Rizawa: The Artery of Perdition
Act III
The Western Pan Rin Garrison
“You stupid, stupid girl.” Meixi said, her voice rising up in the mock-playful pitch that she used when she was still angry about something but wanted to hide it.
Rizawa had made every effort to clean the wounds she'd picked up on her expedition, but while most of the cuts could be dressed and cleaned with minimal effort, the black eye she got from that overseer and the arrow that grazed her shoulder during her escape couldn't exactly be covered up with an extra layer of makeup (as if the sight of Rizawa in cosmetics wouldn't have been just as suspicious). Truth be told, Meixi probably knew about her injuries within hours of her return to the garrison. The doctor she saw was a local from Shungnath with, as far as she knew, no connections to anyone important at the base. However, the way Meixi launched straight into that tearful, rage-soaked philippic before Rizawa had even shut the door behind her made it obvious that her spies had been hard at work. She always forgot how resourceful she could be when she wanted to learn something.
“I can't believe that you would just go off into the jungle like that without so much as a word to me. I mean, what if something happened?”
“Something is happening, Meixi. I hate having to be the one to say this, but you know Yuanqi as well as I do. If he was over there having a meeting with the Ukni commanders, then he was doing so at the behest of your husband.”
“And what? I'm just some dolled up courtesan who isn't good for anything but beauty and conversation?”
“You know that I wouldn't be standing here if I felt that way.” Rizawa answered.
“Well if you trusted me half as much as you like to pretend that you do, it might have occurred to you that you weren't the only one whose had some cause to be suspicious of Chunlao lately.” Meixi said, tossing her a small brown jewel.
“Where on earth did you find this?” Rizawa asked.
“In my husband's office. After you came to me yesterday and told me that you thought he might have been involved in that poor girl's murder, I decided to have one of my guards toss his room.”
“Do you know what this is?” Rizawa asked.
“I might not be able to make out the words, but I know that script as well as anyone.”
“What you discovered here is a Lagovrun jewel. It translates from the Nezlugz as roughly 'word transporter' or 'word channeler'. Lagovrun are used by Ukni spies and saboteurs to communicate with their handlers in the Korvadun. The Dark God has always operated his espionage network using a cell-based system with multiple segregated chains of command, so that no one spy or agent ever knows enough about the network's structure to be of much use in the event of their capture. Thus, owing to the fact that Saklugz' field assets report to a rotating team of Korvadun agents, he needed a means to facilitate safe communication between his spies and their handlers. The Lagovrun crystals were created to address this need. In normal circumstances, they seem like nothing more than precious gems, but when they are placed in proximity to another Lagovrun they grow warm to the touch and emit a dark yellow light. The fact that Chunlao had one of these stones in his possession removes all doubt that he's in the Dark God's service.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Meixi asked.
“You're not going to do anything but play the part of the dutiful wife until I can dig up more evidence. If we came forward with just a Lagovrun crystal, Chunlao would simply deny that it was his and we'd lose the initiative. The entire point of using them is that they only identify whoever has the stone in their possession. However, if the other officers discover that the Ukni have constructed a network of underground chambers where large scale sacrifices are being conducted for the specific purpose of casting illusion magic around the Thozogh Canal, then even Chunlao would be hard pressed to come up with an explanation. I still have a few friends whose loyalty I trust. As soon as I'm done here I'm going to-”
“You always do this!” Meixi screamed. “Running off on your own whenever things get dangerous, charging headlong into certain death without the slightest regard for anyone else. Do you have any idea what it's like to sit here helplessly every time you decide to take matters into your own hands. This is dangerous, Rizawa. Not 'I'll make it work somehow' dangerous, but the other kind. The kind that you don't come back from. You're not a general or a Xunjin or even a company commander, you're a criminal investigator with a backwater garrison in the middle of a jungle. You can't fix this all by yourself.”
“I'm sorry, Meixi. I really am. I never meant to make you feel like you don't matter. But this thing is so much bigger than you or I. Another war with Saklugz means thousands upon thousands of deaths, wide scale famine, and whole cities put to the torch. I'll be the first person to admit that I have no business trying to stop a war, but if I don't, then who will?”
“Let me help you.” Meixi said. “I have plenty of contacts back at the capital. I have a much better chance of getting word to the Heir Empress than you do. How about we sit down and figure out what we can do about this together instead of just blindly hoisting the weight of the world onto your shoulders.”
“I'll tell you what. I set up a couple of meetings with some friendly faces before I stopped by. Why don't you get in contact with whoever you need to talk to and we'll meet back up in the morning and come up with a plan.”
Meixi nodded her head.
“I love you, Rizawa. Please don't get hurt.”
“I love you too.” Rizawa replied, kissing her on the forehead and walking out the door.
