The declaration of war hung in the command center of Asylum. Like a shroud. On the large tactical map, glowing red runes marked the locations of the mustering Crusader armies. They were gathering on their borders. A steel tide preparing to crash against them. The world had become a cage. The walls were closing in.
For days, Edward's war council was a tense storm of desperate ideas.
"We must return to the Wilds," Kira argued. Her voice was sharp with urgency. Her finger traced a path back into the deep forests of the Beast-Kin Territories. "The terrain is our greatest ally. We can bleed them in the mountains. Lose them in the ancient woods. A standing army is useless there."
