Entry 281 – The World Against One Kingdom
[…] For a time, perhaps the last time in our known history, it felt as though the entire world spoke with a single voice.
That voice cried war.
It is a strange thing to look back on unity and call it ominous, but that is what it was. The Kalandir moved not only their armies but the hearts of monarchs and chieftains across the known lands.
Messengers rode through blizzards and burning sands. Ravens with silver scrolls flew to towers whose names are now forgotten. Portals were opened in secret halls. Treaties were signed with trembling hands.
And the cause was always the same: Irath must fall.
They called it justice. They called it vengeance. Whatever their reasons, they were all in agreement.
If the Irath could reach into the heart of the Kalandir and unmake one of the oldest beings alive, who, then, was safe?
And so the banners rose. Too many to name. It is widely agreed this was the largest combined army the world had seen, up to that point. […]
Entry 282 – The Mobilization
[…] It is said that the muster of arms lasted for thirteen months. Castle Elentir became a living city. Soldiers and volunteers arrived in equal measure. The sky above glowed with spellfire and scrying circles. Every courtyard became a barracks. Every cellar, a war room.
Vellichor, according to preserved letters and oral accounts, remained detached from the war council. He walked alone, reading by torchlight and speaking rarely.
Sonder, however, did not.
She held no noble title, no bloodline of note, not then. Yet she was allowed to attend every meeting as though she were a warrior princess herself
There is one soldier's account that I have always found interesting. It was recovered from a leather-bound journal found inside Castle Elentir, and it has remained well preserved:
"There is a girl here. Young, and human, I think. Maybe not even ten. Her hands shake when she casts, and her eyes seem so conflicted, but when the talk is about the Irath, there is such hatred in them. I wonder what horrors she must have seen to feel like that."
Of course, that quote is about the Blackbird herself, and nowadays it may be a strange thing to read about her in a way where not even a soldier knows who she is.
But many things were strange back then.