The image of the world that reached eyes of humanity was little more than illusion. If one were to use the signs and tokens of their eyes to categorize the Western Pan Rin Garrison, then the most significant divide would be found between the derelict whorehouses and seedy taverns along it's periphery and the untamed wilderness stretching far beyond the limits of human sight. Few would be dense enough not to pick up on the differences between the imposing watchtowers and siege-ready construction of the base itself and the dilapidated buildings beyond her walls, yet the differences in wood quality and masonry would only affirm the fundamental similarities of walls, roofs, paved roads, and 90 degree corners that nearly all settled human societies eventually come to adopt.
But the eyes had a way of deceiving, and anyone who tried to navigate that marketplace of syphilitic flesh and bathtub rice wine with the notion that they were within the bounds of civilization would quickly find themselves feeding the maggots in one of the outskirt's many conveniently located back alleys and runoff ditches.
Rizawa, for her part, had always felt that there was little difference between the taught muscles and jumpy eyes of the men selling counterfeit medicine outside a run down tavern and the spiders that she needed to pound out of her shoes each morning; how much there was in common between the cold stares of the pimps dragging their wares through the streets and the appraising eyes of the Ghost Jaguar just before it leaps from the fold. In fact, she sometimes felt more alienated from the warmth of human society wandering through the garrison's outskirts than when she was alone in the jungle. For there was nowhere in Aios that made it quite so clear that the thing we name civilization had nothing to do with infrastructure or material comfort, and that all the splendor in the world could not bring love or compassion to the hearts of serpents and venomous insects.
“This is the last time I ever do something like this for you.” Wujao said as Rizawa approached the deserted streetcorner that he'd chosen as their meeting place.
She wanted to reply that, at this point, the question of whether there would even be a next time was very much an open one, but Wujao had stuck his neck on the line by looking into how the 22nd Scouting Company could have possibly missed the construction of dozens of sacrificial chambers across the breadth of the Pan Rin. They were the kind of questions that would make him a prime candidate for the very disappearances that they were charged with investigating. The least she could do was let him vent.
“What did you find?” she asked.
“Well it seems as though the 22nd Scouting Company hasn't set foot around the Thozogh Canal in over two years.”
“How the hell could that have happened? The entire point of keeping such a prestigious company this deep in shit nowhere was so that we could have a good team of eyes on the only canary we have for our next war with the Ukni.”
“That's where things get interesting. You remember those skirmishes along our southern marches between Ukni soldiers and the 22nd a few years ago?”
“I do, but to be honest the whole thing seemed like a flimsy excuse for high command to impose some order on the soldiers.”
“Well I imagine the boys in the 22nd felt pretty much the same, right up until the day Yuanqi came waddling into their command headquarters with a story about how the Ukni were using the forces they'd stationed around the Thozogh Canal as a feint while the cut south around the garrison.”
“What? Every time the Ukni have tried to cross the Pan Rin on foot it's been at the helm of a large invasion force. I mean if everything I've read in the history books is true, they'd just hack and burn their way through the forest rather than trying to deal with all the wildlife. Hardly the kind of thing that you'd need highly trained scouts to spot.”
“Which helps explain why they were so fucking pissed when Yuanqi said that he was splitting the 22nd in two, and that the breakoff group, the 45th, would be the ones tasked with monitoring the Thozogh.” Wujao said.
“And I take it that all of the people selected to be part of this new company were recent recruits or transfers from other divisions of the Divine Army?” Rizawa asked.
“You got it. According to all of the records back at HQ, the 45th have been conducting daily patrols of the borderland between the two powers, while the 22nd has been bled dry in a series of ambushes that they insist are the result of intelligence leaks from the highest levels. In the first year after the company broke up, the casualty rates went up five fold.”
“So I take it that the surviving members of the 22nd aren't particularly pleased with General Chunlao right now.”
“Well despite having less than half the manpower that they had a couple years ago, they've managed to rack up more disciplinary complaints in the year after they made the switch than in the previous twenty combined.”
“So why hadn't I heard about all this.”
“Probably because you're a teetotaler. Apparently someone high up finally realized that having such a well-established company suddenly disappear might draw more attention than it kept away, and so they elected to place the 22nd on an indefinite suspension while the 45th took over both duties. For the past year, the scouts have just been sitting around in taverns complaining about the situation to anyone willing to pay for their next round. It shouldn't be too hard to find them.”
“Thank you so much, Wujao. You really saved my ass here.”
“I just hope that you know what you're doing with all this.” he replied.
