The first wave hit the united line of three kingdoms, and Theravex shook.
The Caelthyr Dominion had thrown everything onto its outer wall, Morvane and Draveth flanking it left and right, a single defensive front holding the approach to the crystal heart. It was a strong line. It had never had to face an army grown from a factory.
The Dread-Reavers reached it first, fast and bladed, pouring over the broken ground in a black wave that crashed against the Caelthyr shields and did not stop.
Behind them came the Dread-Bulwarks, slow and heavy, walking battering rams that leaned into the wall and simply pushed.
The defenders held, barely, and then the Ember-born arrived.
Corrosion-flame breachers walked up to the Caelthyr shields and laid their burning hands on them, and the crystal barriers that had held this world for years began to eat themselves from the point of contact outward.
