Jax appeared—
High.
Too high.
For half a second, there was nothing beneath him but open air.
Then instinct took over.
His body adjusted mid-fall, boots landing lightly on a thick branch of a towering tree.
No stumble.
No fear.
Jax looked down.
A long way down.
"...Convenient."
Apparently, the Shadow Gorilla had decided the top of the tree was the ideal place to wait.
Jax moved downward, branch to branch, fluid and controlled, until his boots touched the forest floor.
Ahead, through layers of trees and undergrowth, the Imperial column continued its march.
Still hundreds of yards out.
Still moving.
Still completely unaware of what waited for them.
Jax started forward.
Thunk.
Something bounced off the back of his head.
He stopped.
Slowly reached up.
A small rock fell into his hand.
"...Really?"
He turned.
Nyxian stood twenty feet away, biting her lower lip in a heroic but rapidly failing attempt not to laugh.
Beside her stood Flower.
The massive Shadow tree beast was also smiling.
Jax stared at them.
"You threw a rock at me."
Nyxian's grin finally escaped.
"Well, yelling your name felt less tactical."
"You could've waved."
"Where's the fun in that?"
A tiny voice came from somewhere below Nyxian's chin.
"Told you it would work."
Pixelle climbed from Nyxian's cleavage and stretched her wings before floating free.
Jax sighed.
"Of course you were involved."
"I supervised."
"That's worse."
Pixelle smiled proudly.
Jax looked past them.
The forest was full of soldiers.
Most of them were nearly impossible to see.
That was the point.
Tiny Fairies were scattered throughout the canopy, hidden among leaves, branches, and flowers. Some hovered motionless against tree trunks. Others sat on branches no wider than Jax's finger.
Elven archers occupied positions higher in the trees, bows already drawn, arrows resting against strings. On the ground, other Elves waited among thick brush and natural depressions.
Farther back, enormous shapes remained unnaturally still among the trees.
Shadow Gorillas.
One looked almost like a boulder covered in black fur until it shifted slightly.
Jax smiled.
Llandra had been right.
Again.
They hadn't simply divided soldiers among five battlefields.
They had spent days deciding which soldiers belonged on each one.
Minotaurs had been placed where strength and narrow terrain mattered.
Wolfkin had been sent where mobility and tracking gave them an advantage.
Mages had been protected by troops and Shadows capable of absorbing the punishment meant for them.
And here—
Fairies.
Elves.
Flower.
Shadow Gorillas.
Soldiers and creatures who could turn a forest into a weapon.
Jax looked at Nyxian.
"Ready?"
Her expression changed immediately.
Playful—
To dangerous.
"Oh, you know it, my beloved."
She slapped her fist into her palm.
Beside her—
Flower did the same thing.
Jax stared.
"...You've been practicing that."
Flower nodded proudly.
"We're going to talk about that later."
Pixelle floated forward until she hovered inches from Jax's face.
"You can count on me, my King."
She placed both tiny hands against his cheek, kissed him, then zipped toward the canopy.
Jax looked at Flower.
"You're up."
Flower stepped backward.
And sank into the earth.
Gone.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
The forest moved.
Not enough for anyone marching toward it to notice.
Roots shifted beneath the soil.
Branches slowly changed position.
Vines curled around trunks.
Leaves trembled without wind.
Jax looked toward the Elven commander positioned nearby.
The Elf nodded once.
Everyone waited.
The first Imperial scouts entered the forest.
Nobody moved.
The scouts advanced carefully.
Eyes searched the trees.
Weapons remained ready.
One passed within fifteen feet of an Elven archer concealed above him.
Another walked directly beneath two tiny Fairies sitting silently among the leaves.
Neither noticed.
The scouts continued.
More followed.
Still nothing.
Eventually they disappeared deeper into the forest.
Then came the first soldiers.
Infantry.
Hundreds of them.
They marched beneath the waiting Elves.
Past hidden Fairies.
Between trees concealing Shadow Gorillas.
Nobody attacked.
More entered.
Archers.
Knights.
Officers.
More infantry.
Jax remained perfectly still behind the thick trunk of an ancient tree.
The Imperial column continued feeding itself into the forest.
Hundreds became thousands.
Still they waited.
Then Jax saw them.
Mages.
Dozens.
Grouped together near the center of the formation.
Infantry surrounded them.
Knights walked alongside them.
A defensive formation specifically designed to keep enemies away.
The Empire had learned.
Jax smiled.
So had they.
He looked toward the Elven commander.
The Elf raised two fingers.
Across the forest, bows slowly lifted.
Tiny Fairies disappeared farther into the leaves.
Somewhere beneath Jax's boots—
The ground shifted.
The Elven commander's fingers dropped.