Rizawa didn't have the heart to tell him the truth
The energy pulsing through the Lonely Tortoise that evening seemed completely at odds with Wujao's tale of a company bereft of purpose. She heard the shouts of excited revelers before she'd even turned onto the street, and by the time she got inside it was obvious from the dozens active dice games and the many prostitutes weaving their way from table to table that the 22nd Scouting Company thought they had something to celebrate. Or perhaps something to mourn, for a grieving soldier and an exultant one were remarkably alike how that built up energy found expression.
It was the ferocious shouts at the dice table that gave things away. Rizawa had been called to enough disturbances to know that the loudest games were the ones least likely to spiral into open violence. Nothing sent shivers down her spine quite like walking into a tavern and being greeted by the sight of silent, dour looking soldiers. On nights like that you'll get better odds on someone getting their throat slit than anything you'll find on the tables.
Rizawa scanned the crowd, selecting a burly looking gentleman with a large scar on his face and an even larger pile of coins in front of him.
“I need to find Sergeant Luo.” she said.
“Well if you're looking for a ride on that famous cock of his then you're gonna have to get in line. Fat pockets and a huge dick seem to go a long way with your type.” he replied, swinging out his arm to brush her away.
Rizawa caught it, twisting it to drive the man face-first into his coin pile.
“A big dick's worthless if you don't know what you're doing with it. If Luo wants his cock sucked so bad then the best thing he could do is get his own mouth game up to speed. As things stand, I think I'd have better luck cutting out his tongue and stapling it to cat than getting him to do anything useful with it.”
The soldier leapt up to his feet with a smile on his face.
“So you're the type who likes it rough, eh? I can work with that.”
“Let's just hope you can keep it working when all that's left of it is a severed stump. I know the 22nd talks a big game about being the Nobiwaru's equal in stealth and efficiency, but I suspect that deep down you already know what's gonna happen here. I'll tell you what, if you hold real still I'll try to at least leave you with a nub to piss out of.”
The man's eyes lit up at the mention of the order of assassins. He looked her up and down again, no longer focused the curve of her hips but on the countless scars running the length her body and the half dozen weapons concealed on her person.
“I thought you Nobiwaru were supposed to be graceful courtesans right up until the moment you cut your target's throat. You hardly seem the type to be at home in the halls of power.”
“Why the hell else would they send me to this shithole.” she replied.
“It's okay, Tsunan...” came a voice from behind her. “Rizawa's a friend. I've known her since we were stationed at the Husheng Gates together. Despite her manners, she's proven herself to be a reliable comrade when things fall to hell, provided you don't make the mistake of trying to get into bed with her.”
“I take it she's the one who stabbed that dockmaster to death?” Tsunan asked.
“Yep, alongside the entire compliment of Korvadun agents who'd been sent to protect him."
Rizawa knew that it was just a coping mechanism, but she always hated how men could turn the most unspeakable horrors into comic tavern tales. The official in question had been using his office to smuggle arms for an Ukni-financed uprising along Nezhu's northern frontier. She had done everything in her power to resolve the situation through traditional channels, and the whole thing had blown up in her face. Still, she couldn't deny that Luo's banter had a pacifying effect on Tsunan, who peacefully returned to his game as the two of them walked off to a table in the far corner.
“Holy shit.” Luo said as Rizawa finished her story. “This is bad.”
“What, the fact that the Western Pan Rin Garrison has been infiltrated by the Ukni at the highest levels? The fact that Heir Empress Zhe and her admirals are laboring under the mistaken belief that the Thozogh Canal is years from completion? Or were you referring to the enemy fleet that's poised for an imminent invasion of the Nezhuan heartland?”
“None of those bode very well, I'll admit, but I was talking about the orders we got from high command this afternoon. I guess you must have stirred up quite the hornet's nest, because Yuanqi himself came down and gave a whole speech about how the enemy, no doubt knowing that they could not hope to match our vigilance in open battle, had resorted to digging a massive tunnel system designed to carry their mages right up to our doorstep. Even listening to him talk, I found myself half-suspicious that he was some kind of enemy saboteur. I mean spies and poets are the only ones who'd give such an ostentatious speech about the depths of the enemy's depravity and how we were the last bastion against being completely overrun, and Yuanqi never seemed to have much of a taste for the written word. About the only things he didn't mention in that rambling paean were the fact that there's an Ukni fleet drydocked at the canal and that the 45th are on the Dark God's payroll. The boys have been celebrating the fact that he gave us orders to go out into the Pan Rin and wipe out each of the nodes by force in a combined operation with members of the 45th. We're supposed to be out of here by first light.”
“Holy shit.” Rizawa said. “Do you think he's setting you up for an ambush?”
