The setting sun was like blood, splashing over the glazed tiles of the Dragon Court. The palace walls stretched like a sepia-colored giant python, coiling in the twilight, twisting as the dusk moved eastward.
The sound of rapid hoofbeats came crashing from the end of the long corridor at the Vermilion Bird Gate, the four hooves surging like waves of fire.
"Open the palace gates," a sharp shout pierced through the solemnity of the palace city.
"Boom, boom, boom"
The nine palace gates opened sequentially from the outside in, with the vermilion copper-studded doors grinding heavily over the green stone slabs, emitting a dull rumble like a giant beast waking up slowly and opening its eyes.
