It started with a breath of wind in pitch blackness. Not wind from a point on the compass, wind from below. It smelled of dank earth, worms, clay, and minerals. Then came tendrils of black mist. Then came the stirring.
###
“James, it’s time to wake Ellie,” Ru Shi said, looking at the clock. Their daughter never woke up without a little prodding.
“Let her sleep a bit longer,” James replied. “She was up late doing her report on her field trip to Wellington.”
He continued reading the news. Tensions were rising between New Zealand and China. Last week, an Air New Zealand passenger jet was refused permission to land in Shanghai and had to return to Auckland. Now, China has suddenly postponed the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism one week before it was set to begin. He’d been preparing for that campaign for two years. China was really throwing its weight around.
###
Shapes stirred in the darkness. Dust rained from long motionless limbs. Not dust of decades or centuries, dust of millennia.
A soft rustling emerged: mice and spiders abandoning their nests.
###
“I wish Chairman Xi would cool it,” James said. “We ramped up, expecting a surge in tourists at the start of the year. We’ll be in a jam if the campaign is delayed long. I’ll have to let people go.”
Ru Shi sighed. “Now that he’s made himself Chairman for life, who will rein him in? I worry that much power is corrupting. He’s put his ego above China’s interest, and it’s causing problems.”
###
Sandals shifted, and shapes rose to their full height. Low voices murmured.
Initially random and chaotic, the stirrings coalesced into something coherent, integral, and whole.
Larger shapes loomed—a horse whinnied. Wheels creaked, never having turned before.
Muffled sounds filled the dark. Shields sliding onto outstretched arms. Crossbows hefted. Blades raised.
###
“You need to wake Ellie now,” Ru Shi reminded James. “She needs a decent breakfast before you walk her to school.”
###
A sharp crack shook the dark, and sparks traced the edges of fracturing stone; lightning shone within the earth. Seemingly endless numbers of new forms emerged, breaking free of crumbling dirt and rock. Gauntleted hands slapped crusted dirt from armored chests.
###
James looked down at the sleeping face of his nine-year-old daughter, her features a lovely blend of Caucasian and Asian. “Ellie, wake up,” he said, gently shaking her shoulder.
“I don’t want to,” she sleepily replied.
“Sure, you do. Remember, you were so excited last night doing your report on your class trip.”
“But I’m dreaming,” she sighed.
“Well, Mum says it’s time to get up. You need to get dressed and have breakfast. We let you sleep longer than usual.”
###
The shapes emerged beneath a clear night sky, shifting into precise ranks as officers called commands.
Stars disappeared as tumultuous clouds coalesced.
###
James poured cereal into a bowl and set it and a fruit cup in front of Ellie. “So, what was your dream about?” he asked as he wiped up a spill on the kitchen counter.
“I dreamed I talked to Emperor Shih.”
“You must have overheard Mum and me talking about Chairman Xi last night. They call him Chairman, not Emperor, although he’s acting like one.”
“No, no, no,” she said emphatically. “I talked to Emperor Shih. My teacher said he was the first Emperor of China. We learned about him yesterday at the Te Papa Museum when we saw the Ancient Warriors exhibit.”
“Oh, I stand corrected,” James said, laughing, pleased his daughter was learning bits of Chinese history. They spent several weeks each year visiting Ru Shi’s family in China. Ellie’s Mandarin was improving, and she was learning a bit about her Chinese heritage.
“The museum exhibit was awesome,” she continued. “They found a whole army of terracotta statues buried next to the emperor’s tomb, but Te Papa only has twelve. “They’re in a big glass case. You could see them, but you couldn’t touch.”
“Cool,” her father said as he cleared away breakfast dishes. “So, what were you and the emperor talking about?”
“You and Mum were so worried about Chairman Xi last night. I asked the emperor if he and the chairman were related. If he could maybe talk to the chairman. Make things better.”
James hugged his daughter. “Ellie, please don’t worry. It’s just a bit of international scuffling, although China is acting like a bully right now. Mum and I hope everything will work out fine.”
“I know,” Ellie said, smiling. “The emperor said it would.”
###
Lines of cavalry stood at the front; next came archers, then infantry. The night sky splintered with lightning, and rolling thunder shook the air. Rain fell, rinsing off ancient dust in rivulets. Purple, blue, and red dyes on the soldiers’ uniforms glistened once more.
###
“James, take a look at this,” Ru Shi called from the family room.
Poking his head in, he saw that CNS, the China News Service, was on as usual. There were unconfirmed reports of strange happenings in Shaanxi Province. Traffic was disrupted. Twitter mentioned some sort of parade.
“Probably just some students demonstrating,” James said. “Ellie’s ready for school, so we’ll head off now.”
“Okay,” Ru Shi said. “Don’t forget her report. We should go see that warrior exhibit sometime.”
“Sure, sometime,” James said as he headed out the door with Ellie.
###
The Army of the Night, created to do the emperor’s bidding, had its orders. Chaotic sandal steps became the rhythmic beat of marching feet as ten thousand men advanced. Officers’ chariots rushed to and fro. Cavalry rode ahead, sweeping civilians from their path. It would take the army time to march the two hundred miles to Beijing. But time mattered little to immortals.
Leave a Reply