Free Book 4 - Soldiers Live by Glen Cook Page B

its power nor had sound been
devoured by the darkness. The coins tinkled away down the
stairwell. But not for long. After a moment it sounded like they
were rolling around on a floor. Then they were silent. Then a tiny
little voice from far, far away cried, “Help.”
     
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13

The Land of Unknown Shadows:
Traveling
Hsien
    T he physical
geography of the Land of Unknown Shadows closely recollects that of
our own world. The essential differences stem from the impact of
man.
    The moral and cultural topographies of the worlds are completely
different, though. Even the Nyueng Bao still have trouble making
any real connection here—despite the fact that they and the
Children of the Dead share common ancestors. But the Nyueng Bao
escaped Maricha Manthara
Dhumraksha and his kin centuries ago, then developed as a
cultural island constantly washed by alien waves.
    Hsien proper spans roughly the same territories as what were
known as the Shadowlands at home when things were going well for
the Shadowmasters. The farther reaches of Hsien, that none of us
have visited, are more heavily populated than our own. In olden
times every town here boasted its kernel of resistance to the
Shadowmasters. Few of those groups communicated because of travel
restrictions imposed by the master race. Still, when the uprising
did come there were local champions enough to ensure success.
    The flight of the last Shadowmasters left a power vacuum. The
resistance chieftains anointed themselves to fill it. Hsien remains
in the custody of their descendants, scores of warlords in constant
conflict, few of whom ever get any stronger. Any who appear to be
gaining strength are torn apart by their neighbors.
    The File of Nine is an anonymous, loose assembly of senior
warlords, supposedly drawn one each from the nine provinces of
Hsien. This is not true and never has been—though few outside the
Nine know it. That is just one more fiction helping keep the
current state of chaos alive.
    Popularly, the File of Nine is seen as a cabal of secret masters
who control everything. The File of Nine would love that to be true
but, in reality, they have very little power. Their situation
leaves them with few tools they can use to enforce their will. Any
real effort to impose anything would betray their identities. So
they mostly issue bulls and pretend to speak for Hsien. Sometimes
people listen. And sometimes they listen to the monks of Khang Phi.
Or to the Court of All Seasons. So each must be wooed.
    The Black Company is feared mainly because it is a joker in the
warlord deck. It has no local allegiance. It could jump any
direction for any alien reason. Worse, it is reputed to include
powerful wizards assisting skilled soldiers led by competent
commanders and sergeants, none of whom are at all handicapped by
excesses of empathy or compassion.
    What popularity the Company enjoys essentially arises from its
capacity to deliver the last Shadowmaster to the justice of Hsien.
And among peasants, from the fact that nervous warlords have reined
in their squabbles amongst themselves considerably while they have
this unpredictable monster crouched, growing rapidly, to their
south.
    All the lords and leaders of Hsien, in the last, would prefer
that the Company went away. Our presence places too much strain on
the state of things as they are and always have been.
    I attached myself to the deputation headed for Khang Phi even
though I was not yet completely recovered. I would never be
one-hundred percent again. I had some blurring in my right eye. I
had acquired some truly intimidating burn scars. I would never
regain the full range of motion in the fingers of my right hand.
But I was convinced that I could be an asset in our negotiations
for the shadowgate secrets.
    Only Sahra agreed with me. But Sahra is our foreign minister.
Only she has the patience and tact to deal with such fractious folk
as the File of Nine—part of whose problem with us is that our women
do more than cook