The column rolled forward.
Dwarven boots struck the earth in a steady rhythm, each step heavy enough to send a dull vibration through the ground.
Wagons followed, reinforced frames creaking under the weight of steel and stone. Siege engines moved piece by piece, pushed and pulled by teams that knew every lever and chain by memory.
Wheels cut deep tracks into the soil. Roots snapped. Pebbles jumped with each passing rank.
Quinlan walked alongside it all, watching the machines advance.
This was what he had been missing.
The memory of noble estates rose unbidden.
Those same barriers that ruined his plans for a quick and successful night of conquering noble estates would not hold long against this. Not against rams plated in runed iron, towers built to swallow arrows, and artillery designed to tear fortifications apart layer by layer.
Ahead of the main force, elven scouts flowed through the terrain.
