Ma-Ha-Suchi
There was nothing to signal the arrival of Leaf Shakes the Wind in the campsite. The nightbirds sang, uninterrupted by his presence, and his voice undercut their song. "The monastary's closed for the night."
Storm of Amber fumbled a long paper scroll to the forest floor, unable to hide his surprise. Nearby, the sash of the Third-Arm Glaive snaked forward, but relaxed when the Zenith recognized his circle-mate. "You can try again in the morning," he said as he settled back down.
Leaf stepped across from his friend and dropped a stick into the small fire. "You don't mind the wait?"
"We need Sesus Denerid Malko's help; for that, I can be patient. Besides, the trip is giving me time to read." The Zenith retrieved the scroll and stretched it across his lap.
"A prize from the Halls of Jupiter?"
"The Wolf Howls First In Summer. A book of strategy from the First Age, penned by Ma-Ha-Suchi."
Leaf folded back a corner of oiled cloth near his feet, revealing the polished copper and red jade of his Most Fearsome Armor of the Fire Dragon. "I'd heard rumors that he was that old, but he seems too savage to have fit into so civilized a time. He's fallen far."
"I'm not so sure." Storm of Amber shook his head and leaned across the scroll. "He writes of the war machines of his day, wonders that we have not seen in Lookshy, or even the vaults of the Infinite City, and he speaks only of how they make men weak. He mentions Luna constantly, but calls her only the Bloody Huntress..."
The Zenith shrugged. "Reading his works I feel that he was always savage, barely contained by the power of the Deliberative. It may just be the easy vantage of today, but I wonder if the solars of the First Age did not know what he would become."
Leaf picked his armor's helmet out from the pile and traced a finger across the sensory augmentation visor. "And he lead armies filled with wonders that he hated?"
"It's hard to say. He doesn't write about the armies he fields so much as how to deal with war machines. His specialty is fighting the armies of a civilized nation." Storm of Amber rolled closed the scroll and held it out to the air. "Without the knowledge in this scroll, I tell you that Lookshy would not stand against his armies for even a week."
Leaf regarded his helmet; by the fire's dim light it seemed a bloody skull, stripped of all flesh. "Do we then doom ourselves by outfitting our armies with shock pikes and ashigaru armor?"
"Without them, we would never have the raw strength to stand against his beastmen. We need those tools, no matter the counters Ma-Ha-Suchi can use against them.
"But when he stands against us he will find his old knowledge not so fine as he thinks. This is a new age, and I will inscribe Ma-Ha-Suchi's doom in a new book of strategy." Storm of Amber cast the scroll into the fire, and its ashes raced towards Heaven.
