Chapter Text
The night had been quiet of any danger and relaxing for the guards' usual patrol.
One guard kept watch on one piece of the Great Wall and had the task to light the bowl filled with oil on top of the small towers at the start of the piece each of them worked on.
One of the guards, Zhang Xiao, enjoyed as a little gentle breeze hit his face and neck, his sweat making him feel even cooler. He was always on guard even on nights without any threat.
He loved his work and couldn't be happier than work as a guard. As an Omega it had been quite the journey in the academy, hiding his scent and his heats during his teen years.
He wasn't that old yet, only ten years had passed since he took service as a soldier and he was proud of himself for what he had accomplished.
He was a happy man, he had a work he liked, friends who had his back and his two little twins who he loved so much he would die for them. The only thing he regretted was not being able to find a mate yet.
The Alpha who had made him pregnant was a hook up when he was drunk and unfortunately he was so out of it that the night it happened is a complete blur.
Yet, when he found out he was pregnant he couldn't bring himself to get rid of them. He didn't like the medical procedures for that and risking to not be able to have kids anymore, losing his only way to happiness if something went wrong during the treatment.
He had always dreamed of having a family and didn't want anyone to take that away from him, so he chose to keep them and it was the best decision of his life.
He gave birth to two beautiful babies, a girl and a boy. His sweet angels. Their eyes were like the sun and their skin was a little tanner than his, but their hair and their facial features were identical to his.
Xiao kept smiling to himself as he thought of his children until he felt claws hit the back of his neck and his helmet falling to the ground. He crouched, thinking of a surprise attack and slowly raised his head to look through his eyelashes and check his surroundings.
His gaze fell on a falcon that was still flying towards one of the flagpoles and perched on top of it. As he gets up, it screeches and a metallic sound reverberates through the air.
He turns his head towards the source of the sound and sees a grappling hook. He walks fast and reaches the border, sticking his head out to see who threw it up.
Others were thrown and secured on the bricks. He remained in shock for a couple seconds, watching figures moving up while using the ropes.
He blinked, focusing on what was happening. He took a big breath as he yelled, hoping for his companions to hear his voice and light the grills.
"We are under attack!! Light the grills!!"
As the intruders get closer and closer to the top, he runs towards the tower to get inside and go up the stairs to light the signal himself but a big man breaks the door from inside with others following behind him.
Thankfully they had put another pair of wooden stairs attached to the wall of the tower. He quickly climbed and reached the top before the big man cut the stairs in half .
He grabbed the border of the wall and used his hands as leverage to throw himself on the top. He quickly got up and grabbed a torch near the grill.
Xiao kept still as a man bigger than the one he saw before landed on the opposite side of him next to the grill. He didn't wait another second and threw the torch in the oil, fire bursted high, his face felt hot near it and he glared towards the man's direction.
Now that the other's face was lighted, he recognized the invasor in front of him. It was Shan Yu, the feared Hun's leader.
Xiao distracted himself for a second to see the other guards on the towers lighting up each grill, the signal had surely reached the Imperial Palace.
"Now all of China knows you are here."
He glared in the leader's bright yellow eyes, angry that the Huns had dared step foot in his country. He watched as Shan Yu grabbed the nation's flag that was set on a corner of the tower and places it over the fire, burning it.
"Perfect."
The man grinned, he was pleased to see how people considered his strenght something so threatning and he was going to show this to the Emperor by making him fold in front of him and recognize he wasn't as superior to him as a leader as he thought.
Xiao's gaze never faltered as he got in his fighting position. He was overcomed by the anger and the anxiety of the soon-to-be war.
This was a challenge thrown in the Emperor's face and it wouldn't go unpunished. This was all so that Shan Yu could expand his territory and spread caos and terror among the people of the country.
What about all of the lives that would be lost for this war?
What about all the women who would be left all alone after losing their husbands in battle?
What about his beautiful twins?
What about all of the people of his village and his friends?
He was scared and angry, angry to not be enough strong to protect those he cares about, angry to be the first to die without even killing one of them.
But if he was going to go down, he would try to bring him with him or at least break some bones.
Shan Yu twirled the remaining pole of the flag in his hands and smirked at the soldier.
"Well, well. You should be honored to be the first to die for your country. How generous and brave of you."
Xiao could feel the sarcasm in his tone, which only angered him even more.
He sprinted towards his enemy, trying to hit him with a punch but was blocked by the pole the other used as a shield.
The hit made his hand tingly and pain radiated from it. He didn't let this stop him and he tried for a lower kick instead, hitting one of Shan Yu's knees and making him crouch.
He used his leg and hit the hun's temple with his knee. If Shan Yu was any other person he would have been knocked out by the power of it but the huns were known for their unhumanly strenght and speed.
The bigger man chuckled lowly as he did a harsh pull to the side with the pole, getting it out of Xiao's grasp and used it to hit the side of his leg.
Xiao grunted and buckled backwards until his back hit the grill. The fire made his back hotter and sweaty while he tried to place his foot back on the ground but sharp pain filled his leg at the contact.
The hun leader used the pole against his head. His vision got blurry and his ears filled with a ringing sound as he fell to his hands and knees.
The sounds around him got muffled and he let himself fall on the ground awaiting for the final blow. Tears filled his eyes and he gritted his teeth.
'Akame. Jiwei. I'm so sorry to leave you alone to your unfair destiny. I should have tried harder.'
Differently from what he expected, the ending hit never came. The only thing he was able to make out of the muffled voices was:
"...useful to have an hostage...we will know how many troups...and go through the ones that have less..."
His eyes closed and his hearing didn't work anymore.
This war is definitely going to end up in a blood bath.
Isn't there some kind of way to avoid all this pain and caos that is about to embrace the empire?