The Plains Before Dawn
Mist clung to the charred fields where Hei Long had shattered the empire's first army. The ground still reeked of ash and blood, but silence now lay heavy over the plains. Only the watchtower remained, a lone shadow against the paling sky.
But beyond the mist, the earth trembled. Not with thousands of boots, but with fewer — heavier — steps. Each one pressed deeper into the soil, as though the world itself bowed before their weight.
The Generals of Heaven had come.
Their Arrival
The first appeared at sunrise: General Feng Jiutian, the River-Splitter. His blade was a slab of steel taller than a man, etched with scars of rivers it had once parted. When he walked, the mist curled aside as if unwilling to touch him.
Beside him strode Lady Huo Lian, the Phoenix Wreath. Flames crowned her shoulders, her robes unburned, her steps leaving scorched prints in the earth. Her eyes glowed red, as though her blood itself was fire.
