And then there was a wall of gray light across the sky, and the ballista tower exploded in sparks and a shower of stars. One long scream rang out across the night—then the top of the tower leaned outward and fell into the darkness, taking the ballista and four men of the group with it. It crashed to the floor of the valley four hundred feet below, sounding like a long rumble of an avalanche.
And then there was only silence.
Meiying had made it to the courtyard when the gray fire hit, and she was standing close enough to the gate to be hit by stone chips from the curtain wall. A stone slammed into her shoulder from the broken tower. Up on the main donjon, she could see Xilai as he leaned out over the wall, with blue Qi fire coursing over his hands.
