The Great Wall - The Official Movie Novelization

19

It was a massive operation, and incredibly risky. At five staging areas along the Wall, Strategist Wang’s desperate plan was coming to fruition.

Lin Mae stood with Wang at the main staging area, watching as a brazier was set above an airbox with a plunger on the side. As the brazier was ignited, the plunger was slowly pulled out, causing a measured amount of black powder to be blown up into the brazier. This in turn caused flames to surge up from the brazier, generating a large quantity of shimmering hot air.

Taking care not to burn themselves, a number of Tiger Corps soldiers, communicating in sharp, staccato phrases, manipulated a huge bag of stitched-together silk and canvas and sheep skin. Lin Mae knew that if they had had more time and more materials the bags would have been more meticulously crafted, the materials more carefully selected, and tests would have been carried out on the resulting constructions. But time had been very much of the essence, and so they had had to utilize what knowledge and materials they could. All she hoped was that the materials used would be good enough to do the job required of them, and that Wang’s theories would work in practice.

As the huge bag began to fill with hot air, so it began to bulge and rise, and to tug on the shroud ropes connecting it to the woven basket gondola below. The gondola contained four soldiers, and was equipped with weapons from the black powder armory, which were lashed to the sides.

When the bag was fat enough and round enough with hot air, it launched itself from the Wall and became airborne, tugging the gondola with its human cargo behind it. Just as the gondola began to lift itself from the ground, more Tiger Corps soldiers rushed forward, clipping nets containing yet more weapons to the base of the rising basket. The gondola, Wang had explained to Lin Mae, was equipped with a simple propulsion motor, which acted as a crude tiller. This, he said, would enable the occupants of the craft to steer it in the direction they wanted to go.

Lin Mae watched the first of Wang’s hot air balloons lift sedately into the sky, and then looked up and down the line, where more and more balloons were inflating, rising, launching themselves into the air. Propelled by fire and black powder and wind, her army was sailing forth. It was like watching the paper lanterns that had been launched to commemorate General Shao’s life, albeit on a massive scale.

She only hoped that the balloons, like the lanterns, would not burn out and die before they reached their destination.

Taking the left-hand fork may not have been the correct decision, after all. Pero and Ballard had followed the trail for a while, but it hadn’t seemed to lead to anywhere in particular, except deeper into the mountains.

Now the sun was going down, and the air was getting cooler, and they needed somewhere to camp for the night. With Ballard all but falling asleep on his horse, Pero had called a reluctant halt to their day’s progress, and had told Ballard that if he remained below and looked after the horses, he would trudge up the steep ridge on their right and try to work out where they were. Ballard had agreed with a tired waft of his hand and Pero had set off. Now he was nearing the crest of the ridge and his thighs were aching with exertion. Close to the top he paused and looked back.

Ballard and the horses were nothing but a group of dark smudges far below. From here the Painted Mountains looked spectacular, striped in vibrant colors. Pero took a swig from his canteen and saw Ballard’s stick-like figure doing the same at the foot of the valley. He felt a flash of irritation. Why did the idiot need yet more water when he was only sitting there, not doing anything? He’d regret it tomorrow when his canteen ran dry and there was no more water to be had. Putting his own canteen away, Pero ascended the last steep stretch of slope. When he got to the top he sighed.

The view, though spectacular, was not exactly encouraging. To the north were more mountains, marching away into the distance. To their south, beyond the great desert plain glowing gold and red in the light of the setting sun, was the seemingly never-ending black thread of the Great Wall, miles behind them now, but still not far enough away for Pero to feel entirely safe.

Squinting, he saw dozens of black dots in the sky above the Wall. What the hell were they? He couldn’t quite make them out. He shrugged. Ah well, they weren’t his concern. As long as they didn’t interfere with his business, he didn’t—

A sound from below cut in on his thoughts. He wasn’t sure what it was—movement of some kind—but it set alarm bells ringing in his head all the same. He spun quickly, looking down, half-expecting to see bandits converging on Ballard and the horses. But what he did see was even worse—and utterly unbelievable.

Ballard and the horses were riding away. Riding away fast. A great cloud of dust kicking up into the air behind them as they disappeared into the canyon.

“No!” Pero yelled, and started to scramble down the steep slope of the ridge, knowing it was already hopeless. Had Ballard played him along all this time? Pretended to be exhausted when in fact…

“No!” he shouted again as Ballard, the horses and the precious black powder disappeared from view. He raised his head to the sky and howled into the approaching night.

“Noooo!”

William, dozing, was woken by the sound of cheers rising from the top of the Wall. The stockade was located in one of the high towers of the fortress, which meant that the cheering was coming from somewhere below him.

Curious, he scrambled to his feet and crossed to the slit of a window, which overlooked the Wall, hoping to see what was going on. Had the Nameless Order achieved a major victory of some kind? But if the Tao Tei had launched another attack, surely he would have heard it?

His cell was darker than it had been when he’d entered it earlier, the thin beam of light now a deep reddish amber, which meant that the sun was going down. Soon he’d have nothing but the vague flicker of torchlight from outside to puncture the darkness. To all intents and purposes, it would be like being sealed inside a tomb.

For now, though, there was enough illumination to see by, though the window was so narrow, and set at such an angle, that he couldn’t see very much. He strained forward, pushing his head into the gap, hoping that it wouldn’t get stuck.

