Heroic Visions by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Author:Jessica Amanda Salmonson [Salmonson, Jessica Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0441328210
Publisher: ACE Books
Published: 1983-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

Epilogue

Near the river, the Wu lies in his burial place. On the ground nearby is a broken sword and lance, where the grieving Bilga died so that he could protect his master in the Land of the Dead.

In a distant place, Hsuan Tsung has died, his heart broken by the deceit of those he trusted, sorrowed by the wanton slaying of his friend, the Wu, loyal to the death, and shamed by the courage of the captain who died in his stead while he fled like a frightened rabbit. The armies of An Lu-Shan have ravaged and died, and the evil Turk’s bones lie bleaching in the sun. In the small village of Ma Wei, the head of Yang Kuei Fe is impaled on a stake, the eyes unseeing in death, as in life. Ch’ang-An is in ruins, and a new house rules in a city far distant. All of the splendor of the Dukes of T’ang is fallen, and their palaces are peopled only by ghosts. Power has begotten only dust and ruin.

In the village by the river, the villagers say that it is good to walk among the ruins of the house of Ch’iu Shan. In the autumn, the wind speaks of the light and dark days to come. Some have said the ghost of the Wu himself whispers among the trees.

The ill, the sad, and the broken who come to sit near the place of the Wu are filled with peace. Often, they leave with the broken shards of life within them mending. Though the books of the scholars do not speak of the Wu, the people will remember him long after many empires have fallen.

It is also said that, in the autumn twilight, if one stands on the rock near the river, he will see the shadows of two men mirrored in the water, one like the moving mist and the other like a fierce fire.

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