General Tronan studied the scout before him with cold eyes. The woman had just announced that he had seen Lady Reece flying east, and he still couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, My Lord,” she said. “We’ve seen their silver gliders flying near Easton.

The general didn’t reply; he just strode past her and reached out to a squad of elite mages on silver gliders. “Southeast near Easton. Bring the flags,” he ordered.

“Yes, Sir!” they responded.

Then, General Tronan walked back into the tent and grabbed a white and red flag, split at a diagonal, with a brass bar. He held it, gripping it tightly, feeling the cool metal against his hand. The flag symbolized a request for an armistice, a temporary ceasefire to negotiate. Surely they know what this means, he thought. Or…. The greater question was whether they cared. These people were from another world. We’ll see when we get there.

He then walked out of the tent into the blazing summer heat, wishing that armor didn’t come at the price of dehydration and general misery. King Lemings didn’t have to try hard to bring him back into service, but everyone had to convince him to wear that damn armor. It was the worst.

As General Tronan walked to the silver glider stables, he looked at Matt, Riley, and the rest of the summonees, who were trembling and looking at the ground. They were wearing their fear like a coat. Just looking at them soured his mood. They were strong, but they were inexperienced, scared, and feeble-minded. In short, they were useless, and he wondered if they were stronger as fighters or bargaining chips. They had value in the latter aspect, at least.

“You’re coming with us,” General Tronan said.

They grimaced but complied, mounting silver gliders and then flying west.

2

General Tronan led the elites and summonees to the main force, which was in a mountainous region 70 miles from the capital. 25,000 soldiers were waiting there, waiting for orders of where to march. It was a neutral force that could spread out in multiple directions to prevent a single force—like Lady Reece’s—from devastating the entire army. There were still troops 50 miles in each direction that were far from Lady Reece’s reach. The same was true of Quell and Markon’s forces. Therefore, it was hypothetically possible for Lady Reece to accidentally pick off each of them, but he doubted her mission was to destroy the army—and it was definitely not to invade the capital. Lady Reece could devastate the land, but there was no way for a small group to control 150,000 people. For that, she would need an army. No, her goal was to send a message and widdle down their forces. That’s why he was confident she’d follow the major road systems, which all led to Ingram, a major trading city 70 miles from the Lemings capital. And that’s what happened.

Mostly.

General Tronan had barely reached the soldier-spotted landscape and taken control when he felt a thin mana pulse. It was a divination spell, but it was so thin and pure it made the hairs on the back of his neck raise. What the hell was that? he silently asked, releasing his most powerful divination spell.

Nothing.

There’s no way…. He subconsciously swallowed when he realized that the divination pulse was stronger than his was, and he rubbed the back of his neck with both hands. Something was out there, and all he knew was it was somewhere to the east. Assuming that was her, I doubt she’s going to stay.

General Tronan bit the side of his index and scoffed, turning to the other heroes. “You—come with me!” he yelled.

Lord Bower—the one the others called Matt—looked at the others apologetically, and that almost made General Tronan snap. He wanted to feed these children to the beasts for insisting that they had never seen the extent of Lady Reece’s power when they clearly understood. Today, they’d be lucky if he didn’t bargain them off.

3

As Sara and General Tronan’s forces moved toward each other, Quell’s forces passed Raul’s strike team. While Raul had managed to push back the troops they encountered, over 80% of Quell’s forces weren’t in their trajectory, so the soldiers passed right by them. The same was true of the soldiers Raul pushed back. After news of the defeat, generals just ordered the troops to go around. Ultimately, the prize was Lemora, and if they could encircle it, even the most powerful force couldn’t stop them. In short, Raul’s team had only delayed King Quell’s advances while the Markon Kingdom’s forces marched unhindered toward Lemora.

4

The last time Sara released God’s Eyes, she saw a massive grouping of soldiers. Since her group had already captured over 15,000 soldiers and stole weapons and resources from another 5,000, there was no point in pushing ahead. So, she turned and said, There’s elite forces ahead. We’ve already made our message—let’s go home. Andy, Darius, and Helen sighed breaths of relief as they turned around, agreeing readily. Their initial fury had turned to exhaustion and introspection, and the long flights gave them time to think about Wiles, Jennifer, and the things that they had done. It was time to go home.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Unfortunately, on her next divination pulse, she found powerful mana signatures coming at them fast from the east. There were nineteen in total: eight that she immediately recognized as dissidents, ten elite soldiers, and one man who shone like a hero. It wasn’t a joke force. “Low to the ground!” Sara yelled. “Move!”

