Tetsukichi and Salt, disguised as Guardians, joined a group of the Master's soldiers who were pursuing the mysterious foreigners that Tetsukichi and Salt hoped in fact were their friends.
The soldiers were happy and honored to be joined by such
learned companions and the group set off. Conversation was awkward as most of
the party, despite their disguises could not speak Hun-Yi. However, the
white-robed soldiers did not question the apparent reticence of their
superiors; they set themselves to their mission and with their locals’
knowledge of the countryside, the group traveled quickly, reaching the banks of
a river by the end of the day. Here, the soldiers, explained, they should camp
for the night and the make a plan to ford the river the next day.
The travelers, still disguised as Guardians, agreed to the
plan and made their own camp some distance from the soldiers. According to
Mustapha, the effects of his magic would wane as the sun set.
The soldiers, accepting another rebuff with little protest,
made their own camp next to the river, and prepared a fire. A few hours after sunset, the party noticed
another group approaching from the other side of the river. A woman from the other group called out a
greeting, and then asked if any of the soldiers spoke Zhou. By luck, two of them did and they exchanged
banter with the woman and her friends across the river. In time, the party recognized the voices of
Salt and Bo-Jing. They called out to them
from the upper camp, and using a few words in Tuigen, confirmed that they were
all friends. The soldiers, confused at first, gratefully accepted the words of
their “superiors” that these charming foreigners were spreading Ignorance. The
soldiers were especially grateful to recognize the foreigners as “allies” when
a they suddenly appeared on the other side of the river (thanks to clever use
of Salt’s portable apartment and Bo-Jing, night-colored flying horse.)
The still-disguised “Guardians” explained to the soldiers that
they had fulfilled their mission. They should sleep until morning and then
return to Gilgat alone.
The night passed and in the morning, the soldiers followed
the instructions they’d received the night before, breaking camp and departing
with an awkward salute to the sleeping tents of the Guardians on the hill. When
the soldiers had gone, the assembled company greeted each other and planned
their next move. Salt the sorceress,
finding the presence of Narnutang the woman warrior even more objectionable
than her reputation, retreated into her magical apartment.
The others began their journey home, sharing stories about their respective journeys across Hunza and pondering the strange words of the giant bird. Bo-Jing made frequent scouting sorties and assisted his companions to avoid any more encounters with the remnants of the Master's armies and other followers.
No comments:
Post a Comment