Heshima fell silent for a moment, then said to Keledu, "There's something I think I should tell you."
Heshima's expression was grave. Keledu knew it had to be serious, and that it was tied to both the decision to call this war council and the change in their battle plans.
"The force we sent west has been routed. The two Commanders of Ten Thousand are missing, and most likely dead!"
Keledu shot to his feet. "How is that possible?
"There were nearly two hundred thousand people there, including plenty of fighting troops. How could the enemy wipe out that many so easily?
"Has the main force of the Northern Frontier Allied Army arrived?
"When did this happen?"
"It wasn't the Northern Frontier Allied Army. The battle took place three days ago, in the afternoon.
"According to the report given by a Legion Commander who escaped with the survivors, the enemy had around fifty thousand troops in all, fewer than twenty thousand of them fighting troops."
"That small a force destroyed nearly two hundred thousand of ours in a single afternoon?
"Could every one of their soldiers fight ten of ours?"
"It wasn't quite that bad. In a straight fight, our forces should have been roughly equal.
"But they have a terrifying weapon. It makes a thunderous noise and fires huge projectiles that explode, spraying iron fragments that tear through flesh. Even the toughest armor can't stop them.
"That's how they broke Kuba's and Shikele's forces."
Heshima then relayed everything he had learned about the battle from the Legion Commander.
The more Keledu heard, the more astonished he became. Such a weapon was hard to imagine. As an apostle of the Faith Order, he had received Divine Revelation from the Venerated Lord and knew things beyond the understanding of ordinary people.