“Once we cross this line, things are going to change,” Tenira said quietly.

I looked at her, suppressing a smile at the sight of her gazing thoughtfully south, the sun dancing in her hair. We’d been separated for too long lately. But the gravity of the subject swallowed my bout of levity quickly.

“It was called ‘crossing the Rubicon’, I guess,” I said. “After a general who took his army into his empire’s heartland and took power from their senate for himself. He got himself murdered pretty quickly, but it was the death knell of their republic, and his successor eventually became the first emperor out of many.” I smiled wryly. “Even over a thousand years later people were still styling themselves as successors to the Roman emperors. I guess this may be a more fitting parallel than I thought.”

“Well, I’m not sure if crossing this river is going to turn into a proverb, but it’s certainly going to have enough impact for one,” Tenira said. “There has never been an Imperial army who truly crossed into the Dominion’s heartland, Inaris. Ever.”

“Oh, yet another first.” I grinned playfully. Then I turned serious once more. “Do you think we’re ready?”

Tenira hesitated, then shrugged. “I think so. We may have slowed down, but we needed the breather. The Zarian have already had enough time to fortify themselves. And we need too many new things, in too large amounts, to have pushed right on south. We’re still setting up new factories.”

I hummed in agreement. There were a lot of things straining our logistics and supply efforts. We were training new Lighters by the hundreds, with every instructor we could scrape up. We were also building and running new factories to produce all of their equipment and more. Many of them had been set up in the newly liberated south. They were making weapons, but they also needed to churn out huge amounts of other material, like ammunition and explosives, or plates for formation arrays, and many other things.

“It hasn’t always been easy, and none of it is cheap,” Tenira continued.

I nodded. “I think, in that regard, other measures have probably cost more, but that’s not saying much.”

In addition to creating new airplanes, weapons and so on, we were also trying to raise our conventional strength. The Empire was buying up cultivation aids and materials, trying to get as many fighters as possible to as high a stage as possible. I would have bet the Zarian were doing the same thing.

“We’re probably going to have to substantially raise taxes soon, in any case,” I said. “That’s not going to do the economy any favors.”

Tenira pulled a face. “Right. Do you have any details on that?”

I shrugged. “Not really. Kiyanu has a surprisingly good head for finances, and is much more familiar with the Empire’s finances, so I’m leaving it to him to figure out how we’re going to pay for this war.” I shot her a meaningful look. “Besides, I rather doubt I’d be able to sneak anything like that past you, even if I wanted to, and you probably know more about this sort of thing than I do.”

She grinned and raised a hand. “All right. Just checking.”

We fell silent and watched the drawn-out dark blob of our army wind its way south. It looked deceptively slow from here, although our elevated position allowed us to see everything clearly. We were standing on a mountain trailing the edge of the Yellow Graves’ mountain range like a last, lone sentinel. The wind blew loudly enough to cover the sounds those of my guards standing further down might have made, but I could hear the faint swish of clothing as Aston shifted his position beside me.

The dark spots of airships dotted the sky above the cultivators and wagons on the ground, and if I strained my eyes, I could just see the sails of a few ships out on the ocean, as well. More of them would be trying to find their way inland using a river, although they were under orders to withdraw if they faced stiff resistance. They were mostly there to probe the Zarian’s defenses. So far, no army had come out to meet us, but I hadn’t expected one. An open field, even one as hilly as this one, would be a good battleground for our Lighters, and we could get support pretty easily here.

“I just wish we had better communications with our other territories,” I finally said. “It’s hard to get any details on how the war is going there.”

Tenira shrugged. “This is the territory that really matters, although I suppose I can see what you mean. It would be nice if they were doing just as well against the Zarian as we are.”

“Yeah. I wish we were better prepared there.”

“That’s jut how it goes.” Tenira pulled a face. “The Sky Continent is the more important area, and it’s where we are, and most of our research teams. Of course there’s going to be a lag in enlisting Lighters and getting production of our new weapons, planes and whatever else set up and churning out material there. At least we do have the infrastructure to do that, on the whole.”

“Yeah.” I sighed.

I couldn’t help but think that, in a way, the fact that the overseas territories of the Empire were this integrated and prosperous had its drawbacks. We had to put effort into defending these areas and their citizens, and taking care of their economy. The Zarian would probably have an easier time writing off colonies, even if that cost them in the long run. Not that I really wanted to change places with them. And in the end, it probably wasn’t a big difference.

