The Registry captain planted his black standard beside a stone pavilion and rallied the remaining guards around it. Its crest showed a river split by a silver line. The troops who had been falling back stopped when they saw it. Some turned toward the captain; others looked to the ridge for a signal that had not come.
Wei came up beside Yan, breathing hard from the run back across the yard. “That mark calls the reserves. If it stays up, the second companies may close around the east gate.”
Mara had the evacuation under control, but the walls were still exposed. Yan looked back once. The blue flags moved in order, and the wardens had the street corners. He faced the pavilion again.
“Hold the gate,” he called to the defenders. “If anyone retreats toward the river, let them go. No one follows into the lane.”
Mara raised her hand in acknowledgment. Yan went forward with Wei’s soldiers behind him, while a city defender kept the approach to the gate clear. The captain saw them coming and formed his guards in three ranks. Spears set across the paving. Shields overlapped. The black standard rose behind them.
The first spear struck Yan squarely in the chest. Ashen Marrow reinforcement held, turning the thrust into a hard shove that drove him back half a step. He felt the force travel through his frame and ground it into the paving with Thousand Fractures. Stone cracked under the front rank. Two men stumbled apart…
