Kai feng's voice rang through the ranks of his army. "Soldiers of the great Wei!"

They responded by pounding their weapons on the hard, dirt floor, dust rising a little as the instruments of war and blood resonated to the underworld.

"There might be a chance where you or the fellow soldier beside you will not live to see the next sunrise that will grace our glorious kingdom." Kai feng rode his horse a little bit more forward so he was closer to his men. "But do not be afraid, as your life would not be in vain. Die bravely, and the great Wei will be safe."

Jin qing and Shang Ye sat on their own horse behind them, listening.
This group... would have the most dangerous part of the plan, the distraction. If they don't do their attack well, the deception would fail and this would simply turn into a massacre.

"The fate of this city rides on our shoulders!" Kai feng exclaimed. "Will we let the will of the gods down by failing to complete our duty?!"

The soldiers once again pounded their weapons on the floor and answered in unison.  "NO!"

"If you die today, do not be afraid! Stand strong! The heavens are with us! The heavens are with our Emperor! And do we, their faithful servants and defendants, allow disgraceful men into the country blessed by the heavens above?"

The men roared, raising their weapons into the air. "NO!"

His horse stepped back so he was in line with Jin qing and Shang Ye. "Then let us fight! Fight for our everlasting honor!"

"FOR HONOR"

"For the Wei!"

"FOR THE WEI!"

Jin qing and Shang Ye exchanged glances.
A smile played on his lips, completely at ease.
Jin qing answered with a small but fake smile of her own.

They were going to be fine.

We're going to be just fine.

Kai Feng looked at Jin qing with a small nod. "Ready?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Ready as I ever will be." He turned to Shang Ye. "Be careful, your highness."

"Of course." Shang Ye nodded "you too."

Shang Ye turned to the gates, the sun setting in the sky.
The attack had been postponed to sunset, as the morning patrol of the Song would have been weakened with fatigue from working all day.

The reinforcements on the side were prepared to strike as soon as the time was right. All they need was the element of surprise on their side.

The gates opened, and the men marched out, The trio at the head, leading them.

Jin qing had a white silk cape instead of a red one like Kai feng and Shang Ye, marking her status and who she was.
Her watchful eyes scanned around, and ready for the countering of the Song.

As soon as the crosses the makeshift bridge over shallowest and the narrowest part of the river, the Song appeared, and the two sides clashed.
Only a part of the army crossed the bridge, the rest crossed on the shallowest parts of the water as the Song was too occupied on the assault on land to worry about the others on the sea.

Jin qing followed closely behind Shang Ye, but they were soon separated.

She swept in on her horse, swinging her spear at any enemy that came her way, moving in perfect unison with her horse.

Her black horse's hooves came down on a poor soldier who had stumbled onto the floor as Jin qing knocked a few down and into the waiting blades of the Wei soldiers following her.
Unstoppable, majestic, heavenly.
Backed with the power of the gods.

For a minute, Jin qing was quite hopeful that the man had fled, and this would be an easy victory for both her and the Wei.

Suddenly, a wave of Song soldiers crashed into the left flank, led by a very familiar-looking man.

The Wei soldiers held fast, but they struggled to fight off the new and energized soldiers of the Song.

Another cheer went up as the Wei reinforcements washed in and mixed among them, sending the battle into chaos.
But it was working.
Jin qing can see the Wei soldiers in the back slowly close in around the Song.
Slowly.

Her horse suddenly reared and fell down, an arrow shot across his Thigh, deeply cutting it.

Jin qing slid off and sent her horseback into the direction of the Wei.
It would be hand to hand combat now.

She held onto her spear door as long as possible, moving silently and killing the Song men without a hassle, either cutting through some lethal parts of the body or just slitting their throat.

Though her armor slowed her down a little, she moved like a shadow, staying in a spot only for a few seconds, causing some deaths or some injury, and moved on.
Just like the old times.

She rose her sword to kill another enemy solider when her side suddenly erupted in pain. She looked down and watched in shock as blood slowly painted the cloth underneath her armor red.

"Well well well..." a thick, raspy voice said behind her. "Look who we have here?"

Jin qing instinctively swung her elbow back, and it made contact with metal but managed to push the man back.
She struggled to regulate her heartbeat before she bleeds out. The cut wasn't deep, as the man probably didn't intend to let her die so easily. "You."

"Me. You'd thought you'll never see me again, didn't you?" He said with a smirk. His features were hidden by his helmet, but his dark eyes shone with malice and confidence. "Or did you expect me already? Seeing how you rushed here."

