The equipment mostly consisted of the imperial war machines known as scorpions. He’d heard about the fabled Quuros siege weapons for most of his life, but he’d never actually seen one, let alone the dozens being marched through the imperial portals. The metal devices most closely resembled their namesakes, except each was the size of a rhinoceros and probably weighed more. The driver used a strange orb with handles to steer, while two more soldiers rode in the back. One by one the scorpions took up positions along the shoreline, turning so the stingers could flip back like catapults. The massive machines settled to the ground, legs digging into the soil and locking into place.

“Here we are,” said Tyentso as they arrived at her partially erected tent, a small swarm of imperial staff coming and going.

“Good, you’ve brought back—” High General Milligreest’s greeting came to a sudden halt.

Kihrin counted at least a dozen men, some clearly high-ranking military officers and others wearing the colors of various Royal Houses. And of course, the high general.

“General Milligreest,” Kihrin said.

The high general pursed his lips. “I should have known I’d find you anywhere someone’s destroying a city.” Dismissing Kihrin, he looked over the group. His gaze paused momentarily on Senera. He didn’t look at Janel at all.

“Play nice, Qoran,” Tyentso chided. She walked up to the table and pushed an Academy wizard out of the way. “Make a space, people. The adults have something to discuss.” She waved her group forward. “Now what was that about destroying Morios?”

Senera stepped up. She eyed the Academy wizards warily, then shrugged. “This is theoretical. As no dragon has yet been permanently slain, we’re operating under conjecture—”

Tyentso made an annoyed noise. “Skip the caveats and get to the point.”

“Morios and his Cornerstone, Warmonger, must be destroyed within thirty seconds of each other. We think. So we’ll need to split up. Kihrin goes with Thurvishar to where the Cornerstone is hidden, and the rest of us kill Morios—which Khoreval should make easier.” She pulled two small twigs out of her misha. They were identical, except that one was a normal twig made from wood and the second looked like wrought iron. “These are keyed to each other. The moment Morios has been slain, I’ll snap the normal twig, breaking its metal twin, signaling it’s time to shatter Warmonger.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Kihrin said.

“No,” Senera corrected. “I made it sound simple. It will most definitely not be easy.”

“Why does Kihrin go with Thurvishar?” Janel asked.

“I assumed Kihrin would want to be with someone who could make a portal back.” Senera turned to Kihrin. “I could do it, but I also assumed you’d prefer someone you actually trust.”

“Preposterous!”

Everyone paused and looked over at the man who’d interrupted—an older Quuros wearing green robes.