The sky was bright with stars as Sheng and Xiong sat next to the fire, Xiong sitting cross legged almost as tall as Sheng was when he was standing, looking back at the valley they had left two days ago while Sheng produced a bottle of rice wine.

  “Ah to be young and leaving home for the first time. So many memories…”

  Xiong turned back to face him, then looked back down into his soup bowl, “My apologies Honoured elder, I have not left my home since I was old enough to form memories.”

  Sheng took a sip from his wine dish, gave a small nod of approval and passed one to Xiong, “There is nothing wrong with loving your home. I should know, I fought for the Empire for a great many years.”

  He took the dish, “You said you trained under my Grandmother?”

  “Indeed, I followed her into the army.” The old soldier sighed deeply, apparently already knowing what was coming. “Ask your questions, I owe you an explanation.”

  Xiong shifted slightly, eyes fixed on the untouched wine. He thought of the dark red armour, the deceptive speed that his mother had always spoken of, and the name that the Huns had known but the soldier had not wished to share. “They called you Sheng.”

  “Yes. And your name is Shemni Xiong, the son of Shenmi Sun-Li, daughter of Shenmis Sheng and Sun-Li.”

  Xiong nodded, “That is so.”

  “Then the answer to your unspoken question is yes. I am Shenmi Sheng.” The soldier looked so old as he swirled the sake in his dish, defeated in a way that the shining figure in his mother's stories never was. “I... came looking for my daughter and her husband. I hoped they might have a child. I find that hope answered.”

  The blacksmith’s mouth turned downward and Sheng’s eyes closed in acceptance, “I take it you have bad news for me." He breathed out, “Tell me how.”

  Xiong finally set the sake dish down on the ground, leaving a small silence before he spoke, voice quiet. “Father died defending the harbour of Lily-on-the-Lake in the East from pirates when I was very small. He had been chosen to be part of an envoy from our Lord. I was told he died bravely. He didn't have to… but he wanted to give my mother time to get everyone to safety.”

  Sheng held his head in his hands for a long moment. “I see. I have been... very lax in my duties.”

  Xiong continued, “Mother wasn't the same after that. Even as we travelled back to the Western Province where she was born she seemed to grow weary so quickly…” He looked up with a soft smile, “The only time she would be animated was when she would dance or tell me stories about you.”

  Sheng returned the smile, “Your grandmother told her many stories about me.” He turned away to look into the fire, “Some were even true. Had I been here perhaps they would be here to argue it out…”

  “My favourite was the one about the brave general who fought the Clan of the Iron Dagger by snuffing out all their candles at once, then trouncing them as they were blinded.” Xiong gave a small, soft smile. “She loved you very much.”

  Sheng did not respond, and they sat in silence for a very long time. Eventually he broke it, “Did she ever mention why I left?”

  “She said you had gone to do your duty, and that I should work hard to be worthy of your name, so that you would be proud when we met in Heaven.” Xiong so desperately wanted to ask, but everything he'd been taught about how to socialise - especially with those of higher status - said that he should not bother others with his emotions. Not only that but he was meant to be strong, not desperately beg for validation from the first person that might be related to him.

  Apparently he'd failed to hide it given Sheng gave the soft smile of an old man who had seen straight through him. “I am proud. From what I have seen you are a friend to spirits, your name is renowned, you honour your ancestors and you have a strong back. Yes, I am proud. But…” he sighed, “My name does not deserve such high esteem. Before you say anything else know that your mother did not speak the whole truth. She spoke to honour her elders.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She said I left to do my duty. This is... not strictly true.” He paused for a long moment, “One of us could have refused on the grounds of having children to care for, but neither of us were… used to being parents. We told ourselves we'd only warp them, that we were needed more at the front." He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, “When my wife was killed... The... I joined the army with her. We trained together, ate together, fought together.... We…"

  He breathed out, head dropping as if begging for forgiveness, "The truth is that without your grandmother, I could not face my duty. I was taken captive yes, but I did not fight. I all but deserted without lifting a finger."

  He smiled sadly as he studied the fire, “I loved her more than life. Even when I regained my mind I did not return, too cowardly to face the family I'd abandoned. I reasoned that they were better off having an ancestor who was honourable and dead." He looked up at Xiong, "It has taken me these twenty long years in exile to realise that the only way to deal with the guilt was to return to what we both loved most, the reason we did it all."

