World Without End

[Liu Bei]

Part One

Sprites & Demons

It was midnight, the moon was highest in the sky. The night shift guards had taken their positions. The stillness in the palace was palpable. Candles burned silently and dimly, casting long and distorted shadows on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Liu Shan did not like the shadows. The taut figures cast on the walls resembled pictures of faces, demons, and otherworldly features of half-seen creatures. It was the boy's imagination. Liu Shan stared at the walls with the wool blanket below his eyes. A demon stared back at him. It was a distorted face, billowing in the candle fire. Suddenly, the candle on his bureau went out with a sudden rush of air. The entire room darkened in an instant, becoming as black as a void. The rush of air had come through a slit in the room's window, a window made not made of clear glass but a translucent linen. Liu Shan gave a small squeal and threw the wool blanket over his head.

Liu Shan was five years old, and his mother, Empress Zhaolie (self-proclaimed 'Empress' of course), insisted that the boy have the freedom of his own room. The room was used primarily for sleeping and studying. Over the course of the month, Ba Zeng had the honor of proving himself to Lord Xuande to become Liu Shan's tutor. Ba Zeng had made an ingenious invention: a snare with a bait of food of some kind. Due to the contraption's effectiveness, the mouse population dwindled in the palace and the city. Xuande was sufficiently pleased with the decrease of the squalor, and hired Ba Zeng as Liu Shan's tutor.

Liu Shan felt completely safe under the wool blanket, with his feather mattress underneath him. He closed his eyes and turned in his bed, facing away from the shadows. They can't get me, they can't get me, they can't get me. The small boy repeated to himself over and over again.

Then there were rappings at the door. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Liu Shan was startled at first, giving another squeal inside his mind; he knew it had to be the demons coming for him! He pulled the wool blanket closer to him, concentrating to block out the noise. He repeated loudly his mind so loudly, that is was almost a auidible whisper: They can't get me! They can't get me! They can't get me!

The door opened, light poured into the room like a saviour. Liu Shan peaked above the wool blanket, mustering the courage to look. A silhouette stood in the threshold. The whistling wind stopped, the shadows grew still. Liu Shan smiled when he realized it was a palace guard.

"Lord Shan?" The guard called, mildly worried until he saw the cowed little boy in his bed. "You yelled-" he said examining the child of his Lord. "Is there something wrong?"

"My light went out..." Liu Shan replied in a timid voice. He pointed to his bureau. The guard nodded and took the candle that was sitting on a small plate. He moved into the hallway and held the wick to a torch. The guard returned with the candle and placed it back on Liu Shan's bureau. Liu Shan muttered a thanks, but the guard did not hear it. Before exiting the room, the guard had turned and offered the child a good night. He left, shutting the door behind him. The room returned to its original state. The light from the hallway left the room, leaving the dim candle to illuminate the open space by its lonesome.

Then the demons returned to the walls.

Liu Shan pulled the wool blanket over his head, intimidated, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

---

Whimper of the Dead

Liu Bei could not believe how fast the day had come and gone. He stood out on the wooden walkway that bordered the garden in a square shape. The lord was draped in elegant robes which, for the most part, shielded him from the piercing coldness of the night.

The stillness of the dark gave him a small peace.

The entire day had been chaotic. Hearing requests, bearing terrible messages, and sitting still on his bed-throne whilst his ministers debated over everything. Liu Bei took solace in the fact that in the night, he would have all the time in the world to absorb what had transpired throughout the day, and to be alone.

He also had a chance to talk with his deceased wife: Lady Mi. (The sister of Mi Fang and Mi Zhu.) Liu Bei would have imaginary conversations with her, he kept her up to date about the kingdom, and battles like Chi Bi.

Liu Bei probably did not realize that he was still grieving over her death at Chang Ban. Lady Mi had been so remarkably brave that every time Liu Bei recalled the tale, the story brought tears to his eyes:

Lady Mi looked around desperately whilst a Shu soldier pressed her onward. The village of Chang Ban would be reduced to ash, while the lifeless bodies of civilians lay face down in the mud. Cries, shouting, yelling and the sounds of arrows being released filled the air. There were almost no Shu soldiers left in Chang Ban, reducing Wei's operation to a massacre.

Their carriage had broken a wheel and they had to proceed on foot through Chang Ban village. It was like stepping into a nightmare you couldn't wake up from.

