The clash of steel jolted Prince Zhao Yifeng from sleep.
For a disoriented moment, he lay frozen in his bed, his mind struggling to separate dream from reality. Then the alarm bells began their frantic chorus, echoing through the night like the screams of dying spirits.
"XIONGNU ATTACK! PROTECT THE EMPEROR! THE XIONGNU ARE HERE!"
Yifeng immediately threw off his silk covers and lunged for the door, still in his sleeping robes, his crown abandoned on the bedside table. The moment he stepped into the corridor, chaos swallowed him whole.
Flames licked at the eastern buildings, painting the night sky orange and red. Smoke choked the air. Guards ran in every direction, their armor clanking, their swords drawn. And the screaming, servants, officials, women, a symphony of terror that made his heart slam against his ribs.
A shadow moved in his peripheral vision.
Yifeng turned just as a Xiongnu warrior lunged at him, curved sword raised high, murder in his eyes.
Steel flashed.
