Their only thoughts—encoded into every cell of their ravening beings—were to feed and kill… and to serve the Elden Mages who held their leashes.

“How many have you grown now?” Vadim asked.

“Three million two hundred thousand, Most High,” Grule answered. “Stored cold, kept hungry. When you unleash them, nothing living will long stand in their path.”

Three million two hundred thousand. A force like none this world had ever seen, exceeding even the wildest accounts of the mythic Army of Darkness.

“Excellent.” The Celierian king had gathered his allies at Kreppes. Vadim’s eyes along the border had provided daily reports of their preparations for war, but their efforts would be for naught. Celieria would belong to Eld before the new moons rose on the thirteenth night of Seledos—and after that, the Fading Lands. “You have done well, Grule. You are a Mage worthy of his jewels.” He cast a final, gleaming gaze over the revenant pits. “Prepare them for transport.”

Celieria ~ Kreppes

30th day of Verados

A knock sounded on Rain and Ellysetta’s suite door. When Gil went to answer it, no one was more surprised than Ellysetta to find Great Lord Dervas Sebourne on the other side. The warriors of her quintet went instantly stone-faced, as did Rain, when Gil ushered the Celierian Great Lord inside the room.

“Lord Sebourne,” Rain greeted with wary stiffness.

“Feyreisen.” Sebourne’s voice was equally crisp. “I’ll be brief. The king may have decided to overlook your lies and manipulations, but I have not. So do not think my return signals anything to the contrary. For now, I have no choice but to set aside my personal feelings and accept you as a member of this alliance, but when this war is over, I intend to lead the Council of Lords to eliminate Fey interference in all walks of Celierian life. And be warned, war or no war, if I discover you or any of your Fey are using magic to influence or invade mortal minds, I will be the first to call for your execution. Have a pleasant evening.”

He gave a curt nod and stalked out.

Ellysetta gaped after him. She turned to Rain, shaking her head. “Did he really just come in here and threaten you?”

“It seems that he did, shei’tani.” Rain’s hands dropped to the hilts of the meicha scimitars at his hips, and his eyes narrowed on the closed door Great Lord Sebourne had just exited.

In the hallway, Dervas Sebourne dropped a small white stone into the brass wall sconce beside the Feyreisen’s suite door before walking briskly back to his own rooms.

Ellysetta was still marveling over Lord Sebourne’s inexplicable visit when a loud sound, like the rolling of thunder in the distance, broke the night’s silence. She forgot Sebourne’s aggressive intrusion in an instant. A bright smile broke across her face.

“They’re here!” she cried. “They’ve come! The pride has come!”

Rain was already heading for the door. Together, with Ellysetta’s primary quintet ringed around them, they raced out of the fortress and through the outer gate to greet the approaching tairen.

“Steli! I’ve missed you so!”

The great, snow-white tairen lowered her head and purred contentedly, blue eyes whirling sky-bright, as Ellysetta flung herself against Steli’s neck and stroked the thick, soft fur.

Two other tairen, Xisanna and Perahl, had flown with her from Orest. Rijonn, the Earth master of Ellysetta’s quintet, had fashioned a lair for them in the side of one of the newly heightened hills near Kreppes. Small by tairen standards, the lair was nearly as large as all of Kreppes. Rain, Ellysetta, and the tairen fit inside with enough room to move freely about.

«Steli missed Ellysetta-kitling, too. Human city not so fun without you. Too much prey-scent, but Fey-kin says not to eat. Makes Steli…» An image of a snarling, slavering tairen filled Ellysetta’s head.

“I’m sorry we had to leave you, Steli, but thank you for staying behind to look after Orest for us.”

«Mrr… scratch there. So good.» The tairen’s purring grew so loud the soil around her began to vibrate. Gleaming ivory claws sank into the dirt, and the great cat’s sleek tail thumped the ground, raising clouds of dust.

“Why did you leave, Orest, Steli-chakai?” Rain asked.

She cocked her head to one side. «Rainier-Eras and Ellysetta-kitling are here, not there.» Her tone made it clear she thought the answer should have been obvious to even the thickest skull.

Ellysetta smothered a laugh. The tairen were in a mood for mischief.

Rain sighed. “And if the Army of Darkness does indeed strike here, as we believe, we will be grateful for your presence, but Orest was still under attack when we left. Which tairen will speak to Lord Teleos on behalf of the pride now that you are gone?” Tairen did not, as a rule, speak to humans. They didn’t speak to Fey either, except for the Tairen Souls. They considered it beneath their dignity. Steli had only agreed to do it because Rain asked her to.

«Ah.» Steli’s nose twitched. «Fahreeta talks.»

Xisanna snorted. «Talks talks talks.»

Huah. Huah. Perahl and Steli chuffed with tairen laughter.

“You’re telling me Fahreeta agreed to stay behind and speak with Lord Teleos on behalf of the pride?” Fahreeta was a proud, preening beauty, the last tairen Ellysetta could imagine lowering herself enough to talk to a human, not even one with as much Fey blood in his lineage as Dev Teleos. “I can’t believe it.”