The first strike had never been meant to win.
It had been meant to delay.
Five armies.
Five targets.
Fifty thousand soldiers.
And five chances for something to go horribly wrong.
Jax knew they couldn't protect everything by being stronger everywhere.
So they weren't trying to be.
They were trying to be stronger in the right place.
At the right time.
And then move before the Empire could adjust.
Solmere — War Room
Seventeen people surrounded the war table.
The eighteenth seat remained empty.
Maps covered nearly every available surface. Colored markers shifted as reports arrived. Tele-stones glowed along one side of the table, each connected to messengers, commanders, scouts, or observation posts spread across five separate fronts.
Voices overlapped.
"The northern column has slowed."
"How much?"
"Maybe an hour."
"That's not enough."
"It doesn't need to be enough yet."
"The western force changed its scout formation."
"Expected."
"Three Imperial supply wagons destroyed on the southern road."
"Adventurers?"
"Two confirmed. Third unknown."
King Thalorien Silverthorne stood near the center of the table, arms folded as he studied the changing battlefield.
General Soren Nightclaw moved markers as information arrived.
Vaelrith Moonshadow said almost nothing.
He listened.
Llandra did the same.
Her eyes moved constantly between maps.
Distances.
Times.
Terrain.
Troop movements.
A new report arrived.
"First column approaching the bridge."
Llandra looked up.
"How many across?"
"Not enough."
"Tell them to wait."
The messenger nodded and hurried away.
Someone near the far end of the table glanced toward the corner of the room.
Then glanced again.
A Shadow Knight stood there.
It had been there since before the meeting began.
Motionless.
Silent.
Black armor absorbed the light around it.
Finally, one of the commanders pointed.
"Why is there a Shadow Knight in the War Room?"
Llandra didn't look up.
"Jax needs it here."
The commander waited.
Nothing else came.
"For what?"
"Communication."
Several eyes moved toward the Shadow Knight.
It remained perfectly still.
"It doesn't talk."
Llandra smiled faintly.
"Jax does."
They returned to their duties, doing their best to ignore the Shadow Knight.
Reports arrived. Calls were made. Decisions changed as the battlefield changed.
Nearly an hour passed.
Then something stirred in the corner of the room.
The Shadow Knight vanished.
Jax appeared in its place.
Several people jumped.
One hand went instinctively toward a sword.
Jax looked around.
"Hi."
The commander stared at him.
Then at Llandra.
Llandra's smile widened slightly.
"Communication."
"Right."
Jax was already moving toward the table.
"The first column's mage corps has tightened its formation. They're keeping soldiers around them at all times now. Lucy got their attention."
"Dispel?" Soren asked.
"They're still using it. But they're being more careful about when."
Llandra moved a marker.
"How many mages?"
"Hard to tell. At least thirty in the section I saw. Probably more farther back."
"Bridge team is nearly ready."
"How many across?"
"Last report was just over two thousand."
Jax shook his head.
"Wait."
Thalorien studied him.
"How many do you want?"
"Enough that going forward is a bad idea."
Jax pointed to the bridge.
"And going back is worse."
Another tele-stone flashed.
Soren touched it.
"Report."
A voice answered.
"Fifth column delayed again."
"Cause?"
"Sabotage. Two wagons disabled. One scout patrol never returned. Someone dropped trees across the road approximately six miles ahead of them."
"Adventurers?"
"Likely."
"Imperial response?"
"They're clearing the road."
"Estimated delay?"
"Unknown. At least another hour."
Soren looked toward Jax.
"Fifth army remains the slowest."
"Good."
Jax turned back to the map.
Four armies were closing.
The fifth wasn't.
One less problem for the moment.
Jax looked toward Llandra.
"I need to check the eastern front."
She nodded.
"Go."
Jax disappeared.
Something much larger appeared in his place.
A thick black serpent hit the floor with a soft thump.
Its body was nearly as thick as a man's torso, scales formed entirely from shifting darkness. It lifted its head until it was almost eye level with the nearest commander.
