Born a Monster

There is a lot of misunderstanding about what brigandine is. It is a series of overlapping metal plates, which are in turn protected by layers of cloth or leather. I was at the unenviable size where an adult armor wouldn’t fit, and the child’s armor I was issued didn’t protect my sides.

But gaps or not, it was armor. The blacksmiths were too busy to work on a helmet for me, but with a new sword, sturdy armor, and a newly mended shield... I was actually feeling like an invincible warrior.

“Oh no.” one of the maido said, “This armor looks terrible on you.” But they couldn’t find better before the thundering and crashing began along the outer wall.

“Got to go. War starting without me.”

“Ancestors.” She said. “I tried.”

Cannons are no joke; they are slow to fire, but the sheer speed at which they hurl their ammunition is devastating. Not to the warded, fortified wall, but any soldiers caught in the path... well, they were siege weapons.

What upset the soldiers more were the catapults hurling balls of flaming pitch. They only rarely struck near the top of the wall, but the wooden house for the baths was a smoking ruin.

“There must be other bath houses.” I said.

.....

“Ugh. They don’t keep their water clean. Sometimes not even heated. I had a friend of my cousin who says he used the public baths and came out dirtier than when he went in.”

I tried to project confidence. “If that’s the worst thing that happens during this siege, then this will be the least grueling one of these I’ve survived.”

The effect was the opposite of what I’ve intended. People turned pale, or looked away into the distance. Crap.

Stupid Charisma statistic.

I needed to change the topic, quickly. “Do we at least know who the enemies are? Who leads them?”

“Our friends and allies of the last two years are now our enemies. How cursed is our fate, that we must take up swords against our brothers and sisters?”

One of the women on the wall answered that. “How much worse is fate going to punish them, who raised their swords not in defense, but in cowardly surprise attack?”

Old Toothless, whose real name was Peng Gang, spoke up. “They don’t have the gunpowder or pitch reserves to keep this up. The real fighting isn’t likely to be along this section of the wall, anyway. Remain calm, and remember your duty.”

I leaned on the crenelations, looked out at the ships. “By my count, there are many fewer than last night.”

“They’ve broken into three teams, divided to prevent us from supplying by sea.” Old Toothless said.

“To what effect?” I asked. “The castle is huge. How many thousands of warriors do we have inside?”

Old Toothless shrugged. “Two thousand or so, versus maybe three times that many outside the walls.”

I blinked, wondering if I had heard him correctly. “Even as large as this island is, that means that over six parts in ten of it are farmland.

“It should be closer to seven or eight parts.” He replied. “After this is put to rest, I will need to show you the innovative way the Farmers of this land have placed terraces to convert mountains into fertile fields. It is a thing of wonder and beauty.”

The female snorted. “It still smells like fields fertilized with shit.”

“Tang Ning, you have all the poetry one expects from a rabid squirrel.”

“And like a rabid squirrel, I’d rather be biting our enemies than waiting.”

“Eh, just because this isn’t where the real fighting is going to happen doesn’t mean there won’t be any fighting. I’ll put your name on the soldiers wanting to relocate to the land-facing walls.”

“Is there a call for that?” I asked.

“Are you volunteering, little monitor?”

“I mean, the ships are elegant, but this is going to be so very boring.”

“But we have so many things to talk about. There are cherry blossoms, and the horror of meeting my ancestors while drunk. Ah-hah, and throughout the two millenia of our history, we have had nearly a third of all the Legendary Heroes.”

“Ay-yah.” I said. “Stories, my weakness. You fight unfairly, old man.”

“Have you heard the full tale of Four-Wing Xien, the Beads Hero?”

“I admit I have not.” I said.

“Not with the rest of us here.” Whined one of the young men, “Please, don’t tempt us to jump from the walls to escape ANOTHER telling of this story.”

He should be glad that I had not developed any kind of mental attack.

Doubly so when someone’s daughter came to us at a run, sweating through her silk robes. “All but one warrior in each squadron is to report to the outermost wall, effective immediately, with all gear you possess.”

Then she was off at a run down to the next section of wall.

Old Toothless stroked his beard. “Well, that WILL be interesting. Tien Wa, you are the one who stays.”

She tried to object. “I didn’t get my maternity armor fitted just to sit here on a wall.”

“I’ll stay.” Offered one of the young boys.

“No. I have made my decision. If one soldier staying saves two lives, then that is the right choice. Everyone else, gather your bedrolls. We have our orders, we are moving out.”

By the time we realized the boy had stayed and Tien Wa come with us, we were already at the inner wall.

“I should drag you back there myself!” Peng Gang (Old Toothless) screamed.

“You’d lose too much time. Besides, I fight with a might double that of that child when I’m asleep!”

“You’ll fight with four times the might of that child.” He grumbled. “You’re fighting for two.”

“Toothless elder! Do not encourage her.” Tang Ning said. “The rest of us want to have at least SOME enemies to fight.”

“Look to your shield, Tang Ning, not your spear.” He cautioned. “This I promise all of you, there is no shortage of enemies for all of us. Trust the man who has grown old in a profession where others die young. Keep your life protected; protect your brothers and sisters next to you; only as a third thing look where you can kill another. The blood of legendary heroes runs in our veins, but also in the veins of our enemies. Life is a fragile treasure, and is entrusted to each of us only the once.”

“And what say you, young monitor?” Tang Ning asked me.

I shrugged. “I like having a heavy shield and armor. But if you take enough hits, you will take a critical and become truly injured. To inflict crits, and thus remove the enemy from battle, you must survive. That said, we train differently in the Tidelands. If you see me wade into the middle of a group of enemies, do not seek to emulate that.”

Old Toothless rolled his eyes. “Is this manner of wading likely?”

“Only if I truly feel the enemies to be unskilled or disorderly. Get enough people fighting around you, and there are opportunities for even a light blade such as Heart’s Defender to do some damage.”

“Ah, you name your weapon. What is the name of your shield?”

“Some season, maybe I will be blessed to have the same shield at the start as at the end of the season. Until then, shields come and shields go.”

“I have seen skilled warriors deflect swords with a length of tree branch.”

“I’ve seen blows shatter steel; my shields are mere wood.”

“Do not shame the caste of warrior by blaming your tools.” He snapped at me.

He genuinely seemed upset. I truly did not understand Daurians. What had I said NOW?

But there was a blockage at the inner gate, as people argued seniority and the fine points of how much honor they had all earned in battle. While they bickered like old ladies, each unit passed through, generally in the order in which they had arrived.

“Hrm. Take seats. This will be a while.” Peng Gang said.

“Honored elder, surely your years have accumulated enough victories to get us through?”

He held out a withered finger. “That woman saved my life from the Seven Spear Sisters during the battle of Guanping. That man there is Tiger Tanaka, whose fierceness is a model for all the Pearl Coast warriors, even and some not of Bashirian blood. And those... those are archers. Get them enough arrows, and they will kill more than five squads of us combined.”

“Make no mistake.” He said. “We have heroes among us.”

“And so do our opponents.”

At this point, honesty compels me to say that I didn’t understand all the words at the time. I have had to piece over the meanings as I later learned the language, and may not have gotten the exact meaning of what the individuals were saying. However, with a high degree of confidence, I can say these are the most likely words spoken.