Danjin looked at Lanren Songmaker. The military adviser was standing a little forward of the watchers, staring intently at the battle. His whole body was tense, his hands clenching and unclenching. Sunlight glinted off a white ring on the middle finger of his right hand.

The ring linked Songmaker to Juran, giving the White leader a view of the battlefield from afar. Looking down into the valley, Danjin frowned.

The Pentadrian sorcerers and the White had blasted at each other for hours, but neither side appeared to have an advantage. When so much of the magic loosed was all but invisible at this distance, it was hard to work out what was happening. All he saw was the effect of it when one side managed to harm the other.

That harm was most often inflicted on the fighters. Neither side appeared to have killed more or less of their enemy’s army, but Danjin had noted that it was always the soldiers, priests and priestesses protected by Mairae or Rian that suffered. Two of the enemy’s sorcerers appeared to have the same difficulty. Both sides used the strength of their Gifted followers to shore up the weaker sorcerers’ defense.

The rest of the fighting forces were not so equally matched. The advantage, to Danjin’s dismay, lay with the Pentadrians.

It had not appeared so at first. There were fewer Pentadrian fighters. They had no war plattens or mounted soldiers. As the two armies came together, however, it became clear that most of the Pentadrian foot soldiers were trained and prepared to face both.

And then there were the vorns.

The huge beasts brought death and devastation wherever they roamed. They moved so fast, only luck or a concerted effort by many archers could bring them down. The beasts seemed to enjoy killing. As Danjin watched, four of them drove a group of soldiers from the main battle. They tore out the throats of those that tried to face them, then chased the rest out of the valley, loping easily after the runners and nipping playfully at their heels.

“Why don’t we have creatures like that? Why don’t we have vorns to fight for us?” King Berro muttered.

“I guess the White didn’t have time to breed their own,” Guire replied mildly.

“They are an abomination,” a woman growled.

Heads turned to the speaker. Dreamweaver Adviser Raeli stared back, her gaze cold. “If your White created such evil beasts, would they be any better or nobler than these Pentadrians?” she asked.

The two kings looked thoughtful, though it was clear Berro was not completely convinced by her words.

“They have bred Bearers instead,” Meeran said. “And my people have provided them with little helpers.” He nodded to the cage Danjin was holding.