“Let’s just hope our allies’ ships keep the Zarian outside the continent on their toes,” I said.

We’d planned on using a sizable chunk of the Terbekteri fleet for that, and were already starting operations. They were supposed to strike at Zarian territories all across the Dominion. That might divert forces there, but even more importantly, I wanted to keep them on the defensive. It would be a pain if the Zarian started sending out their own ships more aggressively to hit Imperial territories.

“Stop worrying,” Tenira chided me. “Really, Inaris, things are going to be fine. Don’t fret.”

I smiled. “Yes, love.”

We fell silent and watched as the army continued to wind its way south. This area was sparsely populated, if it was populated at all. I supposed it was possible the Zarian had evacuated people from our path. I would have done it in their place, but I was hesitant about guessing how they would act.

After a few more minutes, we decided that it was time to move. We would still keep behind the army, but we couldn’t let it get too far away from us. Aston would probably manage that.

I cracked my shoulders and grew a set of wings, smiling as I felt the wind rustle through my feathers, which were white this time. I crouched, then jumped into the air, beating my wings at the highest point of my leap, and kept soaring. I caught Tenira’s chuckle as she rose into the air herself on her flying sword.

I could have used one, too, but I liked flying this way better, not just because I’d never managed to reach the degree of skill she showed with one. There was something better about flying with my own power, without the aid of any sort of tool except for my inborn abilities.

We flew south-south-east, closing on the army’s path from a shallow angle. I watched thoughtfully as they grew in my sight, and I could make out more details of their formation. Since Kiyanu was staying in the capital, this was my army, at least in principle.

It was an army not quite like any the continent had seen before. Almost half of all of its soldiers were Lighters, although, of course, their actual strength was far lower than that. But they did make it one big army by local standards. And pretty much all the forces involved in this war had been big. It was a clash between two great powers. But the army was also accompanied by heavy equipment, weapons new to the waging of war on this planet. A few planes flew with the airships, though more of them were carried along on large wagons and some on the ships.

“What are you going to do if we lose?” Tenira asked after a while.

I turned my head to look at her. Her voice had carried clearly over the wind, but she was watching the army instead of looking at me.

“In what sense? Lose the next battle, or lose the war?” I asked.

She glanced at me and shrugged. “In general. The former, I suppose.”

I frowned. “Well, if we take heavy losses, if it turns out that we’re outmatched after all, we’ll retreat and reconsider our options. Don’t worry, I’m not riding this idea down in flames.” I snorted. “Not that Kiyanu would let me.”

Tenira smiled slightly. “Alright. Look, we’re making good progress.”

I nodded and turned my attention back to the army, which was just crossing the river we’d mentioned earlier. A few minutes later, we reached it ourselves and flew over it. I looked down at the raging waters, heavy with last week’s rain, and felt grateful that at least it wasn’t much of an obstacle for cultivators. But now we had definitely crossed into Zarian heartlands.

Behind the river, I was starting to see signs of civilization. The landscape still had rolling hills, though those weren’t as high or rugged as those further north, and we mostly saw fields interspersed with a few small forests.

I cycled a bit of qi to my eyes to get a better look. This was definitely cultivated land, and we passed a few villages from a distance. They seemed to be empty. At least, I couldn’t make out anyone moving. But I suspected that they were abandoned quickly, since there were still cattle grazing on a few meadows, and fields that were obviously in the process of being tended. Whatever work farmers did in spring seemed to be mostly taken care of, but the fact that people had clearly put in the effort of working on it meant this area hadn’t been evacuated for too long.

Eventually, the land smoothed out further, leading into a plain, and we saw the broad, dark band of a river on the horizon. I looked more closely and found a dark blob on its banks. As we traveled towards it, that structure grew larger in my view, until I could recognize the city surrounded by its tall, gray walls. They reached high enough that I didn’t get a good look at the houses behind them, although we weren’t flying very high. I gained some altitude and took a closer look. The city was big, its center neatly organized but its outskirts a warren of streets and passageways.

It didn’t look very different from an Imperial city.

The army slowed down as it approached, and I descended, pulling in my wings as I landed on the ground, before I started jogging. Tenira accompanied me on her flying sword, flying low to the ground, while the guards surrounded us. We made our way to the head of the army quickly. I nodded at General Wei and the other leaders, but watched in silence as they got our fighters organized.

