In the dead of night, from high up in the castle, Yveta and the others could see three nearby villages engulfed in flames.
Farther away, more fires burned in places where they seemed to reach all the way to the sky.
Yveta understood. The Children of the Forest were burning the land.
And if the Children of the Forest succeeded in their plan, this scene would unfold all across Ambrose tonight.
As the sky slowly lightened and the sun rose, the fires were still burning, sending up billowing black smoke.
At the same time, the Children of the Forest finally launched their first attack.
First came a volley from the centaur troops, aimed at the Man-Eating Flower cluster.
More than two thousand centaurs loosed their arrows at once, blotting out the sky. The arrows fell like raindrops, striking the Old Witch's magic.
On the wall, the Old Witch hadn't slept all night. She had kept her eyes wide open, watching the Children of the Forest's forces warily.
Now she burst into laughter. Her shrill voice startled several drowsy peasant soldiers awake. "Arrows can't break the Man-Eating Flower magic."
"Ahahaha..."
"Only the weapons of the Iron Children can harm my Man-Eating Flowers."
Yveta asked curiously, "What are the Iron Children?"
The Hearthstone Great Witch said, "The Forbidden Book says that when humans first entered Ambrose carrying iron weapons, the Children of the Forest called them the Iron Children."
"Only iron can break my magic."
The first volley fell on the Man-Eating Flower cluster. The instant the arrows struck the flowers, the wooden shafts seemed to come alive. They turned into bending plants, then fused with the cluster.
Once fused with the Man-Eating Flowers, half of each wooden shaft sank into their stems and leaves, while the other half remained exposed.
The