The battle had raged for days. Fires burned low. Steel rang less often.
Across the ridges, the enemy began to scatter, and whispers of victory
stirred among the wounded.
Li Xian's medical camp had become a lifeline for hundreds — a sanctuary of
herbs, water, and mercy. She moved from soldier to soldier, even with her
own fever rising again.
Sky flew low overhead, his feathers dulled by soot, but his spirit unwavering.
> "Almost over," Li Xian whispered to him. "Almost home."
But fate had one last shadow to cast.
Just as the sun pierced the smoky clouds, a rogue battalion of enemy
soldiers, perhaps desperate or forgotten by command, launched a surprise
attack on the rear — on the medical tent.
Screams rose.
Li Xian heard them first. She saw soldiers charging down the slope with wild
eyes. There were no guards at the tent.
Without hesitation, she grabbed a dagger from the side table, her injured
side flaring with pain.
> "Protect the wounded!" she yelled. "Fall back!"
Sky shrieked overhead. He dove at a soldier's face, clawing and biting. One
man raised his spear — pointed straight at Sky.
> "No!" Li Xian cried.
She lunged, placing herself between the spear and the bird. The weapon
struck — slicing deep into her side. She staggered but stayed standing.
Then came a roar.
Ren Xu.
He appeared from the smoke like a storm, sword in hand, eyes blazing. He
charged into the fray and tore through soldier after soldier, his blade
dancing with vengeance.
He fought like a man possessed — ten, fifteen, nearly twenty enemies fell
beneath his fury.
But they kept coming.
One soldier slipped through his defense — a long blade pierced Ren Xu's
chest, just below the heart.
He gasped, dropping to one knee.
Li Xian, bleeding and barely upright, rushed to him.
> "No... not you too."
Ren Xu looked up at her, pain fading into peace.
> "We were... free," he whispered.
Another blade came. She threw herself forward — and fell beside him.
Both lay still.
Sky landed between them, wings spread wide, screeching wildly. He pecked
and clawed at the attackers until they withdrew.
Then — silence.
The battlefield fell still.
Sky circled above them once, twice, three times.
> "Li Xian... Ren Xu... Li Xian..." he cried, voice cracking like thunder.
He landed between their bodies and bowed his head.
The last wind carried ash and petals through the air.
And the sky, for a moment, wept.