Xian watched as the new clans arrived. Bristling spear heads gleaming in the sun. Fine tipped pens, soon to be dipped in crimson. Their stories of pain and suffering yet to be written. 

“How long do you think these fresh faces will hold Chen?” asked Hao, sharp eyes squinting as he watched the reinforcements march down to the earthworks.

The grizzled soldier chuckle darkly and took another swig from the contraband sake’ he’d managed to get his hands on. “Don’t care. They’re our ticket away from this mess.”

That was the hope. 

Two weeks holding against an unprecedented surge of Yaoguai. Xian’s clan was one of the last surviving commands in the Nao Han Valley. Undermanned and unprepared, his clan, the Ganzi and six others were stationed to keep the peace between the Imperial Boarder and the Lost Clans beyond. He’d known coming here that he might see a Yaoguai, rare as they were, but never in his darkest imaginings had he expected a host of them. No one had.

Nor had anyone expected them to hold the valley after that first day. How many Clan Leaders fell in the initial attack? Over half, surely. Their own liege lord had his life taken on the second assault, leaving them without guidance in the midst of all that chaos.

Xian still remembered the amber eyed slayer, gut swollen with bits of friends and comrades, rend through Lord Yan’s armor as if made of rice paper. The sight haunted him for days after, until the innumerable horrors following dulled his fear.

After the first week, he envied the man.Stories painted the Yaoguai as primal creatures, given to their base desires. The truly fallen amongst the Lost Clans, having offered their souls to the devils of earth and sky. Yet no fell beast could target officers in such a way. Not without guidance of a master or underlying intellect.

How had he survived so long? 

“What do you think Tzo?” called Hao. “These pretty birds going to sully their feathers in our place?”

Though none of the men around them stopped what they were doing, all eyes drifted to the man kneeling in their center. He hadn’t placed himself there as an authority figure. Rather he found his own place to rest and they all settled around him. Xian’s gaze was no exception, as he wanted to hear the man’s response.

Xian didn’t wonder how he’d survived so long, he knew the answer. They only reason they remained, why any clan still held the valley, was due to Tzo.

Tzo tore his eyes away from the valley below, as if the reinforcements were more of a side thought than a priority. Unlike the fallen lords who were either rotting beyond the earthen works or miles away after they’d abandoned the field, Tzo was low born. He held no value of blood or title. A quiet man from Xian’s village who’d married a farmer’s daughter of no exceptional reputation after serving time in the Imperial Army. That was all he knew of the man, as he kept to himself back home.

Now he was a bastion of hope for those remaining.

“I don’t know,” said Tzo, returning his gaze along the fractured earthen works below.

When Lord Yan fell, their clan banner falling with him, it was Tzo who took it up without thought or hesitation. Screaming at the top of his lungs a rally cry as he charged the beast who’d slain their lord. A lone figure against a nightmare, he plunged his spear into its chest and drew his dao after his primary weapon was torn from his hands. The beast surely would have killed him, had Xian not found himself alongside Tzo, taking up the cry and lancing the beast through the neck. Those turning from the battle heard the call and many returned. A rearguard formed about them and eventually they fought their way back to the earthworks.

As the remaining lords took what was left of their clans and fled the valley, Tzo returned to the makeshift defenses the next day. He asked no one to join him and, for some time, stood alone as the Yaoguai milled further down in the valley. Men cursed him for a fool and joined the clans that fled, but the vast majority of those whose lords had fallen remained. One by one, they joined him along the earthen works. Xian found himself standing there as well. Each day that followed he could have left, as no officer of blood or title remained. But each day he joined Tzo at the front.

He couldn’t know why the man chose to remain, but Xian eventually found his own reason: Who else would stop these beasts from ravaging their lands if not them?

Xian had a family back home and each morning, when he considered leaving the battle line, he thought of them. Alone, he couldn’t keep them safe against such evils, but here, at this place, with these men, he could keep the beasts at bay.A man broke from the lines of reinforcements, making his way down to where Tzo and the remaining clans took their rest. Xian and the rest watch him approach. Young face, little more than a boy in his teens, he reached them with a spring in his gait, but waited at the edge of their makeshift camp. Soon uncertainty crawled along his soft features when it dawned on Xian what caused the confusion.

The boy was looking for the lord of the camp. No command tent had been erected nor banners raised to indicate such.In the two weeks they’d held the valley, messages had come, promising assistance if they could hold. Only those of authority could take such letters. To tamper with information intended for ranking officers was punishable by death. Yet he’d seen Tzo take them, penning responses before sending them back. Few of their number knew how to read, let alone write a reply, but Tzo took each with a practiced ease.

Eventually, the boy asked the soldiers around him and found his way to where Tzo knelt.

“Commander Tzo?” the boy asked.

“Just Tzo,” he said.

This only caused the boy more concern, but he pushed on.

“I’ve been instructed by my lord, Xo Peng, to relieve you of your post and commend you on a valiant defense in face of formidable odds. You may return to your estate with pride, knowing that you’ve served the Empire with distinction after tomorrow’s victory.”

Tzo looked to where the fresh troops marched, slowly snaking their way to establish a camp behind what remained of their meager defenses.

“Tomorrow’s victory?”

