Portal of a Thousand Worlds by Duncan Dave;

Author:Duncan, Dave;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 2016-12-06T19:55:14+00:00

Chapter 2

The Firstborn was dying. His coughing in the darkness was growing weaker, and he had not eaten for two days. He did not know that they had no food to give him, because he had not asked for anything to eat. Shard Gingko lay beside him, wrapped in the same blanket, hoping thereby to keep him warm. They had long since run out of fuel, so the only thing heating the tiny cave was Splendid Steed, the donkey, and she had not eaten for two days, either. Even she was too weak to complain now. Mouse had gone away to look for help in the worst of the blizzard and must be presumed dead by now.

When the storm ended, perhaps Shard would find the strength to saddle Splendid Steed, and perhaps she would have the strength to carry him to somewhere, and perhaps that place would have some food and fuel to spare to save the Firstborn’s life.

Back at High Abode, Shard had foreseen the journey south to Dongguan as being long but relatively easy—down the Clay River to the Grand Canal, south to the Great Fish River, and then upstream to Dongguan. Three months or perhaps four, he had guessed, but there he was thinking like a mandarin, as the Firstborn had explained.

“The Emperor will have ordered the army south by now, which means the canal will be closed to all other traffic. Rebels always stay away from the canal, because they know the army controls it and will destroy the locks rather than let insurgents use it. The Bamboo Banner will keep well inland as it heads north.”

“Are you certain that it will head north, Master?”

The Firstborn had smiled his sad, heartrending smile. “Where else can it go? Rebellions almost always begin in the south, but even when one doesn’t, all that rebels ever think of is marching on Heart of the World to explain to the Emperor that he must govern more wisely so their children don’t starve. Sometimes, the Emperor flees and the nastiest of the rebel leaders takes the Golden Throne. More usually, the army meets the rebels halfway and routs them. When soldiers fight farmers, the farmers lose.” He sighed, looking very young and frail. “Now guns have made it much worse.”

All the rivers ran east. “You are planning to walk to Dongguan?” Shard Gingko glanced down at the reed-thin, twisted legs.

Sometimes, the Firstborn seemed like the legendary sage of his reputation, pouring out wisdom. At others, he was only a boy, an irreverent one at that. He smirked. “You don’t have to come.”

“Yes, I do.”

The Urfather raised a hand in blessing and his smile changed from mockery to gratitude, from boyish to ageless. “It won’t be quite as far as you think. The army almost always turns off from the canal at the Golden River and heads inland. It intercepts the rebels in Jingyan, Shashi, or Wanrong. That is where we must go.”

For thousands of years, that crippled boy had not

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