The shattered brass gates lay in smoking, frosted ruins across the pristine white marble of the outer courtyard.
Thousands of terrified Imperial citizens scrambled desperately away from the wide, golden avenues.
They locked their heavy oak doors, watching the fierce Southern barbarians flood their sacred city in sheer terror.
Kai walked through the destroyed archway, his dark leather boots leaving deep frost prints on the yellow paving stones.
He did not run, nor did he raise his weapon toward the fleeing civilians.
He simply let his unyielding aura bleed into the ancient stone, turning the proud, burning heart of the Sun Realm into a shivering, frozen wasteland.
"Secure the main thoroughfare!" Zara roared, her rich voice echoing off the high marble balconies.
"Do not let their rooftop archers find a clear firing angle!"
Her heavy desert cavalry charged down the wide avenues, their iron hooves slipping slightly on the rapid frost creeping over the streets.