It didn’t take long, since the army wasn’t that large, really, and the soldiers functioned as a well-oiled machine. Earth cultivators put up provisional fortifications, while a group of water cultivators went off to check out the river upstream, guarded by some elites. This wasn’t supposed to turn into a long siege, but it might, and the generals clearly believed in being prepared. We didn’t start setting up tents, though.

I turned to look at the city, then froze in surprise. “Aston, is that … smoke?”

He followed my gaze and frowned. “Indeed, my lady. Quite a bit more smoke than you would expect to see from any chimney. I’d wager to say there is at least one whole building on fire in there.”

I exchanged a glance with Tenira, then hurried to join the generals, who were just finishing their preparations. “What do you think is going on there?” I asked.

Wei Jun shook his head. “I don’t know, Your Highness. But it has to have something to do with our arrival, given the timing. I doubt that there’s a faction fighting to open the city to us, but I hesitate to guess what it could be.”

The other high-ranking officers nodded in general agreement. I looked at the smoke again, which, if anything, was getting thicker. The generals quickly came to the conclusion that we shouldn’t waste any more time. If this was a bad sign, better to find out what was going on quickly. I stretched out my senses, looking at the wall and what I could get from behind it, and considered the possibility that we were walking into a trap. But I seriously doubted they’d be able to conceal any formation arrays well enough that we’d blindly stumble into it. And they shouldn’t be able to make chemical explosives that could actually threaten strong cultivators.

We started advancing carefully, the stronger soldiers in the front, while I kept back with my friends and a large group of Imperial guards. The smooth walls of the city, which I recalled was called Niali, were occasionally topped by parapets with a few siege weapons. As our army advanced under the cover of qi shields, they fired at us. I watched carefully as the flares of qi impacted on our shields, dispersing in bursts of light. But the fire seemed scattered, and I noticed that a few towers only joined in a few seconds late.

There had to be quite a commotion inside for them to consider the hostile army camping outside a lower priority. Most likely, their leadership structure, civilian or military, was being disrupted. Or maybe they just want to suck us in. It’s possible, I guess.

We kept advancing, and I frowned to myself. I didn’t feel like I was in danger, really. I was only a few hundred meters from walls presumably containing an army of people eager to do me harm, and for all the sensation I got from Rijoko, I could be watching a movie safely at home. Of course, I knew I couldn’t rely on that, but even what I saw as mostly my own intuition was silent, certainly not screaming at me as if I was walking into a trap.

As we closed, I focused on the wards around the city. Elis had been able to give us some details on them. Analyzing them now, I could tell they’d made an effort to change the patterns, but they’d only altered parts of the shields. Our elites were already securing the base of the walls, and I approached carefully, reaching out a hand to touch them as I concentrated. Together with the other formation masters, I wormed my way into the city’s defenses. It took long minutes during which I had to rely on my soldiers, and of course Aston’s guard detail, to protect me, but we worked our way through the wards. We let parts of the qi shield stand, but now our forces could easily enter the city.

I shook my head, pulling my attention back to my surroundings. I barely had time to take them in before Aston grabbed me and levitated me onto the top of the wall. I nodded at him, looking around to see the rest of the soldiers making their way onto the wall and into the city.

I joined the generals and their guards, who were now close to the front, though we’d still sent elites ranging ahead. The occasional flashes and thunder of fighting showed where our forces were encountering resistance. I was beginning to suspect the Zarian might have pulled most of their forces out of the city, although some of the buildings we passed looked a little too battered, and there was still smoke rising from several places further in.

Then we reached the first plaza, and I suppressed a gasp of surprise as I realized why the soldiers were slowing down. A group of Zarian faced us across the square. None of them was higher than the fifth stage, with at least half of them in the first or second. A profoundly strange composition in the Dominion. They wore simple clothing and most didn’t carry any weapons, beside maybe a knife.

Sensing that this wasn’t about to get violent, I pushed my way forward, with Aston and my stronger guards keeping close by me, while Tenira slid into her place to my right.

“Welcome to Niali, Imperials,” a man with gray-streaked hair who seemed to be in the second stage called out.

I took another step forward and let my gaze sweep over them.

“Welcome, indeed,” I finally answered. “I take it there won’t be much fighting today.”

“We sure don’t want to be your enemies. You’re welcome to take custody of the city.” He smiled. “I’m sure we’ll come to a meeting of the minds.”

I smiled back. Well, this is shaping up to be interesting. And definitely better than fighting a bloody conquest.