The shadow of The Great Wall covered the small village protectively, blotting out the harsh sunlight. Enclosed by trees the village was unremarkable save for the river that cut through it, always cold and swift. People dotted the scenery like ants, mixing with one another and occasionally making an impression on one another, others simply drifting like so many leaves on the wind.

Niu stood by one of the bridges that crossed the river, staring at her own reflection. Her tired eyes, and weathered brown hair, bleached by the sun, her small chin and mouth, her eyes a dull black that did not reflect the sunlight. People milled about her slight form, each one devoted to their own problems. Niu watched the watery figures come and go from her rushing mirror. Not paying anyone any attention and the rest of the villagers returning her the same favor, until one of the more unsavory youths walked into the image.

Everyone knew him by reputation if not by name. His brazen attitude creating a storm of darting glances and cautious whispers as he and one of his friends passed by. Niu kept her head turned toward the water, though her eyes stayed fastened on the boys. They stopped behind her. And she could feel her breathe stop short, her hands going numb, face automatically becoming blank.

“Well aren’t you pretty” Niu’s head shot up, sparked by the offhand compliment, and she turned around to face him. She searched the faces of the people around her to see if they had heard, but everyone stared pointedly in another direction. “You know I’m going to be a soldier? I’m going to kill all those nasty animals outside the walls. You wanna share the bed of a hero?”

He leered down at Niu, casting smirks back at his friend. She could feel the heat rush to her head, and she cowered underneath the stare. Still no one looked at her. Her cheeks burned from the attention. And her voice wavered, “no.”

One boy laughed while the others face turned dark. He cast furious glances around him, as some were now openly staring at the pair. A few hiding smiles underneath their hands. He turned to her once again, expression going dark, and he back handed her across the face, and the people turned away once more.

Nui’s cheek burned and throbbed, but she was thankful that that was all he had done. No one helped her up, as she scrambled to her feet breathing deeply through her nose. The boy was gone, and with him, the silence that reigned over the place dissipated allowing people to once again go back to their lives.

Niu moved slowly across the bridge. One hand to her cheek a grimace spread firmly across her face. At the end of the bridge a man popped out of the shadows. He was tall, though thin and gaunt. And as he moved towards her she could see in the way that he carried himself that he once had muscles to boast about. “Are you okay miss?” His white hair, which sat as an emphatic puff on his head swayed a bit as he moved, making him seem comical.

Niu nodded slightly, careful not to jar her cheek too much.

“Well that’s a lie if I ever heard one! I was a soldier once you know, fought with those Mongols, I know what war is really like and that kid should not have been boasting. I can tend to that cheek if you like, I know my way around a bruise like that, don’t you worry. That boy’s no good soldier, hitting a lady; I’d never do such a thing. I can help you with that thing if you like, I was a soldier once so I know how to treat a wound like that…”his words trailed off in a rush of breath. His face remained expectant and hopeful as he stared at her. But silence prevailed as she scrambled to answer.

“Well come anyways” he said quickly, grabbing her arm forcefully if weakly. His nails dug into her skin, his hand shaking with age as she was pulled along. He sat her down on the bank beneath the bridge, a few other bums sleeping there as well, measly blankets pulled well above their faces. “Right, miss, you just sit right here and I’ll take care of that wound for you. I know my way around bruises like that, got plenty of them when I was a soldier against those Mongols.” He spit emphatically, pausing for a second wondering if that was the proper thing to do in front of a ‘lady’ as he had dubbed her. Though it was not long before he was once again chatting busily as he lay a poultice to her cheek, smilingly happily.

He paused often to check that she was listening, though only long enough for a nod or tilt of the head. The other men did not stir during his boastings, barely offering any signs that they were living other than the slight rise and fall of their chests. She enjoyed the talk and mindless chatter more as the pain wore off and the poultice worked, seeping into her skin and numbing the area, and soon Niu even offered the occasional comment or laugh. But it was not long till she used the excuse of darkness to leave the old man. He smiled weakly at her as she walked away, one hand raised in a parting gesture.


