High Commander Ulresh saw the blast through the walls of his tent, a flare of light so brilliant he was struck blind for a moment. He felt the flutter of broken cobwebs against the exposed skin of his face and for a breath he floundered, flailing at the cobwebs against his face. There was a sound like flesh tearing and then a buzzing silence.

Blinking his watering eyes, Ulresh stumbled from the command tent. The camp was chaos. The first watch was staring blindly, calling out. The horses at the pickets were panicking, donkeys brayed as they fought their ropes, soldiers poured from their tents, grabbing up weapons. Officers, even groggy and unsettled, tried to regain order.

The High Commander stalked over toward one of the scout leaders. “Report.” His voice cracked like a whip and the scout leader snapped to attention.

“Our forward scout was in the midst of reporting back, there was a ritual being performed.”

“A ritual? Why wasn’t I informed immediately?”

“High Commander, we were coming to alert you when the..” The scout leader gestured toward the west, where the enemy camp lay.

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“Send out a squad of combat scouts to collect intel on the state of the enemy camp.” Ulresh turned away from the scout leader without waiting for a reply. His eyes were still watering as he scanned the camp. “Get me Commander Orin.” He bellowed to no one in particular. Two runners leapt to carry out his order as he walked toward the picket. “You,” One long finger pointed at a soldier, half dressed and carrying a glaive. “Get the handlers over to the pickets. Have the quartermaster ready rations. We’ll eat on the march. Tell Company Commanders Narlep, Tien, and Almondae to report to the command tent immediately.” The soldier saluted.

Each order seemed to bring a measure of order to the camp. The High Commander’s burning eyes swept around the camp one last time before he returned to the command tent and the maps within. He paused at the threshold, turned back and shouted. “Get me the Scout Commander, immediately.”

Satisfied that his will would be carried out, he stepped across the threshold and began to dress for battle. Whatever advantage his army may have had, could have been wiped out by the ritual that had been performed. Without knowing what sort of ritual the magi had cast, Ulresh couldn’t adequately calculate the risks. The churning in his guts told him that the quicker he could act, the less of an advantage he would lose to the enemy.

Alone in his tent for the moment, he looked down at the map. He had chased those bastards so far, from Reishada to the edge of the very Outlands. His fist struck the table, hard enough to rattle its collapsible frame. “I will end this war, once and for all. Whatever it takes.” He swore to himself in the uneasy silence. “Whatever it takes.”