Sprites & Demons, M.P. Busch [the ebook reader txt] 📗

Sprites & Demons

The night cast itself over the land, blanketing it in a cool darkness. The moon was at it's apex in the sky. The night shift guards had taken their positions. The stillness in the palace was palpable. Candles burned silently and dimly, casting long and distorted shadows on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Liu Shan did not like the shadows. The taut figures cast on the walls resembled pictures of faces, demons, and otherworldly features of half-seen creatures. It was the boy's imagination. Liu Shan stared at the walls with the wool blanket below his eyes. A demon stared back at him. It was a distorted face, billowing in the candle fire. Suddenly, the candle on his bureau went out with a sudden rush of air. The entire room darkened in an instant, becoming as black as a void. The rush of air had come through a slit in the room's window, a window made not made of clear glass but a translucent linen. Liu Shan gave a small squeal and threw the wool blanket over his head.

Liu Shan was five years old, and his mother, Empress Zhaolie (self-proclaimed 'Empress' of course), insisted that the boy have the freedom of his own room. The room was used primarily for sleeping and studying. Over the course of the month, Ba Zeng had the honor of proving himself to Lord Xuande to become Liu Shan's tutor. Ba Zeng had made an ingenious invention: a snare with a bait of food of some kind. Due to the contraption's effectiveness, the mouse population dwindled in the palace and the city. Xuande was sufficiently pleased with the decrease of the squalor, and hired Ba Zeng as Liu Shan's tutor.

Liu Shan felt completely safe under the wool blanket, with his feather mattress underneath him. He closed his eyes and turned in his bed, facing away from the shadows. They can't get me, they can't get me, they can't get me. The small boy repeated to himself over and over again.

Then there were rappings at the door. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Liu Shan was startled at first, giving another squeal inside his mind; he knew it had to be the demons coming for him! He pulled the wool blanket closer to him, concentrating to block out the noise. He repeated loudly his mind so loudly, that is was almost a auidible whisper: They can't get me! They can't get me! They can't get me!

The door opened, light poured into the room like a saviour. Liu Shan peaked above the wool blanket, mustering the courage to look. A silhouette stood in the threshold. The whistling wind stopped, the shadows grew still. Liu Shan smiled when he realized it was a palace guard.

"Lord Shan?" The guard called, mildly worried until he saw the cowed little boy in his bed. "You yelled-" he said examining the child of his Lord. "Is there something wrong?"

"My light went out..." Liu Shan replied in a timid voice. he pointed to his bureau. The guard nodded and took the candle that was sitting on a small plate. He moved into the hallway and held the wick to a torch. The guard returned with the candle and placed it back on Liu Shan's bureau. Liu Shan muttered a thanks, but the guard did not hear it. Before exiting the room, the guard had turned and offered the child a good night. He left, shutting the door behind him. The room returned to its original state. The light from the hallway left the room, leaving the dim candle to illuminate the open space by its lonesome.

Then the demons returned to the walls.

Liu Shan pulled the wool blanket over his head, intimidated, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Whimper of the Dead

Liu Bei could not believe how fast the day had come and gone. He stood out on the wooden walkway that bordered the garden in a square shape. The lord was draped in elegant robes which, for the most part, shielded him from the piercing coldness of the night.

The stillness of the dark gave him a small peace.

The entire day had been chaotic. Hearing requests, bearing terrible messages, and sitting still on his bed-throne whilst his ministers debated over everything. Liu Bei took solace in the fact that in the night, he would have all the time in the world to absorb what had transpired throughout the day, and to be alone.

He also had a chance to talk with his deceased wife: Lady Mi. (The sister of Mi Fang and Mi Zhu.)

Liu Bei probably did not realize that he was still grieving over her death at Chang Ban. Lady Mi had been so remarkably brave that every time Liu Bei recalled the tale, the story brought tears to his eyes:

Lady Mi looked around desperately whilst a Shu soldier pressed her onward. The village of Chang Ban would be reduced to ash, while the lifeless bodies of civilians lay face down in the mud. Cries, shouting, yelling and the sounds of arrows being released filled the air. There were almost no Shu soldiers left in Chang Ban, reducing Wei's operation to a massacre.

Their carriage had broken a wheel and they had to proceed on foot through Chang Ban village. It was like stepping into a nightmare you couldn't wake up from.

Mi's attention was diverted to the sky for just a mere moment. It was filled with smoke and fire, embers flying upward from burning houses. Behind them she could hear more Wei calvary tossing their torches onto the thatch-made roofs of houses. She let out an involuntary scream as a Wei calvary soldier flew by her: slicing one of her escorts in half. Lady Mi faltered, tripping on her own footing, and Liu Shan fell out of her arms. His crying was inaudible in the battlefield. Lady Gan (Empress Zhaolie) grabbed the falling Liu Shan out of sheer instinct. A volley of javelins flew past the group as two more Shu escorts went down. A javelin had scraped the skin off of Lady Mi's cheek. The Shu soldiers' blood spurted on Lady Gan's dress but she swallowed a scream and reinforced herself with bravery, and bolted past the bodies with Lady Mi following suit.