The forest attacked.
Roots exploded from the ground.
Imperial soldiers screamed as thick tendrils wrapped around ankles and legs.
Some were pulled off their feet.
Others found themselves suddenly trapped as roots twisted together around boots and armor.
Branches snapped downward.
Vines whipped between trees.
Bushes that had seemed completely ordinary erupted around marching soldiers.
The Empire tried to react.
Then the arrows came.
Hundreds.
The first volley fell from above.
Officers dropped.
Archers spun toward the trees.
A second volley struck before they could identify where the first had originated.
Then the Fairies joined them.
Tiny figures darted through the canopy.
Nature magic rippled through the forest.
Roots shifted.
Branches bent.
Thorn-covered vines tore through formations.
The forest floor softened beneath carefully chosen sections of the Imperial line.
Not everywhere.
Only where it mattered.
Soldiers trying to regroup suddenly found their boots sinking into mud.
The Imperial commander shouted orders.
"FORM LINES!"
The forest answered.
A Shadow Gorilla exploded from the brush.
Nine hundred pounds of black muscle slammed into the side of the formation.
Men flew.
Another Gorilla dropped from a tree.
Then another.
Imperial soldiers who had spent the last several days learning to watch for Shadows suddenly found them coming from places they hadn't thought to look.
Above them.
Behind them.
From vegetation thick enough to hide something that shouldn't have been possible to hide.
The mages reacted.
"DISPEL!"
Magic flashed.
One Shadow Gorilla staggered as black vapor tore from its shoulder.
Another pulse struck its chest.
More of its body dissolved.
But before the mages could finish—
Elven arrows descended into their protective formation.
A barrier appeared.
Arrows shattered against it.
Exactly as expected.
Jax moved.
Infernal Requiem appeared in his hands.
The twin guns thundered.
The barrier cracked.
Another shot hit the same point.
Then another.
The magical shield shattered.
The Elves didn't need instructions.
Their next volley fell directly into the opening.
Imperial soldiers raised shields.
Knights moved toward the mages.
Fairies swept through the branches overhead.
The ground beneath the knights suddenly collapsed into mud.
Flower.
Jax grinned.
"Good girl."
A root the width of his body erupted from the ground and threw three soldiers aside.
Apparently, Flower heard him.
The Empire fought back.
Fire tore through the canopy.
Fairies scattered.
Imperial archers fired upward.
Elves changed positions.
Wind magic ripped leaves from branches.
A Shadow Gorilla charged toward the mages and disappeared beneath three consecutive Dispel strikes.
But another came from the opposite direction.
Then Imperial infantry intercepted it.
This wasn't a slaughter.
It was a battle.
And the United Kingdoms had chosen the battlefield.
Jax fired twice more.
An Imperial mage fell.
Nyxian's whip cracked somewhere to his left.
Pixelle flashed between branches overhead, her magic joining dozens of other Fairies as the forest itself continued shifting around the invading army.
The Elven commander shouted an order.
The archers changed targets.
Another volley.
Another section of the Imperial formation buckled.
Jax watched it happen.
Not just the fighting.
The coordination.
Fairies created openings.
Elves exploited them.
Flower controlled the ground.
Shadow Gorillas forced Imperial soldiers to turn toward threats too large to ignore.
Nyxian struck wherever the formation weakened.
And when the Empire adapted—
The coalition adapted with it.
They had this.
Jax's Tele-Stone pulsed.
He touched it.
"Jax."
The voice on the other end was nearly drowned beneath battle.
"Go."
"We've got a problem. Imperial infantry pushed around our western position. Mage support with them. They're forcing the Shadows back."
Jax looked around.
Another Elven volley disappeared into the Imperial formation.
A Shadow Gorilla roared.
Fairies streaked through the canopy.
Flower's roots ripped through the ground.
They were winning.
More importantly—
They didn't need him to keep winning.
Jax looked at Nyxian.
"You've got this."
She looked almost offended.
"Obviously."
"Good."
Jax summoned Peacemaker.
Nyxian's eyes followed the enormous blade.
Jax pulled it backward over his shoulder.
Then farther.
Like a man preparing to throw it.
Nyxian's smile disappeared.
Jax looked directly at her.
Her eyes widened.
"...My beloved?"
Jax grinned.
Nyxian took one careful step backward.
"We're past the rock thing, right?"
Jax touched two fingers to his forehead.
And vanished.
The battlefield appeared around him.
Screaming.
Steel.
Magic.
Jax was already moving.
Peacemaker left his hand.
The massive blade tore through the Imperial formation.
Soldiers had pushed around the United Kingdoms' flank, forcing the defenders backward.
And protected behind them—
Mages.
Peacemaker hit the formation from the side.
