Journey to the East 34

“Not so easy!”

Sand sprayed up from churning hooves. The sound of panicked drawn-in breath mingled with the startled scream of a horse as its head was yanked to the side by the bit in its mouth, forcing horse and rider into a sharp banking turn to avoid the blazing lances of sunfire that cut across the track in their path.

Gu Xiulan glanced down at her smoking, crimson fingernails and blew the ash from their glittering tips as Shan Qiao cursed aloud, urging her rearing horse to leap over the pit Gu Xiulan’s lances and her own hurried turn had driven her toward. That she had tried to take the easier branch of the final leg could be a point against her.

“Rude. That foal she rides has not the brain to manipulate its momentum, an impossible path you’ve driven them on.”

She glanced down at Refeng, her own steed, who was looking back at her with an unimpressed eye. “So? My subordinates will never have stallions of a kind with you Refeng. They must instead be the masters of steeds. That branch of the route is merely difficult, not impossible.”

She sat atop his back at the height of the earthen berm built up to shield their training camp from the wind and sand. Below was the track she had used her stipend to have constructed here, by her families formations craftsmen.

She observed Shan Qiao clinically as the other woman just barely guided her horse through the landing with desperate twists of earth qi, adjusting weights and the pull of the earth on the fly, preventing the horse from turning an ankle or losing the speed needed to dart past the glittering spears of blunted force that erupted from the earth like the rising pikes of the Dead.

“You see, she made it,” Gu Xiulan said quietly, giving Refeng a smug glance. He tossed his head and snorted, not deigning to reply.

“Sloppy! If you intend to ride at my side for the drills on the morrow you will need to do better than that!” She shouted, her voice echoing with the force of the flame channeled through it. Her prospective officer was doing fine, but there was absolutely no need to let that on before she was done with the course. That would only make her sloppy.

“Hehe, her face looks so funny like that, all red and stuff!” Linhuop chirped, peering out from behind the plume on Xiulan’s helm. “Buuuut I kinda like her, she’s feisty!”

“Do keep that down until I am done putting her through all of her paces,” Gu Xiulan said archly.

“Got it, boss!”

Shan Qiao, she had already decided, would do well enough. She was an uninspired rider, with only workmanlike skills, but she did show a strong streak for adaption. Even if she would need that excessive caution trained out of her.

Gu Xiulan’s flicked her fingers outward, and a jagged bolt of lightning roared down just as Shan Qiao entered the next section of obstacles. Shan Qiao threw up a hand with a cry, her entire arm turning black as she caught the bolt on the sheath of stone-like qi…

Her horse cried out as it struck one of the pegs jutting out from the rotating stone pillars scattered along this stretch of track. They were the height of men, with pegs emerging at varying heights, to imitate to an extent riding through a wild melee of foot soldiers.

Good, she stopped the horse rearing quickly.

“You did not have such additional help, riding this course,” Refeng pointed out. 

“I have ridden melee among the dead many times. She may have been held back for foolish reasons, but held back she was,” Gu Xiulan sniffed. Sympathy or no, she had not lied. She would only accept the best. She would not insult herself or this determined girl by going easy on her.

Oh, she had managed to extend some defense to her steed at the last moment, the impact bruised the horse but had not slowed it much. At the very least the small hitch in its stride wasn’t stopping her from navigating the pillars at a reasonable speed, even with a few dangerous stumbles and brushes against the turning pegs...

“Hm, one last challenge or shall I let her navigate to the finish as is?” Gu Xiulan wondered, sparks flickering as she rubbed her thumb and forefinger together.

“Ooooh yeah! A big boom!”

“She has earned her finish.”

Gu Xiulan pondered their advice for a moment, before patting the side of Refeng’s neck. “Boom later, Linhuo. We still have to spar on foot after all.”

“Yaaay!”

She rode forward at a casual canter, swaying in her saddle as she urged Refeng on, toward the line which marked the end of the obstacle course. Waiting for Shan Qiao to make the final sprint, with the controlled airbursts mimicking explosions chasing at her tail, Gu Xiulan took a moment to admire her unit's basing. Cut into the wastelands outside of Pheonixhome, over played out mines, there were three fields, this obstacle course, a round running track, and an open field for practicing charges and spearwork. Surrounding it all were earthen walls like the one she rode atop, and the many buildings serving to stable horses and maintain equipment.

A few months ago, it had been a patch of barren badland and mothballed warehouses being reclaimed by the desert. Right now it was perhaps too spacious for the size of her unit, Gu Xiulan planned for the future. Patting Refeng’s mane, she earned a snort from her steed before she hauled herself from the saddle and slid down the steep side of the wall in a plume of dust just as Shan Qiao’s horse galloped across the finish line of the track, its chest heaving like a bellows, eyes wide and rolling in its head.

To Shan Qiao’s credit, she calmed it swiftly, slowing its run and keeping it from jetting off in a panicked bolt away from the dying sounds of the obstacle course. She was not in a much calmer mind than her horse either, though naturally, she hid it better.

Gu Xiulan reached the bottom of the berm and immediately regained her poised stance, arms folded behind her back, the plumes on her helm swaying in the wind, armor untouched and shining by the grit and dust in the air. “Recruit Shan. Dismount and present.”

Her shoulders straightened immediately, while she gave her bridle a final small tug and whispered something soothing in the horse's ear. She then slid out of her saddle, keeping one hand on the reigns. Her heels clicked together as she straightened up, eyes ahead, fully at attention. “Yes, Captain Gu!”

Gu Xiulan smiled thinly, approaching with slow steps, making a small show of her examination of every detail. Of the burn marks on the girl’s gauntlet, the shuddering exhaustion of her horse, and even the small tremble of Shan Qiao’s own limbs.

“A good performance,” she said. “Your skills require more polish, but be proud, daughter of the Shan. This Gu Xiulan declares you adequate to begin work as an officer in her unit…”

It was pleasing watching the broad-shouldered young woman let out a sharp breath of relief the wavering determination in her eyes reigniting.

“...Pending the completion of a hand-to-hand course as well.”

It was also amusing to see her cheeks go white like that.

“Worry not though. I only wish to ensure I know the style of my lieutenant.”

“Yes, Captain Gu!”

She observed the girl’s face, studying her intently, predatorily. “Speak your mind.”

Shan Qiao hesitated.

“Speak. Your. Mind.”

“...Captain Gu is taking pleasure in winding up my nerves.”

“I am!” Gu Xiulan laughed. “Very good for you to recognize it. One who cannot keep up would be no good. Now Go, care for your horse, and then meet me in the primary sparring ring. That was not a jest. We…”

She paused, turning her head toward the gates that led from her training ground back toward Pheonix home.

“...Take a moment to center yourself as well. It seems I have a guest.”

Now what did Zheng Nan want, coming all the way out here?