“Yes. As the sun rises Lord Peng will lead his forces down into the valley to remove the taint that threatens our lands. It will be a day of glory for the Empire.”

Tzo’s manner tightened, his stance just a shade more rigid than it had been.

“Might I be granted an audience beforehand? I feel your lord may underestimate the situation.”

The boy paused, looking Tzo over once more. His battered, standard issue attire, dark, deep set eyes and calloused hands. Something must have clicked in the youth’s mind as he realized Tzo had no right to call for such a meeting. Suddenly the boy’s face changed to something less than friendly.

“What’s your station?”Tzo’s eyes made stone seem soft.

“I am a vassal of Lord Yan, who fell the first day of the conflict.”

“Then who has been leading this force? Who has my lord been corresponding with?”

Tzo’s hand tightened on the hilt of his dao, but otherwise did nothing.

“I see…” said the boy. 

No, not a boy. He had the appearance of youth, but such was the look of those who came from wealth. 

Sudden piety replaced any semblance of good will. “I will ensure my Lord is informed of this.”

Without a word further, the young man turned and jogged back to the marching column. Hao spit at his retreating form.

“Well,” began Chen, swaying as he tossed the empty sake’ bottle, “best we leave before the end of this mess. No point staying to die. Let the Imperial Army bleed now. Ancestors know we’ve spilled our share.”

Hao nodded and Xian began to gather up his belongings. No one wanted to be around when the Imperial Questioners began looking for acts of insubordination. Tzo remained where he was and Xian’s heart ached for the man.

Of all the lords and powers he’d seen in his life, none had shown a fraction as much honor as this single low born man. To be so casually disregarded…

Tzo glanced up and they locked eyes. Xian felt the blood rush to his cheeks and bowed his head. Such were the injustices of the world. At least now they could go home. This was no longer their problem. The army would insure the safety of the nation.

The sun drifted beneath the valley and, with his gear packed, Xian slept well, knowing this would be his last night in this cursed place.

The next morning, sunrise came, and with it, the gathering of the Yaoguai down in the valley. Chen rubbed his eyes, groaning softly at the after effects of the sake. Hao already had his pack shouldered, watching the Imperial Army form rank and begin marching down to meet the fell enemy instead of holding the defensive position.

Xian took in a deep breath of morning air, sweet with the prospect of going home, when his gaze found Tzo.

The man faced the valley below, still dressed in his combat attire. In one hand he held a newly fashioned spear. The clan banner on his back snapping with the chill breeze.

“Tzo,” said Chen, “what are you doing?”

He turned, eyes scanning those who’d followed him these last weeks. Xian’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what the man intended.

“There’s no reason to go down there,” Hao said, “Let’s go home.”

Those gathering what remained of their gear stopped and watched.

Tzo gave a ghost of a smile, “Go home my friends. You’ve done what is asked of you and more. I’ve not served with such honorable men in my life. It has been amongst the finest times I can recall… but I cannot abandon the field.”

“Why the hell not,” snapped Chen. “Are you blood drunk or have you no home to return? I want a warm bed, a soft woman, and enough drink to drown this place from my mind. You’ve nothing to prove! Not to us or those Imperial bastards”

“It’s not that Chen," Tzo said quietly, "Not at all. I want to see my daughter on her wedding day and weep with pride at the beauty she’s become. To see my sons, tall and strong, and teach them what it is to love and fight for that which is dear to them. To hold my wife in my arms…” Tzo stopped, eyes blinking rapidly, hands white knuckled. “But they are walking into the same trap as the lords before them. When it fails, there must be someone here to hold the line and ensure these beasts don’t destroy all the things I’ve come to love. It is because I want to go home that I will remain.”

Silence followed as each man felt the weight of his words, knowing in their hearts he spoken true.

“To hell with you Tzo!” raged Chen. “You can’t guilt into staying. I’m going home.”

Chen gathered his things and marched off while a low muttering drifted through the survivors.

“Thank you for standing with me, my friend,” Tzo said to Chen's retreating form. “I wish you well.”

Chen paused, as if the words themselves were enough to strike him, then pushed on.

Tzo turned away and began walking toward the earthworks.

Xian and the rest were caught in a war of their own conscious. Slowly, as the ocean wears away the stone, men began to come to terms with their decision and leave.

Xian remained trapped in place. He thought of his own family. If he left now, he’d make it back for the fall harvest. He’d dance with his wife, sleep in his bed, kiss his son’s strong hands…

“Come Xian,” muttered Hao, gently tugged on his shoulder.

Xian felt his body shake, eyes filling with tears. In the next moment Xian dropped his pack and followed Tzo down to the earthworks. To the hell he longed to leave. Hao shouted something, but he couldn’t hear it as he fought back the choking cry in his throat.

When he reached the raised earth that stretched across the upper valley, he stood beside Tzo. He wanted to curse the man. To blame him for the decision he made. He nearly did, but as Tzo turned, Xian saw the stains through the dirt on his face where tears had fallen. A mirror of his own agony.

Tzo placed a hand on his shoulder, “Thank you.”

Xian said nothing as they watched the army below march toward its doom.

For a time it was silent, then Xian heard footsteps behind them and the shuddering in his chest subsided. 

They wouldn’t stand alone.