The next morning came without delay, as though the world itself had decided there would be no more waiting.
At first light, the entire encampment was already in motion.
Orders rang out across the fields, banners were raised, formations locked into place with practiced precision, and within moments, what had once been a resting force transformed into a marching army. The ground itself seemed to tremble faintly beneath the weight of thousands moving as one.
Valerion's forces advanced in disciplined ranks, their armor catching the early light, their expressions set with hardened resolve. Beside them, Blackmare's army moved with equal coordination, their numbers filling the horizon in a way that made the scale of what was about to happen impossible to ignore.
