Phoenix Rising

070

Bordering Nanmen and the Luya desert was a low arid mountain range known as the Devil's Peaks because of its treacherous terrain—providing a natural barrier between the kingdom of Duan and the southern wastelands. As Zhenghuan, Mingshen and the men from the Shadow Army they had brought with them entered the central valley of the mountain range, they were immediately engulfed by the dark shadows cast by the craggy peaks. Gusts of wind circled at the hooves of their steeds, sending clouds of dust spiraling in the air.

"Everyone stay alert," Zhenghuan ordered, leading the way further into the valley. As they went deeper, the air became still, yet the calm that had taken over was also mixed with something sinister.

According to the message they had received, the site of the ambush was not far from their current location. A place that the locals called Vulture's Nest, because of the large number of black vultures that made their home up upon those steep slopes. The border army frequently conducted exercises within these mountains, but this was the first time in a long time that any disturbances had been reported.

"General, there's something here," Mingshen said, pointing the tip of his spear at a marking that had been engraved into the stone wall on the left side of the valley.

It was a string of odd symbols, circles and crosses, curves and slashes, remnants of an ancient language that Zhenghuan could not read but could recognise.

"Xifeng shamanism," Zhenghuan murmured. Benath his silver mask, his brows knitted into a frown.

These symbols were known to be used by the shamans of the Xifeng tribe for centuries, all the way up till the tribe's near extermination in recent years. Zhenghuan was skeptical about Xifeng mysticism, but there were plenty of stories passed down from generation to generation about how the Xifeng shamans were able to use these occult symbols to control the elements and bend nature to their will.

"You think this could really be the work of the Eagle Warrior? Would he actually send Sunbaye here?" Mingshen asked.

Zhenghuan shook his head. "Anyone can carve some symbols," he replied. He could not think of a reason why the Eagle Warrior might choose to launch an offensive against Duan at this juncture, not when he knew that the Shadow Army was stationed at the border, what more send his most trusted aide, Sunbaye, to lead this ambush. It seemed more likely that this was a deflection tactic to mislead them in their search for the true culprit.

Signalling to his men, he continued down the narrow valley, keeping his eyes peeled for the slightest movement in the surroundings. Soon, they began to hear voices drifting towards them.

"It's almost night, we should set up camp for the night."

"Can't we find somewhere more comfortable? This place gives me the creeps."

"There isn't anywhere better. What's there to be scared of anyway? Vultures pecking off your nose?"

Raucous laughter ensued, followed by more casual banter.

Zhenghuan and Mingshen exchanged suspicious glances. They quickened the paces of their steeds until they arrived at a clearing where the valley fanned out into four other paths leading up and down the sloping terrain. There, they found a sizeable group of soldiers from the Nanmen camp in the midst of pitching some tents to settle down for the night. The soldiers froze, blinking back their confusion when they saw the Shadow Lord and his men approach.

"General? Commander Zhang? What are you doing here?" the voice belonged to Zi-ning's brother, Yongxing, who was leading this band of soldiers on their exercise.

Zhenghuan dismounted and walked over to Yongxing. "We received a message that said you were ambushed while on the mission. What happened?" he asked, an uneasy feeling stirring in his gut.