The first target was terrible.
Jax considered that encouraging.
If they could figure out how to save the terrible one, the other four might get easier.
They didn't.
Llandra unfolded the first map across the table.
"Mountain settlement," she said. "Approximately eleven thousand residents. One primary road through the southern pass, two smaller approaches from the east, and another through the northern ridge."
Jax studied the markings.
"That looks defensible."
"It is."
"Then why don't I like the way you said that?"
Llandra smiled.
"Because the Empire knows it's defensible too."
Jax nodded.
"Right."
The eighteen members of the newly formed War Council crowded around the maps.
The larger council was gone.
The doors were closed.
Vaelrith and General Soren had already made certain they would remain that way.
Now there were no speeches.
No politics.
Just five settlements Alexandria intended to destroy.
Five Imperial armies already preparing to move.
And less than thirty days to figure out how to stop them.
Jax pointed toward the southern pass.
"What if we fortify this?"
Llandra didn't hesitate.
"They see the fortifications before they commit. They stop outside effective bow range, move their battle mages forward, and begin dismantling the defenses."
"What if we push our mages farther up the ridge?"
"They'll send skirmishers through the eastern approaches."
Jax moved two markers.
"We block those."
"Then you've divided your defenders across three approaches."
Jax looked at the pieces.
"Which lets them concentrate against whichever one is weakest."
"Exactly."
He nodded.
"Okay."
No frustration.
No argument.
He moved the pieces back.
"What if we abandon the eastern approaches entirely?"
One of the military commanders frowned.
"They'll flank us."
"I know."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
Jax looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing yet."
"That's encouraging."
"It shouldn't be."
Brannic chuckled.
Jax moved on.
The second settlement was worse.
A farming town spread across broad, relatively flat land with fields extending in nearly every direction.
"That's awful," Jax said.
The local governor looked offended.
"For defending," Jax clarified.
The governor remained offended, but slightly less.
"No walls?"
"Wooden palisade."
"That's not a wall."
"It has served us well."
"Against what?"
The governor paused.
"Bandits."
Jax looked toward Llandra.
She shook her head.
"An Imperial battle mage could open it in seconds."
"Wonderful."
Jax studied the surrounding terrain.
"What if we meet them outside the town?"
"Then you're giving their larger formation open ground."
"We spread out."
"Their cavalry tears through us."
"We anchor here."
Jax tapped a low ridge.
Llandra leaned over the map.
"Too far from the town."
"Why does that matter if we're stopping them before they get there?"
"Because if they refuse the fight, they can send a smaller force around your position."
Jax traced the route.
"Burn the town while we sit on the ridge."
"Yes."
"Okay."
He erased the charcoal mark.
"What if we don't defend the town?"
That brought several heads up.
Jax noticed.
"I'm asking."
Nobody spoke.
"Bad ideas are free. Dead people aren't."
Llandra's expression softened slightly.
Jax pointed toward the settlement.
"Evacuate it. Pull the defenders. Let the Empire have an empty town."
The governor looked horrified.
"That is my home."
"I know."
"Thousands of people have lived there for generations."
"I know."
"Then why would—"
"Because I'm trying to figure out what happens."
The governor stopped.
Jax looked toward Llandra.
"What happens?"
She studied the map.
"They burn it."
"Then?"
"The Imperial army remains intact."
"Then?"
Llandra followed the roads north.
"They could continue toward the next settlement."
"How quickly?"
"Depends on whether their orders require them to return after destroying their target."
Soren answered from across the table.
"We don't know."
Jax nodded.
"Then we don't build a plan that requires us to know."
Vaelrith gave a small approving nod.
Jax looked back at the map.
"So we lose the town, give them a victory, preserve their army, and possibly let them reinforce somebody else."
"Yes," Llandra said.
"That's a shitty trade."
The governor's shoulders relaxed.
Only slightly.
Jax wasn't done.
"But it might still be the best one."
The relief disappeared.
Nobody argued.
That was the problem.
For the next hour, the possibility remained on the table.
Not because anyone liked it.
Because liking it didn't matter.
Five Imperial armies were coming.
The United Kingdoms had soldiers.
It had adventurers.
It had mages.
It had warriors.
It had powerful individuals.
What it didn't have was an unlimited supply of any of them.
One of the military commanders finally said what several others had been avoiding.
"We may need to choose."
Nobody asked what he meant.
He pointed toward the five markers.
"Defend four."
His finger stopped over the farming town.
"Evacuate one."
The governor's face hardened.
