Location:Kael'thoren — War Council chamber
Date/Time:Early Frostforge, 9940 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm (Upper Realm)
The map covered the entire war council table.
Formation-etched parchment — the demon realm laid out in precise detail. Mountain ranges. Desert expanses. River systems. Garrison positions. Clan holdings. Every feature of a civilisation that spanned a continent, rendered in ink and essence.
Thirty-one red marks. Scattered across the map. Each one was a dismantled gateway — the mini teleport gates that the hollow ones had planted over centuries, designed to open simultaneously and deliver an army from inside.
Thirty-one. And Ren knew it wasn't enough.
He stood over the map. Kaelen beside him. Jhirek across the table. The three of them had been staring at the same problem for days.