“It'd make sense given everything you just told me. General Chunlao would be able to knock out the only company in the Pan Rin with a real chance of discovering his treachery, and at the same time he'd be giving himself the perfect cover to 'announce' a new Ukni troop buildup in the region before their fleet took to the Gaujong River. If he gave a report about the fleet after half the base already knew about invasion he'd be finished, but if he timed things out so that his report got to the Heir Empress just ahead of the fleet's departure then he could make it seem like he was caught as off guard as everyone else while still leaving her with next to no time to respond to the attack. Plus, with us out of the way, Chunlao would have all the pretext he needed to establish ever stricter security protocols. After all, if the best scouting company in the Divine Army could be taken out by the enemy, it would make sense to keep his regular soldiers confined within the base in the event that we were besieged. He could make the 45th his official vanguard and keep the rest of the army locked up in the garrison as the Ukni fleet sailed right past.”
“What in the hell are we going to do?” Rizawa asked.
“Well I know what we're not gonna do, and that's sit on our asses and wait for the enemy to put their plans into motion. Given that the 22nd is set to leave the garrison at dawn, that gives us a pretty short window.” Luo replied.
“Well Chunlao might be able to make the 22nd and 45th seem like equal forces on paper, but he knows as well as anyone which of the two companies is strongest. Because of that, I'm guessing that he'll be making full use of the element of surprise, luring you out to some kind of choke point before the 45th turned on you en masse. But given the stakes, if I were in his shoes I'd be sure to give myself a second line of defense in case the fighting turned in your favor. Since he happens to be in possession of a network of underground Zuthruhk sites complete with a team of Ka'in working around the clock to keep that illusion magic going, I can't imagine any reason why he wouldn't bring them into the fight as well.” Rizawa said.
“Yeah, you're right. There's no way Chunlao would trust those dipshits in the 45th to wipe us out on their own, even with the element of surprise. And if he's going to be using Zuthruhk magic to finish us off-”
“Then he'll almost certainly have ordered his Ka'in to begin whatever rituals and preparations they'll need for the morning.” Rizawa cut in.
“So that just leaves the question of how we're gonna find those underground chambers in the dead of night without so much as a hint to their location.” Luo said.
“Well I may just have something that can help us out with that.” Rizawa said, pulling out the Lagovrun crystal.
Luo burst out laughing.
“Of course you'd have one of those things tucked away in your robes. You know, I've heard stories of Ukni spies presenting themselves before the great noble houses in Tyung because their Lagovrun were triggered by some old war relic that was kept on display as a trophy, but this is the first time I've heard of anyone using one to bring the fight to the enemy. If we can snuff out those Ka'in ahead of the ambush it will throw their whole plan to the shitter, especially if the 22nd know that the 45th are out to get them.”
“If the 22nd can hold their own against the Ukni, then Chunlao's whole plan falls apart. Do you think that your comrades will believe your story?”
“They might or they might not, but they'll certainly take my words seriously enough to be on guard when they're out there. But if I can get back to the base ahead of the deployment with some kind of proof that we're being ambushed then the 45th won't have a fucking chance.”
“Then that just leaves one last question.” Rizawa said.
“What's that?”
“Given that Chunlao must know that I'm the one who visited the Thozogh Canal last night, and given the amount of effort he put into wiping out your unit, doesn't it seem strange that he hasn't bothered to do the same for me?”
“Well put it this way: when a man wants to hunt down a trophy buck, he's gotta jump over a hundred hurdles just to get the thing where it needs to be for his arrows to do their magic, but when that same man wants to find the fox whose been rummaging through his pens at night, all he has to do is wait.”
Rizawa fidgeted with the sealed scroll as she made her way back to the garrison walls. She'd spent so much of her life carefully protecting the one thing that could give her direct access to the Heir Empress that the idea of ripping it in half felt as wrong as ripping off her own arms. But there was no other choice. She'd never had any problems keeping secrets from her lovers before, but this time was different. Her decision to pursue a relationship with General Chunlao's wife meant that Meixi was now in danger. She hated herself for breaking her promise to her, but if she didn't go out there with Luo then there would be nothing to stop the Ukni fleet from sailing up the Yaln River and besieging Tyung. But if Meixi understood the true reasons for her involvement then she'd at least have chance of slipping away before heads started flying in earnest. She was also one of the few people in the garrison who actually had a chance of getting word to the Heir Empress in the event that Rizawa didn't make it back. Cursing herself for her shortsightedness, her cowardice, and her pathological inability to be anything but a burden to her lovers, Rizawa tore the seal, handing one half to the guard outside the commander's palace with a note that explained everything and then crawling back into the darkness to rendezvous with Luo.
"Rizawa: The Artery of Perdition" has been published freely online in order to introduce readers to the world of the "Under the Burning Tower" series. Because of this, hiring an editor for this project simply isn't feasible. If you happen across any typographical or grammatical errors while reading, especially if you see something that looks like a missing paragraph, please feel free to reach out and let me know.