  "The Empire.” Xiong whispered.

  Sheng nodded and a silence settled between them, not an uncomfortable one, but one to let the feelings aired have space to breathe.

  Xiong felt gratitude welling up inside him, “I- I'm glad you're back grandfather. You may not think much of yourself, but it means a lot to me that I am no longer alone. I hope I can bring honour to you by bringing this man to justice.”

  Sheng’s eyes crinkled, “I only hope that I can atone for my long years of absence by giving you the time and teachings that by rights should have been Sun-Li's. Let me start by telling you about that last battle from my perspective, so that you may judge whether I am worthy of your company and admiration for yourself.”

  —

  To say that the battle was going poorly was an understatement.

  This valley was one of the strangest battlefields Sheng had ever fought on. Years of wind and no rain had led to a dusty plain cracked into massive pillars and wind carved valleys, leading to a haphazard maze of plateaus that almost looked like a bizarre set of flower petals. Travellers and warring armies had built and burned bridges between the plateaus so often that the map constantly changed.

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  They had known the Huns would hit the tower hard. The plan had been to hold the watchtower in the centre as bait, then use the bridges to come around the outside and hit them in the back.

  Yet somehow - somehow - the Huns were still two steps ahead of them. Despite only having talked over the plans with themselves and their seconds in command the Huns hadn't gone for the strategically optimal move, instead going around the edge of the battlefield. They'd set three of the bridges spanning the mess of chasms on fire, stopping both the pincer movement and the reinforcements.

  What this looked like on the ground was waiting for help that never came, seeing his comrades falling to either side, picked off slowly and methodically from the edges as Sheng tried to hold his formation together long enough to retreat to safety.

  He was failing, he knew that, and with every soldier he lost the Singing Sword style weakened. Soon it would be time to resort to their own styles - much as it hurt that they had lost enough people to need it. Separating out into their own specialised styles would give them the best chance of surviv-

  There was a series of screams as one of the ropes on the bridge they were heading for snapped. That was their last remaining hope for retreat. All the other routes would end up in him losing everyone on their way there. "RUN!" he bellowed, "Use your other Styles!"

  Turning to run opened them up to other risks of course. Arrows hailed on their small group, but one of his people leapt in a spin that caused a miniature whirlwind that knocked the arrows away. It slowed them down a fraction too much and the tide of Huns swept over them.

  A tide. An idea sparked in his head and he wove through the crowd like it was a giant school of fish. It was closer to swimming than running, but the First Tortoise was his primary path and he needed to use every edge he had.

  They lost two more people in the mad dash, slowed down by the huns that had managed to get behind them. Now there were only four and it was time for the next rain of arrows.

  Their Red Phoenix specialist lifted his shield to save Sheng, giving a final smile of satisfaction before he crumpled. For all he was skilled at resisting pain, there wasn't much that could be done when an arrow landed in your neck.

  The remaining three ran for the bridge, Sheng's hooked blades flashing out to either side to parry the incoming weapons. Sheng could see the friendly forces on the other side, could see them screaming as the other rope snapped, the bridge falling away into the chasm.

  The trio cut through the remaining enemies until they were standing at the lip. They had been so close! If only they had a way to cross the gap-

  Sheng locked eyes with his second in command as they had the realisation at the same time, "Six Sheaves, let Bountiful Harvest throw you over."

  "No General." she smiled sadly and turned to fight, "Harvest! Throw Sheng over! I'll buy you time!"

  "NO!" Sheng protested, only for Bountiful Harvest to scoop him up and spin, using her own significant weight as a counterweight to build momentum, eyes on the remains of the bridge hanging down on the other side.

  Time seemed to slow as Bountiful Harvest let go and he sailed into the air.

  He watched as the Ruby dragon specialist staggered into the crowd from the force of her throw.

  He saw the proud and resolute smile on his second in command's face as she looked over her shoulder, a mouthed sentence that his too keen eyes could recognise.

  It's been an honour.

  The world abruptly sped up and he twisted in mid air to use his hooked swords to catch onto the planks of the tattered remains of the bridge. An instant later the wind was driven from him by the impact. Sheng clung to the hilts grimly until he could breathe, then dragged himself up plank by plank until he could get his feet on them as well.

