Anshi: Lost Book Two, Part Two-Brothers and Bloodlines

Chang A'Zhen

Chang A'Zhen, now sixteen and as rare a treasure as her name implied, was gathering mushrooms. The other gleaners from the caravan, Bolormaa and Xiao Mian among them, were concentrating on root vegetables. Several others were scanning for herbs, nuts, fruits, edible flowers, wild onions, and lemon grass.

Her path took her slightly away into the edge of a small grove of trees, and alongside a running brook. Her hair, neatly bound before she started, had been escaping her pins as she bent; her lovely amber eyes, rich as honey-flecked caramel, were sharp as she bent to pick only the best mushrooms. She had a knack for it, and the spongy morsels were plentiful in the perfect conditions. She laughed softly, the sound like hiking bells, and she raised her face, enjoying the dappled sunlight on her porcelain skin.

The youngest and the last of the adopted children that remained with her mothers, Chang Yenay and Lan Qinyang, she had come to them as a malnourished, barely alive infant, and she had thrived under their devoted care. She remembered nothing about her past. She only knew growing up in the Yueyang Chang Manor and later at the Lan Hunting Lodge, running freely in the orchards and fields, becoming the extraordinary beauty that all the family doted on. Yet she was truly sweet, uncomplicated, and deeply intuitive. As dainty, feminine, and fierce as Qinyang, she was as strong, devoted, and loyal as Yenay. She was also showing her General Mother's budding empathetic qualities at an early age. Animals flocked to her; even wild ones seemed to drop any pretense of fear. She was quick to laugh, but easily moved to tears by other people's pain and sorrow. Her time alone was filled with needlepoint, learning to cook, and reading, when she got the chance,

The family, as well as all that met her, doted on her.

Her simple life, however, was soon to become a little more complicated.

She moved further in, inadvertently placing too much distance between her older cousin, Xiao Mian, and the others, when she heard a soft moan, as if an animal was in pain. Her head snapped up, and her gaze intensified as she scanned her surroundings, then began to step back, closer to where she had last seen her companions, suddenly nervous at being alone.

It came again, more agonized this time. Her rescuer's instinct ruled over her caution. And she began to search the ground. She saw nothing at first, but as she methodically made her way, she noticed a form partially submerged in the cold, swiftly moving water. A man in armor lay face down, unmoving, and he moaned again. She could see a faint pink blending in the waters of the crystal stream; she dropped the basket she carried, rushing forward. The man was wearing the uniform of a Qian soldier, and she could not see the wound from his position. She struggled to turn him over, wading up to her calves. It took a minute or two; the person was unconscious and could not aid on his own. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the right side of the leather front piece, and she saw a large wound under the armpit. She tore off her shawl, wadded it up, and shoved it in the gaping injury. He gasped and cried out in pain.

It was then that she began to scream for help. His eyes fluttered open briefly, dark brown, as large and liquid as the eyes of a newborn foal. His hand shot out in a desperate move and grasped her wrist. He whispered, "Be careful. He has escaped."

Then he passed out once more.

She had been training with Xiao Mian in medical emergencies, so she centered herself, slowed the racing of her heart and the rapid breathing that indicated that she was on the verge of panic. She checked his pulse; it was thready and faint; his features were horribly pale, his lips bloodless. She remembered her butterflies, fumbled in her sack, and pulled out the messenger box, sending one to her group. 

Follow the stream. Use caution. Need Mian Mian and several strong women. Bolormaa, remain   with the others. Message is being sent back to camp. Stay to show them the path.

She sent another to Anshi. She sent approximate coordinates, explained she had found a Qian soldier near death, and added that he bring men, Lan Sya Mu, and Minister Han.

Fly and be careful. Will need to transport him out.

She removed his helmet, and she could see his features more clearly. Very refined, lips pressed tightly together. She began to unlace the leather thong on his front piece, hard to do in the cold mountain stream. As she slid her hand under to try and put added pressure on the wound from another angle, she stopped in disbelieving horror.

She had placed a hand on a breast. Small, compressed under a wrapping, but definitely a breast.

Her patient was a woman. A woman who had been hunted and wounded and was now possibly dying. She shoved her surprise to the side and felt around, gingerly probing until she could feel where her shawl was covering the piercing into the woman's side. The eyes slowly opened again.

"Thank you...Name?"

"Chang Zhen... Minister Han is with our group. Do you know him?" She was trying to keep her awake, talking, anything... 

She nodded slowly.

"You trust him? Right... Soldier, try and stay awake."  The soldier nodded again, eyes latched on to hers like they were her last resort. They probably were.

Look. Listen to me...What's your name? Then we can consider ourselves properly introduced."

The soldier gave a grim ghost of a smile. "Yong Zhi Li..."

 Then there was silence, and the body, held tightly in Zhen's desperate hands, went limp once more, but only for a second or two. Chang Zhen began screaming for help once more as she felt the body of the woman begin to convulse, and she deliberately slid further into the stream, sitting on her heels, and sliding the soldier onto her lap, then regaining the pressure on the wound. She began to shiver as the cold began to penetrate her limbs, but she hung on as tightly as she could. Strangely, she found herself humming one of Anshi's lullabies to the woman, willing each shallow breath as if they were her own. Willing the weakening lungs to function. 

In...out...in...out...in...out...

As she heard the crashing of underbrush, she raised her head and spotted Xiao Mian running to her, followed by several other women. It was only then that tears began to fall.