The commander froze.
The serpent looked at him.
Its tongue flicked.
The commander slowly leaned away.
The serpent turned its head.
Seventeen people stared back.
Llandra glanced over.
"Oh."
The serpent slithered away from the corner.
Thalorien watched it cross the floor.
"That one moves."
"Yes," Llandra said.
The snake disappeared beneath the edge of the war table.
Several people immediately stepped backward.
Llandra returned to the map.
"Bridge?"
A tele-stone flashed.
"Two thousand six hundred across."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
"Wait."
The Bridge
The Imperial army crossed carefully.
They had learned.
That alone made them more dangerous.
Scouts moved ahead.
Mages remained protected inside formations.
Soldiers watched the trees.
The sky.
The rocks.
Anything that might hide one of Jax Darquebane's Shadows.
The bridge stretched across a deep ravine, the narrow river below winding between jagged stone.
There were other crossings.
Eventually.
There were other routes.
Eventually.
But armies lived and died on eventually.
Two thousand seven hundred Imperial soldiers had crossed.
Then twenty-eight hundred.
The officers on the far side pushed their troops forward, trying to create enough space for the rest of the column.
Ahead of them was open ground.
Trees farther back.
Low brush.
Nothing else.
An Imperial captain stared toward the tree line.
"Scouts?"
"Clear."
"Magic?"
"Nothing detected."
"Keep moving."
They did.
Another hundred crossed.
Then another.
And somewhere beneath the bridge, a small enchanted device began to glow.
It had been placed there days earlier.
Not by Jax.
Not by Llandra.
Not by any of the Vixens.
Three adventurers had climbed down the ravine in the middle of the night, attached it exactly where Brannic's instructions told them to, and collected enough gold afterward to make all three seriously consider retirement.
A distant observer raised a tele-stone.
"Now."
The device activated.
The first support shattered.
The second followed.
Imperial engineers heard the sound.
Too late.
The center of the bridge dropped.
Wood snapped.
Rope tore free.
Soldiers screamed as the crossing folded beneath them.
Mages reacted.
Barriers flashed into existence.
Some caught falling soldiers.
Others caught pieces of the bridge.
Most simply tried to save themselves.
The center section collapsed into the ravine.
And suddenly—
One Imperial army became two.
Nearly three thousand soldiers stood on the far side.
More than seven thousand remained behind.
The captain stared at the ruined crossing.
"Engineers!"
Then he heard something ahead of him.
Leaves rustled.
The brush moved.
Not from wind.
The entire landscape shimmered.
The captain stopped.
"What—"
The trees changed.
No.
Not the trees.
What had been covering them.
Fairy magic peeled away like a curtain.
And behind it—
Minotaurs.
Hundreds of them.
Huge.
Armored.
Waiting.
The captain's face went pale.
"Oh, shit."
A Minotaur near the center lowered his horns.
The others followed.
Above them, tiny figures rose from the trees.
Fairies.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Roots erupted from the ground.
Vines wrapped around Imperial boots.
Bushes twisted together behind formations.
The Minotaurs charged.
The impact shook the ground.
Bunny Smash
Bunny ran with them.
Which was ridiculous.
She was smaller than almost everyone around her.
Her blue hair bounced behind her as hundreds of Minotaurs thundered across the field.
World Breaker rested over one shoulder.
The Imperial soldiers recovered quickly.
Officers screamed orders.
Shields came together.
Spears lowered.
The front ranks braced.
The Minotaurs hit.
Metal screamed.
Bodies moved.
But the Imperial line held.
Barely.
A massive Minotaur beside Bunny glanced down at her.
"They're holding."
Bunny grinned.
"Not for long."
She stepped forward.
World Breaker came off her shoulder.
The hammer slammed into the ground.
Wind exploded outward.
Not a breeze.
Not a gust.
A wall.
The tornado blast struck the Imperial formation and ripped shields upward. Soldiers stumbled backward. Spears twisted from hands. Men were thrown into the ranks behind them.