Mi's attention was diverted to the sky for just a mere moment. It was filled with smoke and fire, embers flying upward from burning houses. Behind them she could hear more Wei calvary tossing their torches onto the thatch-made roofs of houses. She let out an involuntary scream as a Wei calvary soldier flew by her: slicing one of her escorts in half. Lady Mi faltered, tripping on her own footing, and Liu Shan fell out of her arms. His crying was inaudible in the battlefield. Lady Gan (Empress Zhaolie) grabbed the falling Liu Shan out of sheer instinct. A volley of javelins flew past the group as two more Shu escorts went down. A javelin had scraped the skin off of Lady Mi's cheek. The Shu soldiers' blood spurted on Lady Gan's dress but she swallowed a scream and reinforced herself with bravery, and bolted past the bodies with Lady Mi following suit.

Liu Bei remembered where he was at the time, he had just been told that Zhao Yun (Zilong) had fled north. Xu Shu had speculated that Zilong was going to defect to Wei. Liu Bei punched the bark of a nearby tree, yelling out in anger and frustration: "Zilong would never betray me!" Xu Shu held his tongue, and continued to aid in the evacuation of the civilians in Chang Ban. Liu Bei was unaware of the whereabouts of his wives and his child, Liu Shan. He had assumed they were already in the evacuation line, Unbeknownst to Liu Bei at the time, his family was grossly behind schedule.

It was now too dangerous to walk a yard in any direction; what was left of the Shu rearguard was now an eighth of the fraction and many of the houses were at their apex of burning. The air was toxic with smoke and the sky appeared engulfed in flames. Lady Mi and Lady Gan had taken shelter, crouching beside a well. Liu Shan was wrapped tightly in linen cloth, his crying still unheard. Many arrows filled the sky, falling like raindrops.

Like a knight in shining armor, Zilong burst through a contingent of Wei soldiers. Instantly, two attackers on horses assaulted Zilong. One wielding a heavy battle-axe, the other, a halberd. Zilong went to work with his spear, fending off both attackers on either side of his horse. Zilong took down the battle-axe wielding assailant neatly, cutting through a weak spot in his chain-mail. Then halted his horse and swept his spear across the side, slicing the other soldiers' horse's torso in two. The man was propelled off of his dead horse into the mud.

Zilong spotted the two ladies hiding by the well. He dismounted, trying to get to them as fast as possible. Bailong (Zilong's horse) circled through the town instinctively knowing, it was too dangerous to stand still, but trained to it would return upon hearing it's name. Zilong spotted two Wei soldiers, who were also making their way towards Xuande's family, running towards them Zilong whipped out his spear, thrusting straight through the first's chest. The second's momentum was too strong. He threw himself into the spear's staff flying forward so fast he rolled, landing on his back.

Withdrawing his spear, Zilong realized there were even more Wei soldiers converging on him. He spun, his spear lashing out diagonally across one poor man's chest. He parried a slash from a sword, then used his spear's range to dispatch of that assailant quickly. Another soldier ran at him. Zilong thrust the blunt end of his spear into the soldier's stomach, vaulted the soldier through the, of a burning house the soldier instantly caught fire and was incinerated.

The general had reached the well, quickly seeing that Bailong was already there -- the smart horse! Zilong thrust his own spear into the ground and went to aid the ladies, "Get on the horse my lady!" Zilong yelled over the din of the battle. There were two ladies but Zilong was not addressing anyone specifically. Lady Mi, who was now clutching Liu Shan, fell on her knees with relief, "General Zhao," She cried her face crimson with blood from her wound. "He is Liu Bei's only flesh and blood, please take him safely to him!" Mi was crying herself, she shoved Liu Shan into Zilong's arms, Zilong grasped the baby, and grabbed Mi by her shoulder, "I promise I will my lady! I will return both of you and the baby to Liu Bei!" But for some reason Mi was shaking her head in disagreement.

A Wei soldier propelled his spear into the fray, hoping he had struck someone, be it Zilong, Mi, or Gan. Acting on instinct, Zilong grasped the shaft of the spear, broke it, twirled towards the Wei soldier, and shoved the spear tip into the man's heart. He took Liu Shan, covered his little face in the linen, and strapped the baby onto his back. Zilong whispered to himself, and Liu Shan: "Let's go, Little Dragon." Zilong kicked the bottom of his spear throwing it back into the air, Zilong grasped it with his palm and threw himself back into the fray of Wei soldiers.

Lady Gan had already gotten on top of Bailong when she turned herself around to see where Lady Mi was.