And then he lurched backward, scraping his ear and cheek on the rock. A giant had just thrust its face against his window blocking out the light!

That was his first thought. When he looked again, the billowing, rounded head was swinging by. All at once he realized it was made of stitched-together pieces of silk and canvas. And suddenly it occurred to him what it really was. A balloon! An impossibly vast balloon! And below it, rising now, was what appeared to be a basket in the shape of a small boat, containing people.

William laughed. The thing was crazy! Impossible! And yet here it was.

Then there was an enormous BOOOM! and the balloon became a huge ball of flame. As William threw himself backward, the heat of the explosion washing across his face, he heard awful screams that instantly faded, became distant, and he imagined the boat-shaped basket with its human cargo plummeting to the earth at the base of the Wall, far, far below.

He stumbled and fell, rolling onto his back. There was another gigantic explosion, more screams and once again burning white flame, hotter and brighter than the sun, rushed in through his slit of a window, blinding him.

What was happening out there? How could triumph turn so quickly to tragedy? Were the Nameless Order under attack?

He wanted to batter down the door and rush out. He wanted to help in any way he could.

But all he could do was sit on the rocky floor of his cell and listen to the explosions and the screams.

Perched in her own gondola with Xiao Yu and Li Qing, waiting for their balloon to fill so they could take off, Lin Mae watched with horror as a burning Eagle Corps soldier fell from the sky. He twisted and writhed as he plummeted downwards, burning bolts and arrows and bits of charred gondola falling around him. She tensed as he smashed into the ground, sparks flying into the air. And he wasn’t, by any means, the only casualty. In front of them other soldiers and gondolas were falling too, other balloons erupting into vast fireballs.

Yet for every balloon that didn’t make it, there were at least three or four that did. The ground might be peppered with the burning dead and chunks of blazing debris, but the sky was filled with the majestic sight of dozens upon dozens of balloons heading like airborne sailing boats towards Bianliang.

Not all of them would get there, of course. In fact, it was questionable whether any of them would. There was a long way to go and the black powder was highly volatile. Even those balloons that survived the initial launch were still at risk of disaster with every second that passed.

But the possibility of a sudden and horrible death didn’t deter the warriors of the Nameless Order. Even now they were still filing calmly forward, still filling the gondolas, their faces set and determined, their sense of purpose undimmed. They had been born to fight the Tao Tei, and if this was the only way of fulfilling their mission, then so be it.

The wind was picking up, blowing harder than ever now. Lin Mae looked up at the vast balloon above their gondola, which was billowing and flapping as it filled. Bear Corps soldiers and Tiger Corps soldiers clung on to guy ropes, struggling to contain it, as the wind tried to pluck it, only half-deflated, over the Wall.

If that happened, of course, it would mean certain death for Lin Mae and her crew. The material of the balloon would droop into the brazier and ignite, which would then in turn react with the black powder and cause an explosion.

Yet still the wind tried to drag the balloon from the Wall, and still soldiers clung on desperately to guy lines in an attempt to stop that from happening. And as the balloon rose, became fatter, so the gondola beneath it began to sway and shift, causing its occupants to stagger and stumble about. Lin Mae and Xiao Yu grabbed and held on to the ropes which secured the gondola to the balloon, both to try and regain their footing and also prevent the ropes from tangling. Li Qing, meanwhile, operated the plunger, attempting to manage the surging flames erupting from the brazier.

Slowly but surely, with everyone working together, the balloon fully inflated, becoming round and taut. As it did so it strained towards the sky, dragging the gondola behind it. The soldiers on the Wall held on to the guy ropes for as long as they possibly could, and then, at an order from their commander, they all let go at once.

Propelled by the wind, the balloon threw itself eagerly from the parapet, like a bird launching into the endless sky. Lin Mae felt herself hurtling forward as the gondola swayed and rocked. For one awful moment she thought it would tip over, causing them to fall out and plunge to the ground far below. She saw a rope in front of her and grabbed it, holding on for all she was worth. She was vaguely aware of Xiao Yu stumbling over from the other side of the gondola, slamming into her and ricocheting off, before she too managed to grab hold of a rope and steady herself. Then Lin Mae noticed that the brazier was unmanned, Li Qing having been hurled away from it as the balloon had lurched. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw that the black powder nozzle was open. If the gondola tipped the other way and too much black powder poured out of the nozzle and into the brazier…

“Watch the powder!” she screamed.

Li Qing pushed herself up on to her knees and, as the gondola steadied, launched herself forward. She threw herself against the black powder nozzle and held on, shielding it with her body. The gondola gave another couple of sickening lurches and then began to steady. The wind was still strong, but the balloon was properly airborne now, riding the currents.

Heart thumping wildly, Lin Mae regained her feet and looked around. The sky was filled with balloons that were rising, moving forward, their crews bustling about, manning the braziers and pulling on ropes. Some of them, shockingly, were still blowing up, erupting instantly into flames as the black powder ignited. Many, though, were leveling out, picking up speed, ploughing forward. It was terrifying, but also exhilarating.

She looked behind her. The Wall was getting further and further away. She could still see balloons inflating, launching themselves from the battlements. She glanced at Xiao Yu and Li Qing, who looked back at her, and she grinned. Xiao Yu grinned too, though she had tears in her eyes.

On the horizon the sun looked like a spreading pool of blood.