The commander continued before he could object.
"If defending this settlement requires forces that could save two others, then attempting to save all five may cost us three."
Silence.
Jax didn't dismiss it.
"How many civilians?"
"Approximately thirteen thousand including the surrounding farms."
"How long to move them?"
The governor thought.
"With every wagon we can gather? Perhaps eight days."
Brannic grunted.
"Ye don't get every wagon."
Jax looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because every wagon ye send there isn't carrying food, weapons, armor, or materials somewhere else."
"Good point."
The governor frowned.
"Then twelve days. Maybe longer."
"Where do they go?"
That was harder.
A nearby city was suggested.
Then someone pointed out that it couldn't absorb thirteen thousand people without preparation.
Another proposed dividing them among several settlements.
That required more roads.
More wagons.
More food.
More coordination.
More chances for Imperial scouts to notice thousands of civilians suddenly moving.
Vaelrith tapped the map.
"And once Alexandria realizes we're evacuating one of their targets, they know their plan has been compromised."
Jax looked up.
"There it is."
Soren nodded.
"They could change their timetable."
"Or their targets."
Nobody liked that.
Jax stared at the five markers.
"So even sacrificing one isn't simple."
"No," Thalorien said. "It rarely is."
Jax leaned against the table.
"Can we save it?"
The room remained quiet.
He looked around.
"I'm not asking whether we should try."
He tapped the farming settlement.
"Can we?"
Llandra considered the question.
"With our current deployment?"
"No."
Jax nodded.
"Okay."
He left the marker exactly where it was.
They moved to the third target.
A trade town.
Mixed population.
Weak outer walls.
Dense streets.
Warehouses.
Shops.
Homes.
A place designed to move goods and people efficiently.
Which meant there were dozens of ways in.
And dozens of ways for a battle to become a massacre.
Jax proposed strengthening the walls.
Llandra explained how the Empire would force multiple breaches.
He suggested allowing the breaches and fighting from the streets.
A local commander explained how quickly civilians would become trapped between defensive positions.
Jax proposed evacuating only the outer districts.
Soren pointed out the movement would be visible.
Jax asked about tunnels.
There weren't enough.
He asked about rooftops.
Useful for archers.
Not enough to change the battle.
He asked about barricades.
Useful.
Until fire became involved.
Jax kept going.
Every answer created another question.
Every solution created another problem.
And every time someone told him an idea wouldn't work—
He moved on.
Nobody had to soften the criticism.
Nobody had to protect his pride.
By the second hour, the commanders had realized that.
By the third, they had started doing it themselves.
"What if we move cavalry through here?"
"Ground's too soft."
"Then infantry."
"Too exposed."
"At night?"
"The Empire will have magical detection."
"Can we interfere with it?"
"Possibly."
"Good. Find out."
A charcoal mark appeared beside the road.
Possible.
Not certain.
Nothing uncertain was allowed to quietly become certain simply because the plan needed it.
The fourth settlement sat beside a large lake.
Jax stared at the map.
"I like this one."
Llandra laughed.
"You shouldn't."
"Two main approaches."
"Two main escape routes."
Jax stopped smiling.
"Right."
"If they control either road, civilian movement becomes difficult. If they control both—"
"Nobody leaves."
"Correct."
"What about boats?"
The mayor representing the settlement shook his head.
"Enough for hundreds. Not thousands."
"Can we get more?"
"Not enough in thirty days."
"Could we build them?"
Brannic stared at him.
Jax looked back.
"Right. Weapons, armor, repairs, material availability, emergency manufacturing."
"Glad ye remembered."
Jax traced the shoreline.
"What if we use the lake as the fallback?"
Llandra leaned closer.
"For soldiers?"
"Everyone."
"They'll see the evacuation."
"What if it isn't an evacuation?"
She glanced at him.
"Explain."
"I can't yet."
"Then it's a bad plan."
"Probably."
He grinned.
Llandra rolled her eyes.
Thalorien watched the exchange from farther down the table.
His daughter had rejected half a dozen of Jax's ideas in the last two hours.
Jax had argued with her exactly zero times.
Not because he always agreed.
Because every objection was information.
He would ask why.
She would tell him.
Then he would change the question.
Thalorien said nothing.
But he smiled.
The fifth target was a mining settlement built against a series of cliffs.
Tunnels stretched beneath portions of the town and into the mountains beyond.
Jax immediately saw possibilities.
"So we put civilians underground."
The local representative shook his head.
"Not all of them."