Jin qing didn't say another word, but rose her sword and ran at him.

He deflected it easily but gasped when Jin qing rammed her fist into his unprotected neck.
Armor needed chinks to allow the wearer to move around, and that is places where you can strike.

The man stumbled backward, struggling to breathe for a few seconds.

Jin qing took this advantage as an opening and ran at him again, her sword arm outstretched.

The big and tall man suddenly caught onto her arm easily and twisted it with such force, it caused her to drop her sword onto the floor.
An act.
Jin qing did manage to punch him in the neck, but it didn't affect him as much as he pretended to. It was just to get her to be overconfident.

Jin qing ignored the pain and shoved her elbow into his head, pushing his head away from her, and his body quickly followed.

Jin qing cursed under her breath. She couldn't move her sword arm again.
No wonder the assassin came in last night. It was to disable her arm as much so that one squeeze in the right spot would leave it useless for at least an hour or two.

"Yes, that's right. You can't move your arm." He smiled underneath his helmet, coughing a little "I imagine your body was already weak from the poison."

Jin qing looked up in surprise "how do you know about that? Were you the one... How-"

"I was one who supplied the poison to the person who committed the act. You see, the person wanted revenge on you so badly she was willing to do almost anything." He said and walked toward her "the person thinks she's so clever, but she doesn't even know where she's getting the poison from. Or does she? Her family has ties to the Song, though it's never really brought up."

Jin qing stumbled back. No way...
She rose her other arm, gripping the sword tightly so it doesn't drop.
But it was her nondominant hand, and the man disarmed her easily as he stepped forward to her.

"You've stalled for enough time. Time to end our rivalry." He rose his sword, and it bit through her right shoulder, and lifted it up, letting Jin qing fall to the floor after another blow right onto her head with the hilt of his sword.

 fire seemed to burn her skin when the blade cut through her armor and into her body.
Her head buzzed, as everything but the pain and the throbbing in her head faded into the background.
That's it.
She's going to die here.

The man walked toward her, ready to strike again in a way that all leave her too injured to move, and leave her slowly bleeding on the floor until she died.

Jin qing preferred to end other's lives quickly.
This man... liked the opposite.

He was almost ten years older than her, his strength overwhelming her speed.

He rose his sword again, and Jin Qing braced herself for the strike.
Jin qing laid her head on the ground. She was still, too weak.

It never came.

She lifted up her head and saw a blurry figure knock the man backward.
The sound of metal clashing against each other was sharp enough to pierce through her dimming consciousness.
She watched in As the man retreated, possibly injured by the person's attacks.

The person turned around to her and picked her up, shaking her a little.
She can hear his voice...

"Jin qing?! Jin qing! Are you alright? Wake up! Oh my goodness you're bleeding-"

She closed her eyes.
Her last thought was a curse.
Why must Shang Ye, out of all people, find me in this state?

<><><>

"Did you really think that I would let you go so easily?"

"N-no... please-"

"Shut it. All you know is begging and pleading. Be grateful that my mother even spared your life. Make yourself useful."

"Please- I don't even... Ah-!"

"I said shut it! Now you go and make yourself useful. Before mother tosses you aside for them to take you."

"No- please. Don't let them-"

"Then do what we say. And you'll be safe. Repay the debt you owe us."

"I- I will..."

"Good. Now get up."

"Y-Yes..."

"Move it! There isn't any time for you to dawdle! Mother wants to see you. She spared you because she knows how skilled you are. Now put it to work. If not-"

"I know."

"Don't interrupt me!"

"Ah-!"

"You worthless piece of trash! If it was up to me, I would have let you rot. But no. Mother claims that you'll be useful. Now get up!"

<><><>

The battle was over.
The Wei has won.

The Song soldiers were surrounded, and when they realized they couldn't win, they searched for their general for guidance, but he had disappeared.
The Song army fell into disarray, and the Wei picked up on another easy but hard-fought victory.

Shang Ye just so happened to pass by the Xue Xian just as she was about to be killed by the Song General. He had stepped in and tried to finish what the Xue Xian was trying to do.
The general had fled after being injured by the combined efforts of Shang Ye and the Xue Xian, abandoning his men.

Shang Ye was about to chase after him when he noticed how the Xue Xian wasn't getting back up and had rushed her to safety.

The remaining men cleaned up the battlefield, tending to the wounded and count their dead.

And prayed for the recovery of the Xue Xian, who had failed to wake.