A hole appeared.
The Minotaur looked at Bunny.
Bunny pointed.
"There."
He roared.
Hundreds of Minotaurs surged into the opening.
Bunny lifted World Breaker.
"BUNNY SMASH!"
The second impact was even louder.
The Bugs
The Imperial mages reacted.
A battle mage raised both hands.
"Barrier!"
Nothing happened.
He blinked.
Tried again.
"Barrier!"
A weak shimmer formed.
Then collapsed.
"What?"
The mage beside him extended his staff.
Fire gathered at its tip.
Flickered.
Disappeared.
"My mana—"
Something clicked near his feet.
The mage looked down.
His boots were moving.
No.
Not his boots.
Things on his boots.
Small.
Black.
Hundreds of them.
His eyes widened.
"Locusts."
The insects crawled beneath the edge of his robe.
The mage screamed.
"GET THEM OFF ME!"
He began stomping.
The mage beside him looked down.
Then immediately began stomping too.
"They're everywhere!"
"Maintain formation!"
"THEY'RE IN MY ARMOR!"
A soldier slapped at the back of a mage's robe.
Another mage tried desperately to summon fire while shaking one leg.
"Stop moving!"
"YOU STOP MOVING! THEY'RE CRAWLING UP MY LEG!"
Military discipline lasted until the first locust reached someone's pants.
After that, they were just people covered in bugs.
Imperial soldiers rushed to help.
Fire swept across the ground.
Wind blasted through the formation.
Boots crushed hundreds of insects.
Thousands more moved through the grass.
Lucy was nowhere nearby.
She didn't need to be.
Her swarm had been waiting.
And every moment the Imperial mages spent trying to recover their magic was another moment they weren't using it against the Shadows.
Black shapes charged from between the Minotaurs.
Shadow Knights.
Shadow Wolves.
Serpents.
One Knight took a Dispel directly to the chest and dissolved into black vapor.
Another was behind to replace it.
Then another.
The Empire could kill them.
It could Dispel them.
But every spell cost mana.
And the ground was hungry.
Behind the Minotaur line, Zee raised Sanctaris.
A barrier formed over a group of wounded soldiers as Imperial arrows descended.
They struck golden light instead of flesh.
"Back!" Zee called.
The wounded withdrew.
Fresh troops replaced them.
Zee moved to the next.
The United Kingdoms didn't need everyone to do everything.
They just needed everyone to do their part.
The Eastern Front
An Elven commander raised one hand.
Three hundred bows rose with it.
"Mark."
Across the field, Imperial soldiers advanced behind shields.
Mages moved among them.
Cavalry waited behind.
The Elven commander lowered his hand.
"Loose."
The sky disappeared beneath arrows.
Not random.
Not hurried.
The first volley struck the forward ranks.
The second landed farther back.
The third targeted officers.
Before the first Imperial formation could fully recover, the Elves were already drawing again.
They had been one of the strongest armies on the continent long before Jax Darquebane arrived.
They didn't need him to teach them how to fight.
An Elven mage stepped forward.
Both hands struck the ground.
Stone erupted.
A massive humanoid shape pulled itself from the earth.
Then another.
And another.
Golems marched forward.
Beside them moved Shadow Ants the size of a small human.
Behind them—
A Crystalshire mage adjusted the device wrapped around her forearm.
Metal plates surrounded glowing crystals. Thin lines of blue-white magic ran between engraved runes.
She turned a small dial.
The glow intensified.
"Range?"
The man beside her checked his own device.
"Three hundred and twenty."
She frowned.
"That's outside specification."
"I know."
"Can it make it?"
He looked toward the approaching Imperial formation.
"Probably."
She stared at him.
"Probably?"
His forearm began to hum.
"We'll find out."
He raised his arm.
A bolt of concentrated magic tore across the battlefield.
It struck an Imperial barrier.
The barrier exploded.
The woman looked at him.
He smiled.
"Three hundred and twenty."
She adjusted her dial.
