The Tiny Emperor's Great Wall (Revised)

Chapter Ten

The storm had passed, but the snow and frost remained. Huddled around a burning fire, General Ba kept as close to the flames as possible. The staff around her consulted with the guide to determine how close to the river they happened to be. If the guides were accurate, then they were within a couple hours' hike. The snow would slow them down, but that was only a minor obstacle.

Ba glanced around the small encampment. Nearly a hundred tents huddled together on the small perch. A few unlucky folks had to pitch their shelters near a cliff going straight down into the valley. One good breeze could send the tent and its occupants to Yama. Shaking that dreadful thought away, the general returned her focus to the task at hand.

"But we will get there today?" demanded Ba.

"Of course, miss," responded the guide. A wide smile crossed his face as they looked to the skies. The pale light of the morning sun reflected off the snow. The bright glare made it hard to look. "I must warn you, once we are there, we must deal with the local dragon.

"A dragon?" asked Ba. "Are they friendly?"

"She's never had contact with people," admitted a guide. He offered a nervous shrug. "Keeps to herself for the most part." The general rubbed her hands together as she thought it over. At first, the dragons of Han had fought hard with the Han Empire. The combined might of the Acciro and Alkebu-lan air forces had driven them away. Most of the Han Empire's dragons were now hiding away. Fear of Acciro revenge made them cowards.

Taking a deep breath, Ba nodded. "One step at a time. Our priority is the tunnel, no matter what." As she spoke, she sensed something off to her right. Below her nose was a pair of small holes, so small that one might mistake them for freckles. They were pits and, much like a pit-viper, could sense the heat of prey.

Ba always had trouble explaining her sixth sense to people. Calling it a second sight was sort of right, but at the same time wrong. She could 'see' the heat of all the people in front of her. Yet her mind easily separated that out from her light-based vision.

Reaching into her robes, Ba's tensed fingers went to her revolver. The cold steel felt nice until she spotted the white fox hopping around. It took Ba a few moments to figure out if it was a normal fox or an intelligent one. When it ripped a mouse out of the snow, Ba ignored it. Intelligent foxes such as kitsune or huli jing would never eat raw meat. So she returned her attention to the guide.

If Ba had watched a little longer, she would have seen the fox disappearing behind a nearby rock. Its single tail split into three as it glanced back to the camp. Smirking, the fox threw back its head and swallowed the mouse whole.

* * *

"Looks like my lady will be interested in this," noted the white fox. He pressed his nose into the air. Blue sparks of magic opened a patrol into the spiritual world. Trotting through the hole, he popped into a small room. Barely big enough for a person, the padded room allowed one complete solitude from the rest of the world.

Magic seals on the walls, shaped in kanji and glowing a light red, kept all voices in and outside noise out. Sitting down, Inari talked with a golden fox. She used her tails to form a loose cage around the one with which she spoke. Anyone outside of her tails patiently waited for their turn.

"Did you place the order I requested?" demanded the goddess.

"The blacksmith god will make your guns," declared the golden fox. Bowing, her nose touched the ground. "'Money is money, but don't drag me into your trouble' were his exact words."

"Trust me," huffed Irani, "I don't want anyone getting tangled in this web." Turning to a red fox, Inari asked, "And what about those seals? I need them in place within a couple of days."