The various armies streamed into the grove as the day progressed, and they were quickly shown their way out to the defensive camp. Since Riverside’s forces had been the first to arrive, they had taken the liberty of setting up in Kuraim’s path and beginning the building of a rampart of earth and stone. Chances were it would be destroyed during combat, especially when considering the kind of destructive magic the Necromancer possessed, but it would still grant the archers and gunners vantage for a time.

Surprisingly enough, or perhaps to no surprise at all, Kuraim had not changed his pathing at all, although it was certain he could now sense the growing number of Sovereigns gathering in his way. He had neither sped nor slowed either, suggesting a calm the defenders could only wish to acquire.

Even though the defending army grew rapidly with the hours, there was no concern about supplies as it was projected that Kuraim would arrive here in a day or two. Besides, they could always teleport in more supplies if it was required, allowing the defenders to focus on maximising their strength in the coming battle instead of fretting over logistics.

And so the rampart grew steeper and wider, spanning miles of fortified land. Terramancers were particularly useful in this task as they could move the grounds with unmatched ease. The drakkar also proved themselves to be masterful architects here as they upgraded the defences. However, this was only the physical aspect and the humans and drakkar were evenly matched when it came to adding arcane defences with Dlyo’s stingtails a level above them. Runes were drawn, magical formations set up, tripwires and sensors and on.

Silas took a break from his discussion with the other leaders to observe this, fascinated as he saw runes far above his level of skill. At one time, he had likely been one of the best Runesmiths on Idroa - at least amongst the humans - but such a title had long been lost as he had focused on combat while others submerged themselves with runes. Although he didn’t regret this choice, there was still an undeniable wanting in his heart as he inspected the potent artwork, work that he could have crafted in another life.

It also had to be said that scouting was just as important as building defences. Even though Kuraim appeared to be on a collision course with them, who knew how the Sovereign would act once he came closer. Besides this, they desperately needed accurate information on his horde, which estimates suggested to be in the several tens of thousands. For this reason, scouting parties had been sent out by every army, covering a massive circle around the grove, and the most impressive of these units were Hou’s aerial drones. Not only did they rapidly cover great distances, but they also provided real-time video of the land below them, allowing for an accurate image of their surroundings to be maintained at all times.

Lucian remained in Brightmoor, holding his move while his opponents looked to clash with each other. The prophet still asserted that the Warlord would appear in the midst of their battle, but Ajit brought doubt on this theory as Kuraim was known for his anti-teleporter formations. When they had gone to confront Alair a while back, they had struggled to teleport out as Kuraim had arranged several mages around their position, scrambling any portal requests out.

Of course, Ajit had overcome this by using a physical linked item to form an unaffected request, but he could only move a limited number of people with his portals. How could Lucian teleport in a whole army here, then? It wasn’t like he could use the grove teleporter, and he couldn’t portal into the battlefield either with Kuraim’s countermeasures active. The other leaders saw reason in Ajit’s words and began to fear that perhaps Lucian would target their vulnerable settlements now, but the prophet quickly assuaged their worries.

“Lucian has five captains under him, and they each earned their positions for different reasons. First is Taika Ngata, the Bulwark,” the prophet said, “who leads a tremendous shock troop. His monolithic constitution is one thing - even though some of you here could rip through it - but his disruptiveness is far beyond that since his troop is focused on by Healers, meaning they are able to punch well above their weight.”

“Next, there is Matteo Rivera, the Terramancer, who is the highest-level Terramancer on Idroa, just shy of earning his Sovereign position alongside us. With his skills, he can easily crumble away our defences if he pleases - not all of it, but enough to produce a definite weak spot. After him, there is Sophie Chandler, the Demolitionist, whose power matches many of ours’. While Matteo holds destructive and constructive abilities, Sophie is entirely focused on destruction. Our potential numbers advantage, and Kuraim’s too for that matter, will mean little if she is allowed to act freely.”

Silas remembered Sophie. She had been next to Lucian in the congress. She had reminded him of Raven then, the Voidcaller, with her dark hair, pale skin, and bloody lips. Although she had been overdressed for Raven’s standards, that hadn’t affected his uneasy feeling of her.

“While those three are the combat focused captains, the remaining two are far more troubling,” the prophet continued. “Laila Samra, the Mirage, is someone most of us here have met, even if we don’t remember it.” Silas looked about, imagining only Elisha to tense up, but so did the drakkar Sovereigns, Ajit, Hou, and Emmanuel. Laila certainly hadn’t been slacking off at her harassment work. “There is no doubt that she already has several clones in our armies, and that is likely the case for Kuraim’s horde too. With this, she can ruin his anti-teleporter formation by picking off the mages who maintain it.”

“That still leaves—” Ajit started, before the prophet paused him with a raised hand.

“Once that is down, the fifth captain comes into play. Booker Campbell, the Void Walker. I have confirmed that his latest ability enables him to create portals large enough to transport armies as he did so when Lucian surprise attacked Svobald and Miurl. It will completely drain his mana, and chances are many soldiers will die while traversing his unstable path, but it will still allow Brightmoor’s army to appear anywhere they wish once Laila deals with the mages.”