Niu moved through the town, the retreating sunlight taking with it the warmth of the day. She went to rest underneath the old, dead tree that marked the edge of town. Its trunk was white and many animals had burrowed underneath the rotting bark, its leaves long gone, it sat stoic and proud, emphatic against the darkness. People everywhere knew the story about the night that lightning had struck it, the burning wood should have set fire to the whole town, but for some reason the flames never leapt away from the bark, and the fire lived and died with the tree. A small shrine was sat just in front of the tree. And she cast a short prayer to the gods before going home.


Niu sat on the edge of town again the next morning, resting by the tree, knowing few people moved through this part of town. She liked to be alone; it was hard to be lonely when by yourself. She only felt invisible around others. And so she was alone the day her attacker decided to make an appearance.

He saw her immediately of course, smirking at the mark he had left on her cheek. He made no move to approach her, and she merely cast her head down. A childish smile playing on her lips as he once again commented on her beauty, which quickly faded when her cheek throbbed in protest. He moved towards her slowly, and she was suddenly aware that there was no one else around.
She took a step backwards as he advanced, feeling the roots underneath her feet; ready to trip her up if she tried to run. Suddenly, emboldened by fear she blurted, “Why were you praying?”
He stood still for a moment, shocked by the question, “Because I’m going to be a soldier.” Niu wondered at this response, and it must have shown on her face for he replied quickly, “I’m not scared or anything it’s just, my brother died in the war.” Suddenly he shot forward grabbing her arm, his nails making marks on her skin, as he quickly tried to explain himself, “I have a lot of brothers, I’m not scared of war or anything I just don’t want to end up like that stupid one, I’m going to be better than the rest of them anyway, so I suppose I don’t really need to pr-.” She twisted away quickly, tripping over a root and looking up at him as he stood, panting, over her.
“Okay” she mumbled, her bravado gone, as he leaned over her, still clinging to her arm as she sat awkwardly on the ground.

He continued to talk, and she continued to listen. “Of course I’m going to be amazing, I’ve beat up so many boys here that war will be nothing.” He shouted out the last word, staring off into the distance, his mouth turned up in a confident smile, though his brow furrowed slightly.

Niu mumbled another affirmation and he looked down at her quite quickly as though just realizing that she was there. He leaned forward, suddenly gleeful again, smirking at her pathetic form. “I’m going to be amazing of course, I’ll kill them all just like the lightning that killed this tree, everyone will know my name in this town and every other. And you’ll be so grateful just for having known me.” The light was back in his eyes. His dark hair cast a shadow onto his face, emphasizing sharp planes, and deep set eyes that gleamed in spite of the darkness. “I’ll prove it.” He touched her with a shaking hand, stroking the bruise before turning and leaving.

Niu sat there for a long time. Collecting her thoughts and keeping her breathing under control. A few people passed by but they paid her no mind. Her hands were surprisingly steady as she started to get up. She moved slowly, but other than this, nothing about her demeanor betrayed the scene she had just witnessed. Her mind screamed for her to leave before he came back, but she did not forget to pray to the tree. And then she went home, her injured hand hidden safely in her sleeve.


Chatter stormed through the town, rumors swirling and growing bigger with each telling. And just like small towns everywhere, a rumor cannot go long unheard.
Niu was there, that morning on the riverbank as they pulled the body up. No one recognized who it was, though the limp white blob of hair resting on the head pricked her heart. ‘Like the lightning’ he had said. She wondered distantly where they would take him, and who they would take him to. She could hear people around her speculate on who had done it and whether or not he had contaminated the water, the new gossip adding a spark to the conversation. Niu did not cry, did not even feel like crying, though her mood was somber. Her body was cold as the water of that mercilessly rushing river.
Then she saw him. The boy who stood with fire in his eyes as they carried the body away. And then she could feel heat course through her blood, rage filling her with fire till she could meet his spark with a flame.