She was standing on the rim of the well.

Lady Gan called out through her fear, "NO!" She reached out for her but Lady Mi was mere inches too far. She stepped off the rim and into the blackness of the abyss. Lady Gan was distraught and couldn't move. Why!? Zilong had seen it too withdrawing himself from his opponents, he looked down the well to see nothing but blackness. There was nothing Zilong could do but cover the well back up, protecting the body from those who might desecrate it.

Zilong grabbed the saddle on top of Bailong and threw himself onto the horse.

"Let's go, Bailong!"

Liu Bei ran his sleeve across his eyes, wiping away the oncoming tears.

Empress Zhaolie studied her husband's solemn face; he had never been the same since Chang Ban. That day changed all of their lives. It seemed that even the elated air of Chi Bi could not pull Liu Bei away from his memory of Lady Mi.

Perhaps, just perhaps, I can, Zhaolie thought slyly in her head. She moved away from the darkened threshold, disappearing into the palace.

[Liu Bei]

Part Two[/u]

The Bird Monster

The markets in the city center at mid-day were filled to the brim with townspeople.

An adorable city child in a ragged, rural cloak ran swiftly through the city streets, the adults towering over him. They all overlooked the boy; most of the adults perceived the small children as playing around with their friends when they were moving so fast. Indeed, the boy was not the only child playing about in the streets. A small urchin was also ideal for performing tasks however, since he or she was most easily persuaded through the use of temptation.

The boy turned abruptly and bolted into a shadowed alleyway. It was where the Bird Monster was waiting for him.

Bird Monster was the name the urchin had given his new black-clad friend. The Bird Monster was taller than most adults in the cities, slenderer and more flexible. His face was covered by a mask, with a protruding beak where the human nose would be -- hence the name 'bird monster.' His cloak was pitch black with a hood that covered most of his forehead and reached out above the tip of the beak. The shadow that was formed by the hood darkened the bird monster's face, strengthening the glow of his red eyes.

The urchin had seen through this ruse, even though he was little over the age of eight. The Bird Monster's red 'eyes' were only red-tinted glass: the Bird Monster was seeing the world through a red filter.

The Bird Monster was leaning against a stack of boxes, arms crossed, when the boy arrived. The mysterious figure wasn't intimidating to this little urchin though; in fact, he gave the Bird Monster a mischievous grin in response to the cowled man's leer. They had made a previous engagement, and the urchin wanted to make sure the Bird Monster's end of the deal had been upheld.

The leer on the boy's face shined with accomplishment as he held out his palm. The Bird Monster's red eyes looked back at him, unmoving. There was a small pause, then the lean figure reached into the back of his cloak, dug through something -- probably a bag attactched to his backside -- and revealed a shiny gold coin in the palm of his hand.

The urchin snatched it away with a certain swiftness only a child could produce, his tall adult friend did not flinch. He smiled with glee, then a realization came to him, and his grin dissipated. He turned with a frown, pointing his index finger at his shrouded accomplice accusingly, the innocent-looking boy blurted out in a childish squeal: "Two gold coins, we had a deal!"

The unmoving red eyes stared back at the urchin. After a pause the Bird Monster's hand reached back in his cloak once more, and he revealed another gold coin. The urchin attempted to snatch this one as well, but to his frustration the Bird Monster simply moved his hand higher. The urchins height, once a blessing used for pick pocketing and stealing, was now a hindrance to a most simple task. The little boy vaulted up into the air once more, swiping at the Bird Monster's hand, knowing that inside that palm was another gold coin, with which he would be able to eat hot meals for a week.

Though shrouded by his disguise, one emotion leaked through the mask and all of the leather: annoyance. The little boy faltered for a moment and stopped jumping at his unreachable goal, and looked up at the Bird Monster. The adult had grown a few more inches (he stopped leaning) and he know looked down at the urchin through those soul-piercing red lenses. His voice was a deep baritone, muffled by his mask, and almost a growl: "I have upheld my end of the bargain, you will tell me what I need."

The urchin had been so keen on retrieving his money, he had simply forgotten the two-hour tasks of eavesdropping, infiltration, and odd-jobs he had to preformed to get the money in the first place. The urchin regained his composure, back-stepping and crossing his arms defiantly. "Well," the child started, his voice was as high as one would expect from an innocent looking child who hadn't even entered the early stages of puberty, the urchin went on to explain everything he had learned in the past two hours.

Underneath the mask and disguise, Kao Ba smiled slyly.