On the other side of the divide, the fighting had erupted the moment Alexios saw Ragnar's betrayal for the opportunity it was.
The Warrior King's golden longsword was already moving. Elisabeth's divine radiance surged forward. Lilith and the Scarlet Lilies hit the fracturing lines. Kaede and the Fujimori swordswomen crashed into the chaos. The clash had begun in full, every faction killing every other faction, the wyverns overhead, foxes behind, and the undead closing from the sides were the only reasons Alexios's side hadn't already overwhelmed the ground.
...
Blossom lay on the scorched earth where the dwarven wall had shut her out.
Her fingers were still numb. The energy that Ragnar's runes had reflected into her gauntlets had left her hands tingling from wrist to fingertip, and the dogkin could feel the phantom rejection pulsing in her channels like a bruise that ran deeper than skin.
She could hear her beloved master groaning in pain behind the wall of blacksteel.
