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atmospheric entry, floating along the far edge of the valley and disappearing
beyond the rims of the hills. As it disappeared, the rims of the hills were
suddenly lined with riders as far as she could see. There were thousands of
them, with sparkling armor and scattered pennants.
It was the main army of Mandughai. Untouched. Waiting to descend on them.
Men called out in dismay. Others hurried to mount up as Kati swung into the
saddle. "Stay here!" she shouted. "Don't follow me!"
She rode away from them, past the bodies of her people and those bioengineered
for war. When she was a kilometer away, she stopped, and looked up at the
horde lining the hills. She held up her sword.
I will not fight you with this, but I will fight you! Hear me, Mandughai! My
people have done what you wished. If you send more soldiers, they come against
me, not my people. Not one more of my people will die, but when it's over,
you'll have no army, and the ships that brought you here will be food for new
stars!
The choice is yours, Mandughai. I'm here, waiting for your decision.
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- Chapter 20
There was no answer. Pennants waved on the rims of the hills, and there was a
high-pitched sound coming from there. It was the cries of Mandughai's horde,
men bred for fighting, for dying, now awaiting a final command from their
leaders.
You don't answer me, and I hear the battlecries of your soldiers. Your
intention is now clear to me, but I
will not wait for you to come to me. I will come to you.
Kati sat rigidly on her horse, whose neck was suddenly illuminated brightly in
emerald green. A part of her was now elsewhere, physical pain forgotten, and
her heartbeat slowed, all emotions drained from her. She cupped her hands,
held them out to her sides and blue fog enveloped her, a thick fog that hissed
and moved the hairs on the back of her neck.
Laser, sword or arrow, none can come to me now, but I
will come to you.
Her horse was shocked rigid with terror. She brought her arms forward in arcs,
outlining the area her aura should cover, and the fog seemed to thin around
her. Ahead of her a wall of shimmering blue and purple appeared as if drawn by
the stroke of a great brush, a mammoth thing of roiling color in an arc across
the valley and extending tens of meters up from the ground.
She pushed it, as she'd done by the sea, but more slowly this time, at the
speed of a trotting horse. The explosions of bodies it passed over were only
flashes of light, and even the smoke of destroyed barley stubble was consumed
in the swirling colors.
I give you a few moments. I will not stop until I'm assured that our business
here is finished, and your threat against us is gone.
Still there was no answer, only a dull roar resonating from the hills.
Riders still lined the rims of those hills.
Kati pushed harder, and sent her wall of death up the slopes to meet them
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- Chapter 21
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- Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ABAGAI
There was panic along the rims of the hills. Pennants were dropped, and horses
were rearing in fright, trying to run back from the rim but blocked by the
crowd behind them. The wave of her awful energy surged ahead with a mind of
its own, faster than she wished. She spread her aura over it, pulled back, but
nothing happened. Now it was two hundred meters from the rims of the hills,
blackened soil behind it, closing rapidly on its target.
KATI! STOP IT! We surrender! Don't let this happen! PLEASE!
Mandughai. Kati pulled again, harder, felt resistance from an energy density
suddenly too great for her to handle.
Don't you understand? We GIVE UP! The war is OVER!
This time it was Yesugen. There was no time, now. Death was seconds away from
the rims of the hills.
Kati released her auric hold on her terrible creation, breaking the connection
with the gong-shi-jie. The wall of swirling colors disappeared in a flash,
leaving a shimmering image of the hills. Cool air rushed to fill the hot void;
there was a sharp crack and grumble, like rolling thunder.
Tears stung her eyes, and her skin felt cold. Her horse jumped at the sound of
the thunder, and she grabbed the reins tightly to control him.
Calm yourself, Kati. It's over, now. You've convinced everyone of that. All
we've set out to do is finished, and there will be no more killing.
Mandughai! Why did you wait so long?
It was Yesugen and her followers who needed convincing, and the delay was
theirs. You've given us all a bad fright, but that's good. Please, Kati, be
calm. It's now time for us to meet, and I'm sending Yesugen to you personally
to declare the end of this war and escort you here. You needn't be gentle with
her. She has learned a hard lesson, and is quite terrified of you now. But she
will come to you because she has courage.
Mandughai, we've done a terrible thing here today.
It may seem so, but it was necessary. We'll talk about it when you come to my
ship. Remember who you
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- Chapter 21
are, Kati. You're Empress of Shanji. We are foreigners whose challenge you've
met and turned back, and we stand on your ground. Yesugen must be reminded of
that. Hurry, Kati. I've waited years for this meeting.
Yes, Mandughai. So have I.
Kati sighed with relief.
A single rider had detached from the others, and was plunging rapidly down the
blackened slopes, carrying a red pennant on a long staff. Kati sat where she
was, but turned and gestured for her people to move back when she saw many of
them moving towards her with apprehension. They were silent, still stunned by
what they'd just seen.
They obeyed when the approaching rider was still a kilometer away, moving at a
slow gallop, but they watched warily in close-packed ranks behind her.
Kati was also wary, now vulnerable to a laser burst from afar, or a sword
thrust from the rider who approached her. She called on the light again to
tinge her aura in deep blue, a reminder of the power that was only a thought
away, waiting to touch a threat against her.
It was a woman, dressed in a simple black robe, and she held a sword across
her chest. She was in her late twenties or thirties, and tall in the saddle,
her face gaunt, with sharp features, highly arched nose and veined, domed
forehead. She slowed to a trot as she drew near and smiled, showing fine white
tusks thicker but shorter than Kati's. Kati returned the smile with her own
toothy display, for The Change hadn't left her since that first laser burst by
the sea.
"Yesugen," she growled.
Yesugen's eyes glared red as she came hesitantly to Kati's side within arm's
reach, and she jammed the shaft of her plain, red pennant into the ground. Her
fear was terrible, but it was not apparent to the eye.
"You're undoubtedly pleased to see me," she said. "Do I call you Kati, or
Mengnu, or just Empress, now that this day is over?"
"It makes no difference, now that we're one people."
"So you hope," said Yesugen. "I think that remains to be proven."
"I intend to do that. Mandughai says you'll take me to Her now."
"Yes, but first some ceremony for the people now ready to kill me if I make a
sudden move against you.
It's a token of your victory, and I give it willingly."
Yesugen pulled a scabbard from her saddle, slid it slowly over the blade she
held across her chest, and then, with a slight bow, handed them over to Kati.
"I am the vanquished," she said, and the words
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