Part 3, Chapter 11

Ch 11

General Wen, leader of the Heavenly Army camp, wearily looked up from his desk where he was writing a request for aid to the God of War. The first attack had come the previous night. The Red Desert Tribes had appeared as if from nowhere and thrown themselves at the camp’s defenses. His men had been prepared and the attack had failed, but they had been harder pressed than he had been ready for. When it had become clear that the attack had failed the tribes had scattered and disappeared back over the border. Whatever magic they had which kept them hidden from observers had kicked in full force and an entire army had vanished within minutes.

General Wen growled. It shouldn’t have been possible, they weren’t camped that near the Red Desert. The tribes shouldn’t have been able to disappear that rapidly. Or appear that rapidly now that he came to think about it.

“Ling Yin!” He called, summoning his aide to him. 

“Yes, General,” the quiet young man replied with a small salute.

“How many men do we have patrolling the boarder?”

“1170, stretching from Senshou Peak to the Xilou grasslands, they are more focused in the area near the camp however.”

The general looked over the large map of the countryside laid out on the floor of his tent. The camp was too far from the Red Desert for the tribes to have vanished without being seen. Something must have changed. He started to give a command to his aide when an orderly came stumbling into the tent. 

“Attack!” He cried.

The other two people in the tent waited for a heartbeat for him to collapse according to the standard script, but he just stood there looking at them. 

“Attack?” He said more hesitantly. 

The General grabbed his sword and the three men rushed into battle.