind them, he glanced back, watching the block of daylight between door and frame become narrower until finally it disappeared. Now all they had to combat the darkness were their flickering torches, which threw strange, wavering shadows up and down the walls. Their journey had only just begun, and already the tunnel felt hot and stuffy, the air pungent with the stink of raw meat and the Tao Tei’s musky flesh.

William wondered what the next few hours would bring, whether this would be his last day on earth. He was all too aware he could be with Pero now, riding free across the desert plains, his saddlebags stuffed with black powder. But he had no regrets. He knew if he was given his time over again, he would still choose to be here—fighting alongside Lin Mae and the Nameless Order. Fighting for a cause that, for the first and only time in his life, actually mattered .

The door to the now empty Main Hall crashed open and the Tao Tei flooded in, their black talons scoring long grooves across the highly polished wooden floor. They crashed into pillars, knocked over pedestals, smashed vases and priceless statues, and tore down hanging silks with their claws and teeth.

Some of them swarmed up the steps to the Imperial throne, demolishing the delicate, ornamental balustrades at the sides. They sniffed at the throne and then around it, and then at the bottom of the steps. Their tiny eyes glinted; their maws opened, lips curling back from their rows of teeth, and they let loose a series of shrieks.

They had picked up a scent.

The defensive guard around the courtyard door numbered sixteen soldiers. Thirteen were from what remained of the Imperial Guard, and the other three were from what remained of the Nameless Order. Of the three Nameless Order soldiers, two were Eagle Corps warriors, standing at the front of the group with their bows armed and ready, and the other, standing just behind them with an axe in one hand and a mallet in the other, was from the Bear Corps.

None of the men spoke to one another. None of them shifted from their positions. They stood stoic and resolute, waiting for the enemy.

Waiting to fight and die.

The tunnel was hot and dark and seemingly endless.

Torches flickered. Muscles strained. Sweat poured. Wheels turned.

Silently, determinedly, they went on.

The silence in the courtyard was suddenly shattered by a sound that was distant, though no less terrifying for it. It was a shrill and hideous screech. Wordless, and yet full of rage and hate and awful, endless hunger.

The men in the courtyard stirred. The Imperial soldiers clutched the hilts of their swords with trembling hands; the Bear Corps warrior took a firmer grip on his axe and mallet; the Eagle Corps warriors drew back the strings of their bows, their focus absolute, their arms rock steady.

Another cry rent the air, closer this time, and was then quickly followed by another, and another. And now the men in the courtyard heard the thump of myriad feet, like the far-off rumble of approaching thunder.

The enemy were on their way.

There was light up ahead, Lin Mae was sure of it. It was difficult to tell with the flickering firelight of the Imperial Officer’s torch limning the rocky walls, but all the same she was certain she could see the faint glimmer of a different light beyond that—one that was softer, purer, more natural.

Was this new light coming from above? Yes, she was sure it was. She felt a pang of alarm as she wondered what could be causing it. Was it coming from a breach in the ceiling that had been created by the Tao Tei? Could their enemy have become tactically aware enough to anticipate their plan and intercept them?

But no. As they neared the light, she saw it was coming from a row of four open iron grates, like barred windows, set into the low ceiling of the next section of tunnel. The corridor broadened out a little here, and looked more man-made. The Imperial Officer turned and held up a hand, instructing them all to halt. When the wheels of the carts had creaked to a stop, he indicated a longer, darker section of tunnel that lay beyond the grated section directly ahead.

“That’s where we’re heading for,” he said. “Fifty more paces will bring us to the cellar of the East Pagoda.”

He turned away, holding up his torch, and again they began to move forward, the wheels of the two carts rumbling back to life. Lin Mae glanced over her shoulder at William, who was helping the now weary Bear Corps warriors push the Tao Tei cart the last fifty paces. She saw him glance up at the first of the grilles set into the ceiling—and then she saw him freeze. She glanced up too, following his gaze. Close to the grilles—no more than a few feet away—she saw movement.

At first the light filtering from above was too bright for her to make out what was causing it. But then her vision adjusted and she drew in a sharp breath. So close she could have reached up and touched it had the grating not been there, she saw a mass of shifting green flesh, interspersed with brief flashes of black taloned claws and glistening white teeth.

The area directly above their heads was teeming with Tao Tei!

Eyes widening, she looked at William. Casting a warning glance at the Imperial Officer at the head of the group with Wang at his side, he leaned forward and whispered, “Eyes forward! Keep moving! Tell them!”

But no sooner were the words out of his mouth than the Imperial Officer glanced up at the grating above his head—and froze in terror. He came to an abrupt halt, causing the rest of the procession to stop again too.

There was snuffling and grunting now from above, a new eagerness and awareness among the Tao Tei. Whether the creatures had seen their flickering torchlight, or heard their rumbling carts, or perhaps simply caught their scent Lin Mae had no idea, but all at once the light from above grew dimmer as the creatures moved across to press eyes and snouts against the grates. Next moment scrabbling talons appeared through the gaps between the bars and drool thick as candle wax began to drip down on them.