And it wasn’t long before others saw him to, as he laughed to himself, as he stood there shoulders back, making eye contact with everyone he could. She could feel the roar once more. Friends came up to him and gave him stares, some disgusted, others surprised, some appreciative. He looked at everyone equally, his glance passing right over her. And slowly the town was quiet, and everyone was staring at him. Everyone knew, though no one said a thing.

Her hands shook. She longed to throw something, to scream, to shout. But she pushed it down. Gritted her teeth and turned away from the carnage. She walked to the Wall that bordered one edge of the town, one of the few sections in the kingdom that had been restored. Soldiers walked along the top intermittently, looking up the sun felt so far away hidden under the immensity of the Wall. It was cool against her forehead as she leaned against it. More and more people were preparing for war, a time of death, pain, and victors. Vaguely she wondered if one day a murderer would walk along these walls in the guise of a hero. Her nails dug into the wall painfully. And suddenly she hated it very much, for surely there must be more like him, walking along its endless pathways.

Her fists thudded dully against its immensity, and she continued to pound on it until her hands bled. She hated it all, the wall, him, and the faces that turned away from her blood covered hands. The story of the tree floated through her head, and she wondered if he would stop with just killing one man. If the fire would leap away and burn down the whole village.
Abruptly her adrenaline ran out and she leaned back against the expanse. What could she do? And the longer she stayed still, watching the few people passing her by, the more the cold seeped through clothes and into her skin; she wondered if what she did mattered. Did anyone know who Niu was? Her hands clenched, and the pain was a pleasant distraction. Once more she turned to face the wall. Who knew who she was? She would let them know; they would know her and remember her, like the lightning. Ephemeral in existence but perpetual in memory.
Her hands acted on their own, grabbing the first stone that protruded from the wall, a little ways above her head. Her feet followed and she pulled herself up with her hands, slowly hand by hand, and foot by foot, her heart pounded against her chest drowning out the gathering of a crowd below. The wall was immense, tall and impossibly large. About halfway up she wondered what she was doing, her hands and feet bleeding onto the crowds below, her shoes long gone and her dress torn to bits to help ease her movement. A laugh escaped her lips as she looked down. More laughter followed and soon her arms were shaking dangerously, “He killed him!” she shouted, “You know he killed him!” She could see the small shocked faces below her and she laughed a bit at the unified expression. A few people called out, asking what she was doing, one of them a soldier peering down from the edge of the wall. “Telling you all that he killed him, killed the old man with the white hair, drowned him in the cold waters of the river. And you all know it too; you just don’t want to do anything about it.” The faces that looked up at her were arrayed from shocked to angry to ashamed. Everyone knew of his crimes. But everyone was watching Niu as she continued to laugh, putting one hand in front of the other, slowly approaching the top.
The silence was deafening as everyone stood motionless, their necks moving farther and farther back as moved farther and farther up the wall, the sun soon above her shining down. The laughter had stopped and was replaced by grunts and the occasional shout of, “everyone will know!” No one moved as her hands reached the top of the wall; even the soldiers stood frozen, until one of them realized that he should reach down and help her up. As his hand reached hers, the spell was broken. A few other soldiers reached down and soon she was sitting on the edge, hands and feet bleeding freely as a cheer went through the crowd below. Niu smiled distantly, exhaustion and amazement filling her mind as the roar filled her ears.
One of her legs dangled off the wall and she leaned dangerously, till one of the men came to move her back from the edge. Niu shot straight up, and ran a short distance, nearly knocking the soldier off the wall. She stood once again on a precipice, her feeling the edge below her. The cheers stopped abruptly. And the people looked once again to see what she would do. Soldiers stood shocked to both sides, though soon they were moving forward, saying painfully optimistic things, as she looked down. It had been a long way up; it would be a long way down.
‘Just like the lightning’ His voice rang again through her head, the wall crumbled a bit beneath her feet, it would be so simple, and they would never forget her. The sort of false courage that lasts for only a moment filled her as the men continued to encroach on her, soon they would be able to grab her. She licked her lips and tensed.