The first barrier shattered.
The blade continued.
Men dove aside.
Those who didn't move fast enough disappeared beneath the enormous weapon's path.
The formation broke.
Jax landed where a Shadow Knight had stood a heartbeat earlier.
Infernal Requiem was already in his hands.
He fired.
One mage fell.
Then another.
An Imperial officer turned.
"DISPEL!"
Magic struck Jax.
Nothing happened.
Jax blinked.
"Yeah. Wrong guy."
Infernal Requiem answered.
The officer dropped.
Another mage raised a barrier.
Jax fired into it.
Again.
Again.
The barrier shattered.
Behind Jax, the United Kingdoms' line realized what had happened.
Someone shouted.
"DARQUEBANE!"
Another voice joined it.
Then another.
The reaction spread.
"DARQUEBANE!"
Jax didn't look back.
He didn't have time.
Peacemaker curved through the air and returned.
Jax caught it.
Then drove forward.
The Imperial force had gained its advantage because its mages had been suppressing the Shadows while infantry pushed around the flank.
So Jax didn't attack the entire army.
He attacked the advantage.
Peacemaker crashed into the soldiers protecting the remaining mages.
Infernal Requiem thundered between swings.
Another mage fell.
Then another.
The pressure broke.
And the Shadows moved.
Shadow Wolves surged forward.
Knights advanced beside living soldiers.
A massive Shadow slammed into the Imperial flank that had been pushing forward only moments earlier.
The Empire tried to reform.
The United Kingdoms didn't give them time.
Wolfkin charged.
Human soldiers followed.
Magic streaked overhead.
The line that had been bending—
Straightened.
Then advanced.
Jax stopped.
He watched the soldiers move past him.
They didn't need him to finish it.
They needed him to remove the thing preventing them from doing their jobs.
Someone clapped him hard on the shoulder while running past.
"About damn time!"
Jax laughed.
"You're welcome!"
The soldier raised his weapon and disappeared back into the fight.
Another cheer went up.
Jax looked across the battlefield.
Living soldiers.
Shadows.
Mages.
Wolfkin.
Beastkin.
Different kingdoms.
Different armies.
All moving together.
For the moment—
It was working.
The War Room was louder than it had been all day.
Reports arrived faster than markers could be moved.
"Bridge force is still holding."
"Move the reserve company forward."
"Eastern line reports Imperial withdrawal of approximately four hundred yards."
"Don't call it a retreat yet."
"Understood."
Soren Nightclaw stood over the map, one hand resting against the table.
Across from him, Vaelrith Moonshadow studied a cluster of markers.
Thalorien listened as another report arrived.
Four fronts were engaged.
None were easy.
None were over.
But they were holding.
Then one of the communication stones flashed.
A soldier grabbed it.
Listened.
His expression changed.
"Soren."
Something in his voice silenced the nearest conversations.
Soren looked up.
"What?"
"The fifth column changed direction."
Soren's eyes narrowed.
"Changed direction how?"
"They left the Campbell road."
Kaelor looked toward the marker representing the fifth Imperial force.
"Another roadblock?"
"No."
"Bridge?"
"No."
Vaelrith leaned over the map.
"Where are they?"
The soldier listened again.
Then moved his finger.
"There."
Silence.
Thalorien frowned.
"That road doesn't lead to Campbell."
"No."
Kaelor studied it.
"Adventurers have been changing road signs."
Several people looked at him.
He shrugged.
"We're paying them to cause problems."
Soren didn't smile.
"Ten thousand soldiers don't usually take the wrong road because somebody moved a sign."
"No," Vaelrith said quietly. "They don't."
Another report arrived.
The soldier listened.
"They're continuing north."
"Toward what?"
His finger moved across the map.
Then stopped.
"Lisbeth."
Several people exchanged looks.
Lisbeth.
Not one of the five targets.
Not part of the United Kingdoms.
Not even particularly friendly toward it.
Imperial sympathies remained strong there.
Thalorien stared at the map.
"Could they be resupplying?"
"Possible."
"Regrouping?"
"Possible."
"Then continuing to Campbell?"
Soren didn't answer immediately.
The fifth marker sat on the wrong road.
Moving toward the wrong town.
"Campbell's force?" he asked.
"Still in position."
"Good."
One of the commanders looked at him.
"You want them to move?"
"No."
"But if the Empire is going to Lisbeth—"
"We don't know that."
"They're on the road."
"And Campbell is the confirmed target."
Soren looked around the table.
"We spent two weeks preparing that battlefield. The troops there were chosen for that terrain. The defenses are built. The traps are set."
His finger touched Campbell.
"We do not abandon it because the Empire takes one unexpected road."
Vaelrith watched the marker.
"If this is a feint, that's exactly what they want."
