The Yellow Silk - Don Bassingthwaite [105]
Li squatted down beside them. "She's all right?"
"I'm all right," Veseene said irritably, pulling back to glare at the Shou. "I'm right here-"
Laera's shriek interrupted her. Tycho twisted around.
Where the second bolt from the Yellow Silk, the real bolt, had struck, the portion of the rail fence that had been his target-close enough to catch the two wizards and Brin, but not Veseene-was charred and smoldering. Wet, steaming ground, any trace of snow melted away, made a perfect circle all around it. Within the circle, Hanibaz and Mosi were picking themselves up. Hanibaz's front was covered in mud. Likewise Mosi's back, matting his fine robes against a skinny backside. The two looked at each other and almost in unison muttered spells. The mud simply slid off of them in a rain of dirt, leaving them clean and unsullied. They looked at the little group huddled within the sty.
Specifically, they looked at Tycho. "That," said Hanibaz, "was impressive. The Yellow Silk of Kuang, I presume?"
Tycho swallowed. Mosi's eyes narrowed. "Cooperate now, duel for it later, Hanibaz?" he proposed.
The bearded mage smiled. "That seems fair." The wizards moved forward as one.
Tycho eased Veseene out of his arms and stood up quickly. Li rose as well.
, A horrid coughing grunt and a chorus of porcine squeals stopped them all.
Out in the middle of the sty, Black Scratch was climbing heavily-impossibly!-to his feet. "Li?" breathed Tycho.
"I killed him!" the Shou said. "I swear I did!" The boar's bristly head turned at the sound of his voice. His dark eyes were intense. For a heartbeat, he stared at the stunned humans-
–then reared back and stood upright. Animal legs lengthened and thickened into powerful human legs and heavy arms. Hooves became hands and feet, tusks shrank to teeth, and bristles shriveled into thick hair on a broad, muscular torso. Dark, intense eyes remained dark and intense, but folded and blinked behind almond-shaped lids.
A Shou man stood where Black Scratch had been. Li gulped. "YuMao!"
CHAPTER 15
"Yu Mao?" Tycho stared at the man the boar had become. From all that Li had said of his brother, he had built up a picture of a stern and proper Shou, elegant and dignified, a subtle, well-groomed villain. The man who glared at them had the black hair, dark eyes, and golden skin of a Shou, but the resemblance to Tycho's imagined vision of Yu Mao ended there. This man was filthy, golden skin smeared with dirt. His hair was thick and wild on his head and simply thick everywhere else. Everything about his body was thick and heavy-where Li was lean and spare, he had big muscles padded with a firm layer of fat. Like… like…
Like a boar. Like Black Scratch.
Li was staring, too, his eyes incredulous. "What… how… " he gasped in Shou. "What kind of magic is this?"
"The darkest magic, younger brother," the man-Yu Mao-snarled. He spat the words in
Common. He curled massive hands into fists and stepped forward. Pigs twined around his legs like happy cats. He kicked them away and stooped down to Serg's groaning, coat-shrouded form. Another kick stilled Lander's man. Yu Mao ripped Li's coat off him and knotted it around his waist, covering his nakedness. Li shook his head in astonishment.
"Yu Mao, I thought you were dead!"
"It takes more than a dao to kill me, Li Chien," growled Yu Mao.
Tycho saw Li flinch at his brother's words. Conflict and confusion burned across his face. Li spread his hands. "No! I mean, you… You're alive! Brin said… " He gestured at the collapsed shelter. Brin was still yelling from underneath and banging at the tangled wood, maybe even louder now. Yu Mao just growled again.
"I know what Brin said! And he was right. The Yu Mao you came looking for is gone. He went down with Sow. Not that it matters. I know why you came west. You want me dead one way or another-you and our father. Am I right?"
Li's breath hissed between his teeth. "You murdered the other people on the trading expedition. You've shamed Kuang-"
"So you want