Flying was the weakness of the heroes—and also one of the few things that could kill them. So, they dived from the Reemadan skies to twenty feet above the ground, where a nasty fall would usually only bruise their shins. But they were able to do that because there weren’t any trees—and there weren’t any trees because it was all jagged rocks. A fall wouldn’t kill them—but it would be nasty, and she was trying to figure out if they should just land and try to take on all nineteen. They could do it in theory, but depending on how skilled the people were, it could pose a difficulty. By contrast, if they kept flying, Sara could stall the force, and her team could fly away. Shit! She couldn’t fucking think! It was happening so goddamn fast!

“Yes, Mam!” Darius yelled, snapping her back into the present. They were flying at top speed, lowering toward the ground, watching scenery blaze by them as fast Nebraska corn stalks through a car window. But no matter how fast they were, the enemy silver gliders were gaining on them.

There was no time to even land.

Suddenly, an amplification circle erupted from the sky, and a booming voice cut across the deafening wind.

“This is General Tronan of the Lemings Kingdom! We seek an armistice!”

Sara gripped her reins tightly, taking a deep breath. There were rules to war, and a request for an armistice was something she couldn’t normally refuse. However, there were rules to noble society, as well—and she was about to invoke them.

Sara activated an array on her glove. “This is Lady Reece of the Escaran Kingdom! I am an acting ruler and thus will not negotiate without other leaders present! Leave immediately, or I will consider this a breach of war.”

5

General Tronan’s nostrils flared. Lady Reece had boldly entered the Lemings Kingdom and devastated their armies, and yet she declared fighting back would be a breach of war etiquette? It was unbelievable. “Lady Reece!” he yelled. “You are acting as a general, and I will report this encounter as such!”

“Do you see an army around me?” Lady Reece asked. “Your forces outnumber mine three to one.”

His face twitched. Armistices were typically held with two forces facing off, like the general protecting a city meeting with the general besieging it. Yet this also qualified. He was certain of it. “You are an army!” he yelled.

“I am no such thing!” Lady Reece yelled. “Armies have reach—they can siege cities and control populations. We’re four people against twenty, and if you insist on chasing us, I will take it as a breach of war and act accordingly!”

A thick coat of goosebumps wrapped General Tronan’s arms as he kept pace with Lady Reece above the jagged terrain. If this were a normal breach of war etiquette, “acting accordingly” would imply sending details of the breach to other nations, letting them know that the Lemings Kingdom’s requests for armistices could lead to traps, something that would cripple trust with other kingdoms. But in this situation, “acting accordingly” surely meant fighting. The question was why? General Tronan had brought an elite force, expecting most to be useless against her. She had decimated armies. So why not? Then it occurred to him—her group. While reports clearly stated that Lady Reece’s forces were powerful, they were flying close to the ground, indicating that they weren’t confident in their flight. If his team used a Sky Pincer maneuver, they could trap her troops and use them as bargaining chips—something that she would bargain for.

The perplexing thing about Lady Reece was that she wasn’t killing Lemings troops, let alone civilians, and the ones she captured still had food and resources. For someone with such terrifying power, she was shockingly soft-hearted. That put her in the same category as Lord Bower and the rest of the summonees with him, none of whom wanted to fight in the war. That could be a serious opportunity. But then something unexpected happened.

“We just want to talk!” Lord Bowers yelled over an amplification circle.

General Tronan’s heart almost stopped when he heard the idiot speaking of their own volition. That idiot! he thought.

Then another voice came from Lady Reece’s flank. “Fuck off, Matt!” one of them yelled. “Wiles is dead because of you people!”

“You people?” Lord Bower yelled. “Open your eyes, Darius! This is—”

“Hold your tongue!” General Tronan yelled—but it was too late. One of Sara’s forces turned their silver glider.

“Stop!” Lady Reece yelled, and the person complied, but that minor slowdown allowed General Tronan’s troops to catch up.

It was now or never. The question was whether they should attack while Lady Reece was weak and take prisoners if they failed or let Lady Reece escape. General Tronan had no delusions that he was stronger than her. The fact that she barely showed up under his divination spell told him everything he needed to know about her mastery—

—still. General Tronan was the strongest in the kingdom, and he had no chance against her on land. But at that moment, she was desperately weak and had to protect three others. This was the best opportunity he would ever get.

“Last chance!” General Tronan yelled. “Agree to an armistice or suffer the consequences!”

“No.” Lady Reece’s voice was chilling. It was angry—furious even. It was as though this was all a game and the thought of The Lemings Kingdom fighting back brought forth fury and rage and indignation beyond words. Only that rage felt like sharpened bloodlust that could physically cut anyone it touched.

General Tronan swallowed and then turned to his troop. “Do not kill them!” he yelled. “Capture them with—”

Before he finished, a strange pulse of mana he had never felt before sucked into the area—and that was a terrible sign. Each elemental spell had a signature and flow, but this one was like nothing he had ever met. “Shields up!” he yelled. “Hurr—“