Liu Bei remembered where he was at the time, he had just been told that Zhao Yun (Zilong) had fled north. Xu Shu had speculated that Zilong was going to defect to Wei. Liu Bei punched the bark of a nearby tree, yelling out in anger and frustration: "Zilong would never betray me!" Xu Shu held his tongue, and continued to aid in the evacuation of the civilians in Chang Ban. Liu Bei was unaware of the whereabouts of his wives and his child, Liu Shan. He had assumed they were already in the evacuation line, Unbeknownst to Liu Bei at the time, his family was grossly behind schedule.

It was now too dangerous to walk a yard in any direction; what was left of the Shu rearguard was now an eighth of the fraction and many of the houses were at their apex of burning. The air was toxic with smoke and the sky appeared engulfed in flames. Lady Mi and Lady Gan had taken shelter, crouching beside a well. Liu Shan was wrapped tightly in linen cloth, his crying still unheard. Many arrows filled the sky, falling like raindrops.

Like a knight in shining armor, Zilong burst through a contingent of Wei soldiers. Instantly, two attackers on horses assaulted Zilong. One wielding a heavy battle-axe, the other, a halberd. Zilong went to work with his spear, fending off both attackers on either side of his horse. Zilong took down the battle-axe wielding assailant neatly, cutting through a weak spot in his chain-mail. Then halted his horse and swept his spear across the side, slicing the other soldiers' horse's torso in two. The man was propelled off of his dead horse into the mud.

Zilong spotted the two ladies hiding by the well. He dismounted, trying to get to them as fast as possible. Bailong (Zilong's horse) circled through the town instinctively knowing, it was too dangerous to stand still, but trained to it would return upon hearing it's name. Zilong spotted two Wei soldiers, who were also making their way towards Xuande's family, running towards them Zilong whipped out his spear, thrusting straight through the first's chest. The second's momentum was too strong. He threw himself into the spear's staff flying forward so fast he rolled, landing on his back.

Withdrawing his spear, Zilong realized there were even more Wei soldiers converging on him. He spun, his spear lashing out diagonally across one poor man's chest. He parried a slash from a sword, then used his spear's range to dispatch of that assailant quickly. Another soldier ran at him. Zilong thrust the blunt end of his spear into the soldier's stomach, vaulted the soldier through the, of a burning house the soldier instantly caught fire and was incinerated.

The general had reached the well, quickly seeing that Bailong was already there -- the smart horse! Zilong thrust his own spear into the ground and went to aid the ladies, "Get on the horse my lady!" Zilong yelled over the din of the battle. There were two ladies but Zilong was not addressing anyone specifically. Lady Mi, who was now clutching Liu Shan, fell on her knees with relief, "General Zhao," She cried her face crimson with blood from her wound. "He is Liu Bei's only flesh and blood, please take him safely to him!" Mi was crying herself, she shoved Liu Shan into Zilong's arms, Zilong grasped the baby, and grabbed Mi by her shoulder, "I promise I will my lady! I will return both of you and the baby to Liu Bei!" But for some reason Mi was shaking her head in disagreement.

A Wei soldier propelled his spear into the fray, hoping he had struck someone, be it Zilong, Mi, or Gan. Acting on instinct, Zilong grasped the shaft of the spear, broke it, twirled towards the Wei soldier, and shoved the spear tip into the man's heart. He took Liu Shan, covered his little face in the linen, and strapped the baby onto his back. Zilong whispered to himself, and Liu Shan: "Let's go, Little Dragon." Zilong kicked the bottom of his spear throwing it back into the air, Zilong grasped it with his palm and threw himself back into the fray of Wei soldiers.

Lady Gan had already gotten on top of Bailong when she turned herself around to see where Lady Mi was.

She was standing on the rim of the well.

Lady Gan called out through her fear, "NO!" She reached out for her but Lady Mi was mere inches too far. She stepped off the rim and into the blackness of the abyss. Lady Gan was distraught and couldn't move. Why!? Zilong had seen it too withdrawing himself from his opponents, he looked down the well to see nothing but blackness. There was nothing Zilong could do but cover the well back up, protecting the body from those who might desecrate it.

Zilong grabbed the saddle on top of Bailong and threw himself onto the horse.

"Let's go, Bailong!"

Liu Bei ran his sleeve across his eyes, wiping away the oncoming tears.

Empress Zhaolie studied her husband's solemn face; he had never been the same since Chang Ban.