“They belong to the army now,” Sen told General Mo.
He gestured to the huddled mortals and the more stoic cultivators. General Mo didn’t say anything or even look at the people that Sen had indicated. His eyes were locked on the shadow constructs that were, to their credit, passively standing off to one side and making no trouble. If anything, they almost seemed bored to Sen, but that might just be his imagination. If General Mo had been the only one standing there with his mouth hanging slightly open and staring, Sen might have been tempted to take the man to task. Since everyone, including Jing and representatives from most of the major sects in the capital, wore nearly identical expressions, it was probably too much to single out any one man for chastisement. Still, Sen wanted to get on with things.
“General Mo,” said Sen in a too-loud voice that made the general tear his eyes away from the constructs.
“What? What’s happening?” Mo almost screamed before he got a hold of himself. “Lord Lu. I… I apologize. Those creatures are quite distressing.”
Sen lifted an eyebrow and turned to look at the constructs. They didn’t seem all that distressing to him. Especially when they were just standing there. Then again, he had been working with shadow constructs for years now. He was also basing his reactions on those of Ai and Zhi, who had been dealing with the non-sapient shadow dog construct for years. They just saw the constructs as one more kind of toy to play with. Still, that made it difficult for him to see them the same way as someone encountering them for the first time. He supposed that they might well be a touch intimidating with the way they loomed there and soaked up all the ambient light in their vicinity. Sen decided he could forgive the general for worrying that the constructs might be potential rampaging harbingers of death.
“They won’t harm anyone that I don’t tell them to harm,” said Sen.
He worked hard to make that sound more convincing than it felt in his head. He was the leader here. Sounding absolutely assured was part of his role. Sen was also mostly confident they wouldn’t start attacking people for no reason. If someone did something stupid like attack them, that might change things. Then again, if someone attacked them, it probably meant they were trying to undermine the city, him, or both. He wouldn’t be terribly upset if someone like got themselves eaten by the constructs.
“You’ve tamed them?” asked an incredulous Jing.
“Tamed them? No,” said Sen. “That would be ridiculous. I made them.”
“And that somehow sounds less ridiculous to you?” asked Jing.
“Yes?”
One of the cultivators from the city sects pushed himself forward, his eyes a little wild. It took a moment for Sen to put a name to the face. Bey Peizhi, an elder from the Lunar Tiger Sect whom Sen still had mixed feelings about.
“Lord Lu,” said the cultivator, “do you mean to suggest that these are artificial constructs? You’re controlling them all at the same time?”
Sen had hoped to have this conversation at some other time. However, it was pretty clear that nobody would let it go until they had some understanding of the situation. He could tell everyone to accept it and move on, but that would just lead to people trying to investigate the constructs on their own. A situation which could inadvertently lead to the constructs eating someone that he’d prefer they didn’t kill. This is a hassle I’d have preferred to avoid, thought Sen. The problem was that the only way to avoid it would have been to leave the constructs at some distance from the city.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
He’d considered it, but that would have left them much farther from reach than he’d found comfortable. If they did something inside the city or directly outside of it, he could get to the location in a handful of seconds. If they’d been left miles away from the capital, it would be much harder for him to keep track of them or intervene if necessary. If they suddenly reverted to their old instincts, for example, they might well scatter. He probably could find them all in that unhappy circumstance. Doing it would take much more time than he wanted to spend. So, he’d brought them along, and that meant dealing with this problem.
“They are artificial constructs,” said Sen, “but I’m not controlling them directly. They’re sapient, or sapient enough to follow general instructions.”
Jing looked troubled. The rest of the nearby mortals in earshot looked baffled. The cultivators, on the other hand, wore expressions that ranged from stunned to disbelieving. Bey Peizhi looked like he had a thousand questions that were all trying to spill out of his mouth at the same time. Sen lifted a hand to prevent the avalanche of questions or declarations that such a thing wasn’t possible from overwhelming his more immediate concerns.
“I will answer some questions regarding the constructs, but I’ll do it later. Somewhere less public,” he said.
Exactly none of the cultivators looked happy with that answer, but they accepted it. They knew he had no obligation to answer any of their questions. If he had accomplished what he claimed, willingly providing any information could only be seen as an act of pure generosity and benevolence. Most cultivators would have held back every last bit of information to help secure an advantage for themselves or their sects. Beyond that, he lacked any motive to do anything to prove his claims. While other cultivators might feel they had to prove it, he could ignore any suggestions that he was lying with no fear of repercussions. That was one of the benefits of being the final authority in a kingdom. Not that any of them looked to be in a hurry to even breathe such suggestions. Not after he’d been proven right over and over again.
“Back to the matter at hand,” said Sen as he focused on General Mo. “Those mortals and cultivators belong to the army now. They graciously volunteered to serve as the vanguard.”
General Mo studied Sen’s face before he turned his gaze on the mortals and cultivators that Lord Lu had brought with him.
“Volunteered?” asked the general.
“Well, I suppose it’s more accurate to say that they’re prisoners. That’s their punishment. I imagine that the mortals should begin their training immediately. They have a lot to catch up on. I’ll leave it to you and the other generals to decide how to work the cultivators into their new roles.”
General Mo also appeared to have many questions burning inside of him, but he chose to keep them to himself for the moment. He walked over to the prisoners with Sen trailing along behind him. Mo considered the increasingly miserable-looking mortals before turning a wary eye on the cultivators.
“Lord Lu,” he said in a quiet voice that wouldn’t carry, “can the cultivators be trusted to follow orders from mortals?”
Sen gave the cultivators in question a cold look.
“They will if they want to avoid me making examples of them. You lot can follow orders, can’t you?”
“We can,” said the man who had been in charge of the entire farce.
“Good. Because, if you can’t, I’ll let those shadow beasts use you to practice their hunting.”
The expressions of absolute horror that passed across most of the cultivators’ faces told Sen that he’d struck just the right tone with them.
“The threats aren’t necessary, Lord Lu. We’ll follow orders,” said the man whose name Sen still hadn’t bothered to learn.
“Whatever made you believe that was a threat?” asked Sen. “It’s a fact. If you fail to follow the orders you’re given, you will be hunted by those shadow beasts.”
Mo eyed Sen for a moment before he called one of his juniors over to lead the mortals and cultivators away.
“Would you really let those creatures hunt them?” asked the general.
“Without hesitation,” answered Sen. “Let’s just say that I’d have killed them all if not for the fact that we’re about to march to war.”
“I see,” said Mo, his expression grim.
“Well, let’s see if we can actually manage to get through the gates.”
The general started to nod before he stopped and looked at Sen.
“Can’t you fly?”