Colet walked up beside a mean looking dwarf. He followed the dwarf’s stare and stopped at the Torpin Stronghold. The magnificent human bastion stood between his forces and the human capital. The anti-human coalition, formed out of necessity, arrived before the last obstacle that stood between the it and the human capital or, more specifically, the Purificator. Should the stronghold fall, the coalition members would join the demons in the final assault of the capital to eliminate the threat the non-human races couldn’t ignore. Upon learning of the Purificator's completion, they couldn’t stand idle for the humans to unleash the superweapon’s fury upon them. Knowing the humans couldn't be trusted with the weapon, the coalition members had took it upon themselves to destroying the superweapon.

“The fall of Torpin Stronghold will be the fall of man,” said the dwarf.

“The humans will resist fiercely, Skostaer.” Colet learned from the scouts earlier about the impressive garrison at the stronghold. “They are not to be underestimated.”

Skostaer laughed at the comment and muttered something about humans being soft. Colet watched the dwarf leader walk away to his camp. The two of them rarely exchanged many words. Colet tried to start a conversation but repeated attempts all yields nothing. Instead of focusing on the dwarf, the centaur turned to the camps. A total of six camps were set up in a horseshoe formation for the coalition, each belonging to one of the races. Skostaer led the dwarves who held one of the central camps. The other central camp belonged to Skostaer, chieftain of the centaurs. Commanding the largest numbers in the coalition, Skostaer and Colet were selected to form the backbone of the coalition forces. As the backbone, Colet understood the responsibilities that came with it. Failure to destroy the Purificator would be a burden he had to bear alone, assuming he could survive the superweapon in the first place.

The camps were established on one of the hills near the Torpin Stronghold. These hills paled to the mountain range that separated the human kingdom from the northern non-human kingdoms. Anticipating future conflicts, the humans wisely constructed the fortress in the sole mountain pass which would eventually be known as the Torpin Stronghold. Over the three centuries, the stronghold was further fortified and improved. Some even claimed the fortress was impregnable as no past attempts succeeded. The Torpin Stronghold as a result kept the human kingdom safe from all threats in the north. Unfortunately for the coalition members, this was the same stronghold they had to break through.

“Colet!” shouted a voice behind the centaur chieftain.

Colet turned to see a centaur galloping towards him. He galloped to join the incoming centaur halfway. He wasn’t expecting the centaur for another few hours. In times of war, arriving ahead of time wasn't always a good omen.

“What is it, Notelis?”

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Colet felt unease seeing his right-hand centaur’s frown. Unless the matter was serious, Notelis wouldn’t betray any emotions to others. Even without sharing a word, Colet could sense bad news from his trusted friend.

“We just caught sight of a small contingent of humans reaching the stronghold. We estimate about a hundred or so humans on horsebacks. One of those humans isn’t your normal human. Eupoos sensed something dangerous within that human. The powers felt almost unholy.”

Colet trusted Eupoos’ judgment when it came to magic matters. As their most experienced sorcerer, Eupoos possessed an ability to roughly gauge the magic levels of anyone he could see with his eyes. The further away the target was, the more inaccurate the magic level reading. A human labeled dangerous by Eupoos could make Torpin Stronghold’s defenses even more impregnable. The stronghold had a reputation of standing firm against invasions for three centuries and that reputation was well deserved. Despite being part of the largest coalition in recent history, Colet still lacked the confidence of victory. The human Eupoos suspected of being dangerous certainly didn’t help.

“Tell Eupoos to return at once.” Colet returned his attention to the stronghold. “The siege is about to begin and we need our strongest warriors and sorcerers here to achieve victory.”

When Notelis rode off, Colet returned his attention back to the Torpin Stronghold. As the new chieftain of the centaurs, Colet overcame numerous challenges to rise to the top. Yet, none of his problems and challenges came close to the possible extinction of the centaurs. Other than the demons with their demon realm, none of the other non-human races had any countermeasures to the powerful superweapon built by the humans. Putting aside their differences, the six most powerful races north of the human kingdom formed a coalition in a final struggle of survival. Despite the odds, they had gathered outside Torpin Stronghold with a common goal.

Father, if only you were here to lead the centaurs.

The death of his father was not only the most devastating event in Colet’s life but also a tragedy for the centaur race. As the former chieftain, his father left a huge void with his death resulting in the bloodiest civil war in centaur history. When the dust finally settled, Colet rose to take up the mantle left behind by his father. The price the centaurs paid in the civil war was far too steep and its impact was still felt to this day. Colet, despite uniting all of the centaurs, knew his forces paled to what his father could muster. Five years didn’t come close enough for his people to recover from the civil war. Having pondered on the topic before, Colet knew even a century wasn't enough.

Colet looked up when he heard a screech from above. He raised his arm for the hawk to perch upon.

Ilumin! How was the flight above the mountain range?

The breeze is good! Reminds me of peak!

Ilumin might appear as an ordinary hawk to the untrained eyes but she was actually a Cloud Hawk. Cloud Hawks were only found on Cloud Peak which remained one of the most inaccessible locations on the continent. When one arrived at the base of Cloud Peak, the mountain peak disappeared into the clouds and couldn't be seen unless one scaled to the top. It was said that those who reached the peaks were worthy enough to have a Cloud Hawk as one’s partner.