"How many?"
"Perhaps half."
"Why?"
"Ventilation. Space. Food. Some tunnels are unstable."
Jax pointed toward three exits.
"Can the Empire seal these?"
"Yes."
"Then we've just buried half the population for them."
Jax crossed it off.
Llandra studied another section.
"We could use the upper cliffs."
"For archers?"
"And mages."
Jax nodded.
"Good."
"Until they send climbers through here."
She pointed.
"Can we block it?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Infantry."
"What kind?"
Llandra paused.
"Heavy infantry."
One of the Wolfkin commanders shook his head.
"Not ours."
Jax looked toward him.
"Why?"
"We can hold it, but you're wasting us."
"Wasting you how?"
The commander pointed toward the wider slope.
"We're faster than the soldiers you'd normally put there. Better trackers. Better in broken terrain. Put us in a narrow defensive position and you've taken away half of what makes us useful."
Jax nodded slowly.
"Okay."
He looked around the table.
"Who is good at holding a narrow path?"
A Minotaur commander almost seemed offended by the question.
"We are."
Jax looked at him.
"How good?"
The Minotaur smiled.
"How narrow?"
That got a laugh.
Jax moved the Minotaur marker onto the pass.
"Fine. You're there."
The commander nodded.
Then Jax stopped.
His eyes remained on the map.
Wolfkin.
Minotaurs.
He looked at the markers.
Then at the other maps.
Something was bothering him.
He didn't know what yet.
"Back up."
Llandra looked at him.
"To what?"
"The mountain settlement."
They pulled the first map back toward the center.
Jax pointed to the eastern approach.
"We said the Elves could hold this."
Llandra nodded.
"Yes."
"But if they do, what aren't they doing?"
Silence.
Then Vaelrith answered.
"Using their mobility."
Jax pointed at him.
"Exactly."
He looked toward the Elven commander.
"What are your people best at?"
The Elf considered the question.
"Ranged combat. Movement through wooded terrain. Concealment. Precision."
"So putting you behind a wall is stupid."
"I wouldn't have phrased it quite that way."
"I would."
Brannic chuckled.
Jax moved the Elven markers away from the town.
"Then why are we doing it?"
"Because someone has to hold the eastern approach," one of the commanders said.
"Why Elves?"
"They're available."
Jax looked at him.
"That's not a reason."
He glanced at the Wolfkin marker.
Then the Minotaurs.
Then the Elves.
Then the five separate groups of allied forces they had been moving around the maps for hours.
His expression changed.
Llandra noticed.
"What?"
Jax didn't answer.
Not yet.
He walked to the farming settlement.
Moved an Elven marker.
Then a Wolfkin marker.
Then a Minotaur marker.
He moved to the mountain settlement and did the same thing.
"What are you doing?" Halvren asked.
Jax ignored him.
Not intentionally.
He was thinking.
"Why are we doing this?"
Nobody knew what he meant.
Jax gestured at the markers.
"We keep saying the Elven army goes here. Wolfkin go there. Minotaurs go there."
"Yes," one commander said.
"Why?"
The commander frowned.
"Because those are the forces we have."
"No."
Jax picked up an Elven marker.
"We have Elves."
He picked up a Wolfkin marker.
"We have Wolfkin."
A Minotaur marker.
"We have Minotaurs."
Then he looked around the table.
"We have Beastkin. Humans. Dwarves. Mages. Adventurers."
His eyes stopped on the maps.
"We don't need five armies."
Llandra leaned forward.
Jax smiled.
"We need one."
Silence.
"Spread across five battlefields."
Now they understood.
The Minotaur commander was first.
"You want to combine our forces."
"Why wouldn't we?"
"Different command structures."
"Fix them."
"Different fighting styles."
"Good."
That answer caught him off guard.
Jax started moving markers.
"Minotaurs hold the places where we need someone who doesn't move."
Another marker.
"Wolfkin cover the terrain where movement and tracking matter."
Another.
"Elves get woods, high ground, ranged positions, places where precision matters."
The Elven commander nodded.
Jax kept going.
"Heavy infantry protects the archers when something gets through."
Llandra joined him now.
"Fast units remain behind the defensive lines."
Jax looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because if a line breaks, they can reinforce before slower infantry."
He smiled.
"Good."
She moved Wolfkin behind two positions.
"Here and here."
The Wolfkin commander studied it.
"That works."
Jax pointed toward the farming settlement.
"What about cavalry?"
A human General answered.
"Open terrain."
"Put them there."