Soren nodded.
"Hold your positions."
The order went out.
Lisbeth saw the banners first.
Imperial.
Someone shouted from the edge of town.
Then someone else.
Within minutes, the streets began filling.
Families emerged from homes.
Shopkeepers abandoned counters.
Children ran ahead of their parents.
Imperial banners that had not flown openly in months appeared from windows and doorways.
The army came into view.
Thousands of soldiers.
Dust-covered.
Tired.
Armor scratched from days of marching and constant harassment.
And Lisbeth cheered.
The sound rolled through the streets.
People waved.
Applauded.
Cried.
An old man removed his hat and held it against his chest.
"They came."
Beside him, his wife wiped tears from her eyes.
"I told you they would."
Children ran alongside the first soldiers entering town.
One Imperial soldier looked almost embarrassed when a young girl handed him a flower.
He accepted it.
"Thank you."
She smiled and ran back toward her mother.
Another soldier laughed as someone pushed a cup of water into his hands.
"About time somebody was happy to see us."
His companion smiled.
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
The column continued inward.
More soldiers entered.
More citizens surrounded them.
People shouted praise for the Empire.
For the Queen.
For the soldiers who had come to protect them.
The General rode near the center of the formation.
He watched.
Smiling.
Around him moved the men and women he trusted most.
His officers.
Veterans.
Soldiers who had served beside him for years.
They weren't distracted by the celebration.
They moved deliberately.
Quietly.
Units separated at intersections.
Mage companies stopped at predetermined positions.
Trusted soldiers spread toward the roads leaving town.
To anyone watching, it looked like security.
A military force establishing control.
The General stopped his horse in the center of Lisbeth.
People surrounded him.
Cheering.
A woman lifted her child so the boy could see.
The General looked down at them.
Then across the crowded street.
At the banners.
At the smiling faces.
At people who believed the Empire had come because they had remained loyal.
One of his officers approached.
"General."
He leaned closer.
"Positions are set."
The General's smile remained.
"Good."
The officer waited.
The cheering continued around them.
"Orders?"
The General looked over Lisbeth one final time.
"Remove this town from existence."
The officer smiled.
"Yes, General."
A soldier standing nearby turned toward him.
Confused.
"Sir?"
The officer drew his sword.
The soldier looked from the blade—
To the civilians.
"Sir, what did he—"
The sword moved.
A woman screamed.
For one heartbeat—
Nobody understood.
Then another weapon was drawn.
And another.
The General's inner circle moved first.
Without hesitation.
Without confusion.
They knew exactly what the order meant.
The first flames erupted from a building.
People screamed.
The cheering stopped.
Some Imperial soldiers froze.
One stared at the civilians running past him.
Another looked toward his commanding officer.
"Are those really our orders?"
"YOU HEARD THE GENERAL!"
The soldier hesitated.
Then drew his sword.
Others didn't.
Others simply stood there—
Until officers screamed at them to move.
Some obeyed immediately.
Some reluctantly.
Some because everyone around them already had.
But the General's trusted soldiers never hesitated.
Fire spread.
Steel flashed.
Magic erupted.
And Lisbeth began to die.
Bunny heard the first explosion.
Her head turned.
World Breaker rested against her shoulder.
Around her, thousands of soldiers waited in prepared positions outside Campbell.
Traps were set.
Defenses prepared.
Every unit stood exactly where Jax and Llandra had decided it would be most effective.
Another explosion rolled across the countryside.
Several Wolfkin turned their heads.
An Elven officer looked toward the horizon.
Smoke was rising.
Not from Campbell.
Farther away.
Lisbeth.
Bunny's ears lifted.
Rigid.
Listening.
Someone beside her frowned.
"What is that?"
Bunny didn't answer.
She could hear things they couldn't.
Another explosion.
Wood breaking.
Something collapsing.
Then—
Screaming.
Far away.
Too far for most humans.
Not for Bunny.
Her grip tightened around World Breaker.
A Beastkin soldier several yards away suddenly turned toward Lisbeth as well.
Then another.
They could hear it too.
Not as clearly.
But enough.
A commander approached Bunny.
"Orders are to hold."
She didn't look at him.
"I know."
"If this is a diversion—"
"I know."
Another scream carried across the distance.
Bunny's jaw tightened.
The commander looked toward the smoke.
"Can you hear them?"
Bunny said nothing.
She didn't need to.
Another explosion rolled across the countryside.
Behind Bunny waited an army chosen specifically for Campbell.
Soldiers.
Mages.
Traps.
Defensive positions.
Everything they needed to protect the town the Empire was supposed to attack.
One mile away—
Lisbeth burned.
Bunny stood exactly where she was supposed to be.
And heard everything.