Old Humphrey did not wait for the enemy to reach the walls. The moment the Gnome army came within a few kilometers, he rose into the air, raised one arm, and gave the signal to advance.
The warriors of Serepolis poured out through the main gates and over the battlements in a dark tide of armor and elemental light. Dust rose in thick clouds beneath tens of thousands of feet as the army of Elementalists marched across the cracked desert plain. The sun hung high and merciless, turning the sand into a shimmering white glare. The air already carried the dry, metallic scent of approaching bloodshed.
They halted roughly one kilometer from the Gnome lines. From that distance the disparity in numbers became painfully clear. Serepolis had fielded just over ten thousand Elementalists. The Gnomes stood more than fifty thousand strong, a black sea that stretched farther than the eye could see. At least five to one. The weight of those odds settled over the human ranks like a second sun.