  Arrows sailed in and fire blazed across his leg. Not a direct hit, thank the Heavens. Still, it was enough to send him scrambling for the top and be pushed through to the safety of their own lines.

  Even here it was messy, bodies scattered like kindling and hiding behind rocks as Sheng ran between them. There had to be some of command left for him to group up with and strategise!

  Eventually he threw himself behind a boulder to avoid an arrow with a faint curse only to find that he wasn't alone. The two women and one man behind it looked up immediately, then slowly released their weapons. The man was his subordinate, the woman with the pinched face still looking impeccably neat despite the battle was Harmonious Crane, the young general of the First Army.

  The final woman wore the armour of the Eagle Army with a rank and a smile that matched his own and for all the battle was going to the nine hells, it was good to see his wife Sun-Li. “I’m here. Tai, report!”

  “Generals, the Eagle Army's formation is shattered.” his subordinate began, tightening the bandage around his leg, “They’ve split into roughly five, but they’re holding in defensive formation. The Imperial Dragon Blades is faring worse though.” the man hesitated, “The Imperial Dragon Blades have been scattered. The First Army are… holding. But you can see we’re still under attack even here.”

  “Can you run?”

  He shook his head, “No, General. I can walk, but the doctors say that if I run now I’ll ruin it permanently.”

  Sheng nodded and looked over the battlefield. Drat, his best First Commander unable to fight. Sheng’s hands tightened on his swords before he forced herself to stop and think. Tactics, tactics, he couldn’t just throw that away just because the situation looked hopeless. They’d been in tighter spots than this, he’d thought her way out of them before.

  The watchtower on the central island had only two bridges left intact. That made it a choke point and a trap. One bridge led to the Huns, the other to them. Anyone could see it was a key point, but how to use it?

  “We need to retreat and regroup.” Crane said simply, “We are lacking in numbers and even more lacking in leadership with so many cut down. Take down the bridge and stop the Huns advancing further.”

  “I’m not leaving my people to die out there, Crane.” Sun-Li growled.

  “Agreed.” Sheng frowned, “The Imperial Dragon Blades need reinforcements but going in is tactical suicide,” he murmured, “We know this, they know this. How can we use that?”

  “How…?” Tai blinked, “You cannot seriously be considering going back in? That is...” he trailed off, “That is precisely what they want you to do, General. They hate you, we can’t afford to lose you.”

  Sun-Li’s eyes flicked up to Sheng’s, then out to the battlefield before she saw her husband’s plan and let a slow resigned smile cross her face, “You’re wrong, Tai, and that’s what the Huns will miss too. There is no difference between our lives and that of every soldier under our command. We make the sacrifice play."

  Sheng nodded and reached out for her hand, "Every Hun out there wants to be the one to bring back the Fox and the Scythe's heads. Even if they do have a good tactician they can't control individuals. They'll all come after us, giving the other flanks room to breathe and regroup."

  Sun-Li accepted the hand and gave it a squeeze as warm as her smile, knowledge of their shared love and impending sacrifice dancing between them, "Two for a thousand? I’ll take that. Now how can we make it more?”

  He grinned, “I knew there was a reason I married you.”

  Crane looked at him blankly, “I note you’re not including me.”

  “I mean no offence General Crane, but the Huns don’t hate you enough.” Sheng said flatly, “Maybe once you get more of a reputation, but right now your cool head is exactly what the Empire needs as a fallback.”

  The young woman’s eyes narrowed, then she nodded slowly. "Our people may even rally around you by the same principle."

  Sun-Li grinned, "That'll make it possible to do a retreat afterwards too. We head for the watchtower?”

  He nodded and straightened, as resolute here as at the head of the map table, “General Crane, First Commander Tai, once the Huns are focussed on us you are to withdraw the entirety of both armies to the safety of the wall. Do you understand me?”

  His assistant stared at him, “But I cannot possibly lead…”

  “If this fails to give enough space to retreat there won’t be enough for more than one army.” Sun-Li said flatly, “I agree with his call. You keep your head and have a good eye. Do you understand us?”

  Crane snapped a salute every bit as crisp as her first day in the army, “We understand, Generals. Don’t let the Empire down.”

  The colonel looked between them both before giving a deep bow, “Yes, honourable ones, I understand. May the Heavens look on your sacrifice favourably.”

  Sheng nodded, “Then here are your orders.”

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