Four weeks later, the combined forces of the Rice and Osprey clans finally arrived at the gates of the Wheeler clan's fortress.
Though the journey could have been completed in three weeks, Riley had deliberately slowed their pace, insisting on careful, measured movement.
He had reasons the men did not yet understand, but the decision gave the army time to rest, to maintain formation, and to preserve their strength for the inevitable confrontation ahead.
Before them loomed a castle that seemed carved from the very rock of the mountain.
Its medieval architecture exuded an aura of strength and permanence: high, jagged stone walls rising like sheer cliffs, towers that seemed to pierce the sky, and a massive gate reinforced with iron and studded wood.
To even attempt a direct siege would be madness, likely costing hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
The walls were built not merely to repel attackers but to annihilate them if they dared approach unprepared.
