“ You're an idiot, Henrik. ” Below a grey sky, Gordaldo stood outside the flyboat, sighing at Henrik's tangled predicament; it was the only thing Gordaldo could do for his companion imprisoned for breaking Duke Roth's nose after a heated argument. “ Onward, to your assigned stations, ” Then Lichtenberg—the royal soothsayer and leading theurgist—issued an order which spurred the armed forces underneath his authority into marching toward the city center.
Customly, Gordaldo obeyed as did the other soldiers with the unthinking, automatic swiftness of a machine; they walked shoulder to shoulder weapons in tow, wearing black armor branded with a wolf bearing a broken sword. And thus, the partially ruined settlement filled with concerted steps of armed men and their beasts of warfare and blaze as they secured roadways, buildings and removed obstacles from their path.…