"Not all of them," Llandra said.
"Why?"
"If the Empire sees a large cavalry deployment, they change formation before engaging."
Jax nodded.
"What if we hide half?"
"Where?"
He looked at the map.
Nothing.
Llandra waited.
Jax moved the cavalry back.
"Okay. Doesn't work yet."
They continued.
The maps changed.
Not five armies.
Five mixtures.
Every weakness became a question.
And every question had eighteen people searching for someone else's strength.
"We need eyes on this road."
"Scouts."
"They'll be spotted."
"Elves?"
"Too visible in open ground."
Jax shook his head.
"I've got aerial reconnaissance covered."
Everyone looked at him.
Thalorien raised an eyebrow.
"With what?"
"Fairies."
A pause.
The Minotaur commander looked uncertain.
"The little ones?"
"Those would be the ones."
"How many?"
Jax smiled.
"Enough."
He tapped the map.
"They can fly. They're tiny. They know how to stay out of sight, and they're a lot harder to spot in the sky than someone on a gryphon."
Vaelrith leaned forward.
"Communication?"
"We'll work that out. But if the question is whether I can put eyes over an Imperial column without sending a conventional scout close enough to get caught—"
Jax tapped the map.
"Yes."
Llandra moved one of the reconnaissance markers.
"Then we don't need scouts here."
"Exactly."
Soren studied the route.
"That gives us earlier warning."
"And lets the Wolfkin do something better than watching a road."
The Wolfkin commander nodded.
"I like this plan more."
"It's not a plan yet."
"It's improving."
"I'll take it."
Kaelor Fangmere had been quiet for several minutes.
The Guild Master leaned over one of the maps.
"You're still thinking like Generals."
Several military men looked at him.
Kaelor smiled.
Jax immediately liked where this was going.
"Go on."
"You're talking about the Imperial armies as though we have to wait for them to reach the battlefield."
Jax stared at him.
Kaelor tapped the long road leading toward one target.
"They have to get there first."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
"Harassment."
"Better."
Kaelor looked toward Jax.
"Quests."
Jax smiled.
"Oh."
Brannic chuckled.
"Oh, that's dirty."
Kaelor pointed toward the Imperial route.
"Confirmed troop count. Paid."
Another point.
"Supply wagon destroyed. Paid."
Another.
"Siege equipment damaged badly enough to require repair. Paid."
Another.
"Command orders captured. Paid."
He began moving his finger faster.
"Bridge damaged. Scouts identified. Mage units counted. Officers identified. Supply depots found. Communication riders intercepted."
Jax was grinning now.
Kaelor continued.
"Don't order adventurers to attack an Imperial army."
He looked around the table.
"Pay them."
Someone laughed.
The Guild Master shrugged.
"They already hunt monsters for money."
Jax looked at the Imperial marker.
"So we make the army the monster."
"Essentially."
"How many adventurers?"
Kaelor considered it.
"If the rewards are good?"
"Very."
"Then enough to become annoying."
"How annoying?"
Kaelor smiled.
"How much money do you have?"
Jax laughed.
"Wrong question."
Brannic groaned.
"Here we go."
Kaelor's smile widened.
Jax pointed toward the routes.
"Make it worth doing."
"You understand this could become expensive."
"I understand the Empire has to march hundreds of miles while carrying everything it needs to kill us."
Jax looked at the five routes.
"I want them paying for every mile."
Kaelor nodded.
"I'll prepare the contracts."
"No direct engagements with the main force unless the adventurers choose it."
"Agreed."
"Information pays."
"Absolutely."
"Supplies?"
"Pays."
"Siege equipment?"
"Pays well."
"Captured officer?"
Kaelor's grin widened.
"Very well."
Jax nodded.
"Do it."
The Imperial armies changed on the maps.
Not physically.
Not yet.
But everyone around the table began imagining them arriving tired.
Delayed.
Missing wagons.
Missing equipment.
Looking over their shoulders.
Chasing adventurers who disappeared into forests.
Finding bridges damaged.
Scouts vanishing.
Supply lines harassed.
Never enough to stop the army.
Enough to make the journey miserable.
"That's useful," Soren said.
Kaelor looked offended.
"Useful?"
"Very useful."
"Better."
The fourth hour passed.
Then the fifth.
Food appeared at some point.
Nobody remembered who brought it.
Brannic remembered who ate it.
The maps became increasingly difficult to read.
Five settlements.
Five Imperial armies.
Five allied forces that were no longer separate armies at all.