Booker Campbell, Silas thought, wondering where he had heard it before. Campbell. Of course! Lucian had personally thanked him at the first congress, revealing that he had done a great service for Booker by freeing Meera Cambell, the Huntress. They were married, and it was Booker and her son that Meera had left Silas’s party to search for. Unfortunately, Silas didn’t think this spot of friendly dealing between them would prevent Booker from aiding the attack. “Wait, if he has such an ability, why didn’t Lucian go around picking us of earlier?”

“That is a question that I do not have a definite answer to,” the prophet admitted. “Although, I have theorised it might be the ability which allows such large-scale teleportion was only recently unlocked. Or perhaps Lucian was content to sit in Brightmoor and let us fight amongst ourselves until the final fight. And of course, it could well be that this ability has strict requirements, which is why he can’t just use it whenever.”

The prophet stopped a second. “And we can’t discount our fellow Sovereigns in Lucian’s army either. The Chronicler might have no effect, but the same can’t be said for Astor or Sandip, both of whom will be leading their own troops.”

“Alright, we’ll assume that Lucian will indeed join the fight and plan for that,” Elise said. “What about Kuraim’s horde, though? Do you expect that to be a difficult fight?”

“Depending on the circumstances, it could be easy or impossible,” the prophet answered, “although I would be cautious and imagine it to be closer to the latter. While we can disable his horde, none of them will truly die until he does. It is why he is indifferent to the idea of throwing his horde at our defences, as they will attack our walls without end or rest. For this reason, the only way we can win is by killing him, and since he knows this, he will be surrounded by the strongest of his troops, welcoming our attempts.”

“So it will be a war of attrition,” Ajit said.

“It can be viewed like that,” the prophet said, “but the odds are against us. While he focuses on keeping his life, Dahlia will intend to ravage our lines. Should she succeed, we lose.” Before questions came pouring in, the prophet answered them. “Yes, she is only one person, but her skillset allows her to become a monstrous abomination that can literally flood our armies with ravenous flesh. She will be unkillable at such a point as her regeneration will be uncontested, so we need to take her down before she reaches any significant number of people. If two people possessed the power to kill her, then going with eight others would ruin their chances.”

“I see,” Ajit said. “So we can only have a small force attack Dahlia, meanwhile the rest of us must focus on Kuraim. Well, who wants the job?”

Heads went around, and no one looked particularly eager for it, not even Aengus or the drakkar Titans. Her legend was already well known on Idroa.

“Going by the strongest duelling Sovereigns,” Baerl of Time started, and all heads promptly turned on Silas.

“Alright, I guess I’ll take her on,” Silas said after a moment thick with hesitation.

“Count me in, then,” Aengus said, offering a grin.

And I, Zitu proclaimed.

“Are you sure?” Fayiure asked.

The eyeborn blinked, then glared at the phoenix. Certainly! Why would I not be?

The phoenix gave a huff of inky smoke. “I suppose I’ll come too.”

“I shall join you,” Dying Light said.

Baerl’s eyes found Katerina and focused on her before she escaped from his vision. “And you? Are you not a powerful assassin?”

“I cannot fight her,” Katerina said. “I will take on Zafeera instead.”

“No, this is good,” the prophet added. “We have five dealing with Dahlia, so it is better to stop there. The rest of us can prepare for Kuraim and Lucian.”

****

It was near two days later, at dawn, when the scouts finally saw the Necromancer’s horde. Death was coming.

____

Autocracy (for Lucian): Lucian Grimes (human, Warlord), Sophie Chandler (human, Demolitionist), Astor (stingtail, unknown), Sandip Mand (human, Windwalker), Stefan Sommer (human, Chronicler) - 5

Autocracy (for Kuraim): Kuraim Jaffer (human, Necromancer), Zafeera Bazzi (human, Blood Ripper), Dahlia Howe (human, Abomination) - 3

Meritocracy: Silas Wycliffe (human, Duellist), Aengus Abercrombie (human, Master of War), Ajit Ghost (human, Warlock), Vivienne Durant (human, Beastmaster), Emmanuel Baasch (human, Alchemist), Katerina Ivanov (human, Hidden Blade), Elisha Luna (human, Primal Healer), Hou Yu (human, Artificer)

Ferer Greencare (mycelia), Bobby (pygmy troll, Sorcerer), Hokul Ironboot (dwarf, Adventurer), Zitu (Eyeborn, unknown), Fayiure (phoenix), Shamu (blue whale), Dlyo (stingtail, Aeromancer)

Baerl of Time (drakkar, Chronomancer), Peryn of Dragonfire (drakkar, Pyromancer) Klope of Rain (drakkar, Hydromancer), Broken Scale (drakkar, Barbarian), Folding Winds (drakkar, Inquisitor), Dying Light (drakkar, Devastator) - 21