Lend Me a Breath, and I'll Slay the Gods for You

Every year at the Winter Sacrifice, the townspeople had to offer a breath to the city's guardian deity. They thought it was a blessing, until seventy-three miners were trapped outside the city gates and a divine decree ordered the guards to lower the portcullis and abandon them.

Qin Du, a gate repairman, refused to obey.

He borrowed breaths willingly offered by the townspeople and drew on five years of experience repairing gates. He dismantled the tracks and severed the anti-return teeth, turning the entire iron portcullis into a winch that could crush the divine statue.

The statue fell, and the city gates were utterly destroyed.

The beasts still waited outside the city, but there was no retreat left within. The borrowed breaths could save people, but they could also leave those who lent them exhausted. Every time he borrowed strength, someone else paid the price on Qin Du's behalf.

With no deity to defend the city, Qin Du could only lead this group, who had just witnessed a divine statue fall, and use the streets, timber, and the people's resolve to build the next line of defense.