"Good to know."
Dozens of Crystalshire arms rose.
Runes ignited.
The Elven commander lowered his hand.
Arrows filled the sky.
The techno-mages fired.
Golems and Shadows hit the Imperial line together.
The Ironfists
The Imperial cavalry charged.
Behind the United Kingdoms line stood mages.
Human.
Beastkin.
Fairy.
A handful from Crystalshire.
They were devastating at range.
Much less impressive when several hundred armored horses were coming directly at them.
Which was why Warden had placed something in front of them.
The first Ironfist Gorilla stepped forward.
Nine feet tall.
Massive shoulders.
Dark fur.
And arms that looked as though someone had wrapped a gorilla in siege armor.
Segmented metallic plates covered both limbs from shoulder to knuckles.
Not forged.
Not attached.
Natural.
Somehow.
Nobody had ever satisfactorily explained why an A-Rank monster needed arms that looked like they had been built by a blacksmith.
Nobody particularly cared.
The cavalry closed.
The Ironfist lowered its body.
A lance struck its arm.
Metal screamed against metal.
The Gorilla caught the lance.
The rider's eyes widened.
The Ironfist squeezed.
The lance snapped.
Then the Gorilla hit the horseman.
Horse and rider left the ground.
The other Ironfists charged.
Shadow Wolves raced between their legs.
Knights followed.
Serpents moved through the grass.
At the center of it all—
Warden stood motionless.
Black armor.
Massive sword.
Watching.
He lifted one hand.
The Shadow Wolves broke left.
Another motion.
The Knights shifted right.
The Ironfists hit the cavalry head-on.
One Gorilla tore through the first line.
Another slammed both steel-covered fists into an Imperial shield.
The shield folded.
The soldier behind it disappeared backward.
The Ironfist stopped.
Straightened.
Then pounded both fists against its chest.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
It roared.
Another answered.
Then another.
Soon the battlefield echoed with it.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The living mages behind them stared.
One slowly smiled.
"Well."
A second mage raised his staff.
"I like these."
Warden lowered his hand.
The mages fired over the Shadows.
The Ironfists charged again.
Solmere — War Room
Reports came faster now.
"Bridge force divided."
"How many stranded?"
"Just under three thousand on the eastern side. Remaining force is attempting to establish another crossing."
"Casualties?"
"Unknown."
"Don't guess."
"Yes, General."
Another voice.
"Eastern front engaged."
"Status?"
"Holding."
"Third front?"
"Imperial cavalry repelled. Mage contingent remains intact."
Thalorien moved three markers.
Vaelrith moved another.
Soren looked toward the fifth.
"Anything?"
"Still advancing."
"Contact?"
"Minor."
"Details."
"Another supply wagon disabled. Two scouts injured. One Imperial officer reportedly lost his horse."
"Killed?"
"No."
"Captured?"
"No."
Soren frowned.
"What happened to the horse?"
The messenger hesitated.
"Adventurers stole it."
Silence.
Thalorien slowly looked toward Kaelor.
The Guild Master shrugged.
"We're paying for results."
Somewhere beneath the war table, something moved.
The commander nearest it stiffened.
The Shadow serpent's head emerged between two chairs.
Its tongue flicked.
The commander moved his chair.
Llandra didn't notice.
She was staring at one of the tele-stones.
It flashed.
She touched it.
"Llandra."
A voice answered.
"Position reached."
"Imperial distance?"
"Twenty minutes."
"Scouts?"
"Already withdrawing."
"Good."
She released the stone.
Thalorien looked at her.
"Yours?"
Llandra nodded.
She straightened.
"Father, I must join the fight now."
Llandra offered him her hand.
Thalorien looked at it.
For a moment, he was not a king standing beside one of his commanders.
He was a father watching his daughter leave for war.
He took her hand.
Then pulled her into a hug.
Llandra stiffened in surprise before wrapping her arms around him.
"Take care of yourself," he whispered.
He held her a little tighter.
"I love you."
