Chen Wuya's fingers twitched, and he abruptly opened his eyes.
The sky had only just begun to pale gray-white, and the wind carried the scent of rust and dust. Golden light still pulsed in his palm like a living vein, racing beneath his skin along the misaligned force. In the distant wasteland, black shapes began to writhe, and the ground trembled faintly.
"They're here," he said softly.
Before his words had faded, a horn tore through the morning mist, low and sonorous like the roar of a beast. Then came thunderous hoofbeats rolling through the gorge, shaking the earth. The foreign army poured out from the mouth of Sunset Gorge in a vast black mass, blades and spears standing like a forest. Battering rams led the charge, flanked by fur-clad death warriors gripping blood-dripping scimitars.
From the high platform, Tuoba Lie rode forth on a black horse. His silver armor reflected the rising sunlight, cold enough to sting the eye. He raised a hand, and the army halted. His deep-set eyes stared straight toward the center of the courtyard, his lips curling slightly. "Chen Wuya, you held out for one night. Can you hold out through this battle?"
Chen Wuya did not answer. He merely pressed his right hand into the array of copper plates on the ground. The pulse-shaking nails Old Wu Tou had sent had long since been buried in the soil. Drawn by the misaligned force, they made the entire stratum hum. The enemy vanguard's steps instantly fell into disarray. The axles of two battering rams jammed, and they overturned with a crash, crushing a swath of soldiers.
"Activate!" he shouted.
The mechanism array sprang into action. Hidden compartments in the western wall snapped open, firing rows of crossbow bolts. Oil-soaked arrows ripped through the air and