Echoes of the Seven Stances

The mud gave way with sickening squelches beneath heavy combat boots. Five scouts from the White Crane vanguard fanned out across the perimeter of the abandoned bell square, silver halberds held at the ready.

"Check the perimeter! He could not have crossed the suspension bridge with the current gales," the lead scout barked, his voice amplified by internal qi.

High above on the crossbeam of the roof, Kael closed his eyes. In the pitch blackness of his mind, the first stance of the Void manual illuminated: Still Waters Before the Deluge. It was not a technique of power, but of absolute surrender to the momentum of the world.

He dropped without a sound. When his boots made contact with the wet stones, the force was absorbed entirely into his knees, making not a ripple in the puddles.

Before the vanguard leader could complete his command, a flash of cold azure arc slashed through the night air. The rain itself seemed severed in two.