Llandra squeezed him back.
"I love you too, Father."
Then they separated.
The Shadow serpent had curled itself near her side of the table.
Llandra reached down and ran a hand over its head.
The serpent leaned slightly into her touch.
Her hand remained there for just a moment longer than necessary.
Then she walked toward the door.
One of the commanders looked at the snake.
Then at Llandra.
"You're not taking that?"
Llandra stopped.
Looked back.
"No."
The commander stared at the enormous poisonous Shadow serpent now slithering around their War Room.
"You're leaving it here?"
Llandra smiled.
"Jax needs it here."
She left.
The door closed.
Sixteen people remained.
And one very large snake.
The serpent lifted its head.
Tongue flick.
Thalorien returned to the map.
"Someone move the western marker."
Nobody volunteered to walk around the table.
We Are Up
Nyxian was waiting outside.
She leaned against the wall, arms folded.
Llandra barely slowed.
"We are up."
Nyxian's smile appeared instantly.
"About time."
She pushed away from the wall and cracked her knuckles.
They walked.
The Portal District
Solmere's Portal District had changed.
What had once been an impossible magical curiosity had become infrastructure.
People moved through the public sections constantly.
Merchants.
Workers.
Fairies.
Cargo.
Guards.
But Llandra and Nyxian weren't headed toward the public portals.
They turned down a restricted street.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Barricades.
Armed guards.
Mages.
Soldiers stationed at every entrance.
Nobody wandered into this section by accident.
A guard saw Llandra approaching.
He immediately stepped aside.
"Princess."
Another opened the secured gate.
"They're expecting you."
Llandra and Nyxian passed through.
No questions.
No delay.
Beyond the gate, more soldiers guarded a second checkpoint.
The temporary wartime portals were too valuable to leave unprotected.
And too dangerous.
Every road went both directions.
If an Imperial force captured one of the portals at the other end while the connection remained active, they wouldn't simply have captured a battlefield position.
They would have a road into Solmere.
So the portal stations were guarded like fortresses.
Pixelle waited inside.
She was full-sized, arms folded impatiently.
"Took you long enough."
Nyxian looked at her.
"We've been walking for five minutes."
"Exactly."
Llandra stepped toward the portal.
Starpiercer appeared in her hand.
The bow shimmered with quiet power.
Nyxian summoned Lilith's Kiss.
Pixelle rolled her shoulders.
Beyond the portal waited another battlefield.
Wolfkin.
Elves.
Fairies.
Shadows.
And nearly ten thousand Imperial soldiers marching toward them.
Llandra looked at the other two.
"Ready?"
Nyxian grinned.
"I've been ready."
Pixelle lifted her chin.
"I'm a Queen. I'm always ready."
Nyxian looked at Llandra.
"She's definitely not always ready."
"I heard that."
"I know."
Llandra smiled.
Then stepped through.
Nyxian followed.
Pixelle muttered something about respect for royalty and disappeared behind them.
The Fifth Army
Miles away—
The fifth Imperial column continued to march.
Slowly.
A damaged wagon had been pushed to the side of the road.
Engineers worked ahead, clearing the latest obstruction.
Scouts moved farther from the column now.
More cautiously.
The soldiers complained.
The officers cursed the Adventurers Guild.
And somewhere behind them, another tree fell across the road.
The army stopped again.
Solmere — War Room
Four Imperial armies had engaged.
One had been divided by a ravine.
Another had met Elven arrows, Crystalshire magic, golems, and Shadows.
A third had discovered what happened when cavalry charged A-Rank Ironfist Gorillas.
The fourth was about to meet Llandra, Nyxian, Pixelle, and another mixed United Kingdoms force.
The fifth—
Was late.
Tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers were still advancing.
The United Kingdoms hadn't stopped them.
Hadn't destroyed them.
Hadn't won.
But across four separate battlefields, something was becoming clear.
Jax had been right.
They didn't need five armies.
They needed one.
Spread across five battlefields.
And for the first time—
That army was fighting together.