Responding to the Reinforcements

The first light of dawn barely touched the sky, and the cold was biting.

The atmosphere inside the deerskin command tent of the allied army's commanders—Kaustov, Snellman, and Casimir—was grim. Couriers hurried in and out, bringing one urgent report after another from the front.

On the enormous sand table at the center of the tent, little flags marking the battle lines were being rapidly shifted and added to as new information came in, making the situation clearer by the minute.

The three kings stood side by side before the sand table, brows furrowed as they quietly exchanged views.

News that the Wesen Army was about to send major reinforcements had spread throughout the camp the previous night. Then, just before sunrise, even more urgent reports arrived: on the western, northwestern, and southwestern sides of the encirclement, every outer watch post, hidden sentry, and patrol had been hit by a sweeping, deadly Wesen assault at almost the same time.

"Here's the latest summary." Kaustov's voice was low as he pointed his baton at the western edge of the camp on the sand table. "From last night until dawn, we estimate there were dozens of small skirmishes. Our entire outer security network has been wiped out."

He paused and glanced at Casimir and Snellman before continuing. "This morning, we tried to contact those outposts. None responded."

"The teams we sent to investigate reported that most of the men at the outposts had been killed."

"Worse, the Wesen Army laid a large number of mines and booby traps as they withdrew. We lost quite a few more soldiers investigating."

He pointed to a spot on the sand table. "The only survivor we brought back was a soldier from one of the outposts. He survived purely because his heart was on the right side