Under the eyes of the demon camp and the fleet at sea, the Red-Eye Clan, which had run twenty li, turned back. They met up with the Ratfolk Priests sent to "clear traps along the route" and returned to the Demon's Claw Peninsula.
After dozens of minutes of bombardment, the peninsula was devastated. As the sailors competed over who had hit the most ratfolk houses, few buildings remained standing.
The Ratfolk Elder's residence was one of the few left intact.
The Rat King sat slumped in the ruins next door, crying. The Ratfolk Elder ignored his foolish brother from the same litter and went home.
Outside, the Rat Tide surged. The swarm poured back onto the peninsula, ready to rebuild their "home" atop the ruins.
As the smartest ratfolk in the Red-Eye Clan, the elder felt something was wrong.
Why was Blackwatch in the Far North? What were the demons doing? Hadn't they spotted the Human Things?
And when the Human Things attacked them, the demons had watched for ages and let them get away!
The Ratfolk Elder was clever enough to sense something was amiss, but not clever enough to work out what to do. As he wrestled with the question, he noticed a Map on the table.
He didn't remember there being a Map in the room, much less one in the Common Tongue.
Then the Ratfolk Elder found a trail of hoofprints on the floor. Had one of those demon things come in?
He picked up the map. It showed the Demon's Claw Peninsula. Nothing unusual, except that a spot on the west coast had been circled, as if...
A sudden tremor beneath his feet knocked the Ratfolk Elder off balance. A terrifying surge of Fel Energy sent him rushing out of the room, where he saw