Jax returned to the mountain town.
"Let's try it again."
Llandra folded her arms.
"I'm ready."
Jax pointed.
"We reinforce the southern pass, but lightly."
"They'll probe it."
"Let them."
"If resistance is too weak, they'll suspect something."
"Then make it strong enough to look real."
"They'll bring mages forward."
Jax nodded.
"Elves hit the mages from here."
He pointed toward the wooded ridge.
Llandra studied it.
"Then the Empire sends skirmishers into the woods."
"Wolfkin."
"They'll pursue."
"Good."
"Too far and our Wolfkin become isolated."
Jax moved another marker.
"Minotaurs here."
Llandra shook her head.
"Too slow."
Jax moved it back.
"Right."
No irritation.
No disappointment.
Just another answer.
"What if the Wolfkin don't fight?"
Llandra looked at him.
"They withdraw?"
"Keep pulling back."
"The Imperial skirmishers pursue."
"How far?"
She traced the terrain.
"Until here."
Jax waited.
Llandra's finger stopped.
"They'd realize they're overextended."
"Would they?"
Vaelrith answered.
"Eventually."
"How eventually?"
"Depends on the commander."
Jax shook his head.
"Too uncertain."
He reset the pieces.
Again.
"What if we do this?"
Again.
"Then they do that."
Reset.
Again.
"What if we move the archers here?"
"They counter with cavalry."
Reset.
"What if the Wolfkin attack the flank?"
"They tighten formation."
Reset.
"What if we hit their supplies after they enter the pass?"
"They secure the rear before advancing."
Reset.
"What if we let them secure the rear?"
Llandra stopped.
Jax looked at her.
She looked at the map.
Then moved an Imperial marker.
"They advance."
"Yep."
"They secure this road."
"Yep."
"Then they push the first defensive line."
"Which falls back."
Llandra moved the allied marker.
"They'll think the pass is breaking."
Jax said nothing.
She moved another Imperial marker.
"They'll commit more infantry."
Silence.
Another marker.
"Their cavalry moves forward."
Jax waited.
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
She moved the Imperial rear guard.
"Then they'll do this."
Jax smiled.
"Yep."
She stared at him.
"You want them to."
"Yep."
Llandra looked back at the map.
She moved the pieces again.
Slower.
"They advance here."
Jax nodded.
"The rear clears the ridge."
Another nod.
"They'll believe they've broken the defensive line."
"Hopefully."
"Their forward units pursue."
"Hopefully."
Llandra moved the last marker.
Then stopped.
The Imperial formation was stretched through the pass.
Front committed.
Rear exposed.
Flanks constrained.
She looked at the Elven position.
Then the Wolfkin.
Then the Minotaurs.
Then the mixed infantry.
Then Jax.
Her mouth slowly curved into a smile.
"Then we close this."
Jax grinned.
"Yep."
Llandra tapped the Imperial markers.
"They'll try to withdraw."
"Where?"
She looked.
There wasn't a good answer.
"They'd push toward the secondary route."
"Which puts them?"
Llandra moved the pieces.
Her smile widened.
"Here."
Jax nodded.
"And that's where we have them."
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Brannic leaned closer.
"That's unpleasant."
"For them," Jax said.
"Aye."
The Dwarf smiled.
"That's why I like it."
The breakthrough didn't give them the plan.
It gave them the way to build one.
They went back through the other four settlements.
Again.
This time they stopped asking how to make each army strong enough to defeat the Empire by itself.
They asked what combination of strengths made each battlefield unfair.
Elven archers appeared beside Minotaur defensive lines.
Wolfkin moved behind human infantry.
Fairies became eyes above roads and forests.
Mages were positioned where conventional soldiers could protect them.
Adventurers were removed from formations entirely and turned loose against roads, supplies, scouts, and equipment.
Local militias weren't expected to defeat Imperial veterans.
They were assigned streets they knew better than anyone else.
Every battlefield became different.
Every army became the same in one important way.
Mixed.
Not Elven.
Not Human.
Not Wolfkin.
Not Fairy.
Not Minotaur.
United.
Jax stared at the farming settlement again.
The marker they had discussed abandoning was still there.
For hours, it had represented the ugly choice nobody wanted to make.
He touched it.
"What about this one?"
The room quieted.
The governor looked at him.
Jax looked toward Llandra.
"Can we save it?"
She didn't answer immediately.
This time, she moved pieces.
Elves.
Humans.
Wolfkin.
Minotaurs.
Mages.
Adventurers.
