"As you wish, My Lord."

"I'll rest now." Shih-ka'i stretched himself on his new bed. He did not sleep, though he closed his eyes. He felt a presence in the east. It was something strange. Something alien. It was not tangible, yet it was disquieting. He wondered if Lord Kuo had felt it too.

The exploratory parties had advanced seventy miles into the desert. They were past the last known positions of the lost parties. Of those the only evidence so far found was a single cracked piece of lacquer off the elbow joint of a soldier's armor.

"That's suggestive," Shih-ka'i said. "They wouldn't travel in armor. Too hot out there. Search the area more carefully."

The search turned up nothing. This party had vanished six months ago. Nature had obliterated all trace of their passing.

Two days later one party reported having reached the crest of a mountain. The range dropped away beyond. Shih-ka'i donned his battle gear and transferred there himself.

The slope fell away in a long grey slide. In the distance the grey became rust. For as far as he could see nothing stirred. Nothing lived. The sheer magnitude of the desolation overpowered him.

Another party crested the range a few miles to the south. Its Tervola sent a signal. Shih-ka'i responded. He told the commander of the party he was with, "Remain here. Watch them as they descend." He returned to the legion's headquarters.

The fortress was in turmoil. Tasi-feng explained, "Yan-chu is under attack. He requested reinforcements. I sent him a century."

"Take prisoners. Return them immediately. Bring another century to the ready."

Fifteen minutes later two prisoners came through the transfer portal. They were short men in strange armor. They were dead.

"I want them alive," Shih-ka'i said.