She looked toward Jax.
"Fairies?"
"Aerial reconnaissance."
She moved another marker.
"Shadows?"
Jax smiled.
"I'll handle my part."
Llandra studied the map again.
The governor barely seemed to breathe.
Soren leaned over her shoulder.
Vaelrith moved one Imperial marker slightly east.
Kaelor pointed toward a supply road.
"Put a quest here."
Llandra adjusted again.
The Minotaur commander moved his own marker.
"No. Put us here."
The Wolfkin commander immediately saw why.
"Then we can cover your western side."
"Exactly."
The human General shifted his infantry.
"We take the center."
The Elven commander tapped the ridge.
"We can cover all three from there."
Jax watched.
He wasn't touching anything anymore.
He didn't need to.
The plan was building itself.
Not because nobody was leading.
Because everyone finally understood what they were building.
Llandra studied the finished positions.
Jax waited.
Finally—
She nodded.
"Yes."
The governor blinked.
"Yes?"
Llandra looked at him.
"We can save it."
The man sat back.
His eyes closed for a moment.
Nobody celebrated.
There were four more.
So they did those too.
One by one.
Every battlefield was challenged.
Every assumption attacked.
Every failure explored.
What if the Empire arrives early?
What if a bridge survives that should have fallen?
What if rain makes the western road impassable?
What if Imperial mages identify the hidden position?
What if civilians panic?
What if the adventurers fail to delay anything?
What if an Imperial commander refuses to commit?
What if one army moves faster than the others?
What if communications fail?
What if they know we're coming?
Jax never asked anyone to stop finding problems.
He asked for more.
Every discovered weakness was one less weakness waiting to surprise them.
Every time Llandra said—
"Then they'll do this."
Jax asked—
"What do we do next?"
Sometimes there was an answer.
Sometimes there wasn't.
When there wasn't, they changed the plan.
By the time the sun disappeared outside the council chamber, the five maps barely resembled what they had looked like that morning.
Neither did the armies.
The United Kingdoms had entered the room with Elven forces.
Wolfkin forces.
Human soldiers.
Minotaurs.
Fairies.
Adventurers.
Militias.
Mages.
Separate strengths.
Separate weaknesses.
They left the maps with five armies.
Each containing pieces of everyone.
Each designed for its battlefield.
Each capable of covering the weaknesses of the people standing beside them.
And all five connected by one piece no other kingdom could provide.
Jax.
The final discussion took another hour.
Timing.
Signals.
Fallbacks.
Contingencies.
Assignments.
No one pretended everything would happen exactly as planned.
It wouldn't.
The Empire got a vote.
Weather got a vote.
Fear got a vote.
Luck would probably shove its way into the room without being invited.
The plan didn't depend on perfection.
It depended on everyone knowing what they were trying to accomplish when perfection inevitably disappeared.
Eventually, the talking stopped.
Eighteen people looked down at five maps.
Five targets.
Five Imperial armies.
Five United Kingdoms armies waiting to be assembled.
For the first time all day, nobody suggested sacrificing one.
The Mayor of Frostveil slowly exhaled.
"I believe this can work."
One of the Generals nodded.
"If the Guild can disrupt their movement."
Kaelor smiled.
"We will."
"If the mixed commands cooperate."
"They will," Thalorien said.
"If the Fairies can provide the reconnaissance."
Jax nodded.
"They can."
"If our timing holds."
Llandra looked over the maps.
"We've allowed for failure."
The General nodded.
Then his eyes moved toward Jax.
There was one final piece.
The one standing in the middle of every map.
The one connecting five battlefields.
The one part of the plan that couldn't simply be replaced by another unit if something went wrong.
The commander looked directly at him.
"Are you able to do your part?"
The room went quiet.
Jax looked at Llandra.
She smirked.
Not worried.
Not even a little.
He looked toward King Thalorien.
The Elf King was smiling.
Beside him, Vaelrith Moonshadow wore a grin of his own.
They knew.
They had seen him fight.
They had seen his Shadows.
They knew what happened when Jax Darquebane stopped asking whether something was possible and decided it needed to happen.
Jax looked back at the commander.
"Yeah."
A smile crossed his face.
"I can do my part."
The tension broke.
Smiles spread around the room.
Chairs shifted.
Someone laughed.
Brannic muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer for the poor bastards marching toward them.
For the first time since Yurina's warning arrived, nobody in the room was wondering whether the United Kingdoms could survive.
They were wondering whether the Empire had any idea what it was walking into.