Just one day stood between them and the attack. Was he prepared for such a fight? Well, even if he wasn't, it's not like he can do anything about it, so why worry? After all, one day really is not enough time.

Walking around the city, everyone's mood seems to have drastically fallen; the news of another war is probably heavy on them.

Even at such a young age, he has fought in an actual war before, since you could really consider this a war, it was just one attack.

Back in Frozen Crown, the war in the Second Ring, and he was the leader of one of the sides, so you could say he had some experience in these kinds of things.

Plus, there was also the rebellion... which was a war against the Blue Rose, and where, yet again, he was the leader of one of the sides. It made him wonder if this was the first time he was not a leader in one of these wars again, if you can even consider this attack a war.

A war is a conflict between two groups, so you could say this was the war for the forest.

Though there was something on his mind that really just didn't sit right.

...

How did they know the orcs were going to attack?

Did they have some sort of spy that tracked the position of the orcs to see how long they had left until they reached the civilization? It would make sense... but there was one thing that could go wrong.

If the spy got caught, it could mean his death... but what if it doesn't?

What if the orcs don't even show that they know he's there? What happens then?

'Well, I know what I would do... I would attack tonight, instead of tomorrow.'

There were two scenarios, the first being that the spy could communicate with the King without having to come back, and in this situation, he could still alert him if something like this happened.

But in the second... that being if the spy had to come back to speak the information he had gathered, or if he had to send someone or something to tell the King the news, it might as well lead to the orcs attacking when they aren't prepared.

Which might as well be the worst start to a war you can get.

Information is the most important thing; it has many uses, and giving the other side misinformation... It's very bad for the side that gets that information.

Of course, all of this happened if the orcs managed to notice that there was a guard. If not, everything went to plan.

And while he heard that the orcs were actually smart creatures.

...

Maybe he was just overthinking it.

'The bad thing is that I can't do anything about it. If I were to tell the King this possibility, he would likely dismiss it without any justification, and for good reasons, his soldiers have to get rest, not wait the whole night for something that won't come. And I would definitely die if I tried fighting all of them alone.'

He just had to hope that his gut was wrong... something he hadn't done before; he always trusted it. So to go against it, it was slightly scary.

'Tomorrow I'll be meeting Kade and Lucien again, which is nice. I do want to see how much progress they have made, if they are really strong, that is also good for me, since it makes any battle we need to fight for the next shard easier.'

He was getting tired, which was unexpected, but this whole adventure really has been a lot. From sailing the waters, to being attacked by bandits, to having to fight that giant worm, which almost killed him. To the escort mission, and Kade's injury, which... did take a bit of a toll on his mental health. After all, it was the second time it happened, when he left the boy alone with a bandit, and this time he wasn't able to protect him. So... how could he protect anyone if he couldn't protect one person in a battle against some lowly bandits?

Then he had to fight those skeletons and had to ask for help from Kade.

And let's not even start on the battle with that damn creature, that beast was something else, it made him wonder how the orcs would stack up to it. What if they were Seeker class, they were probably going to have to run away, or... at least him.

What if that happened, where he left Kade and Lucien remained to fight?

What if he were alone again?

...

Aether covered his face with his hands, opening his fingers so he could see.

'I... will just go to bed, I will also need rest for tomorrow.'

...

...

'I guess I won't.' He sighed, finding himself on top of the gate of the civilization, watching the forest. As much as he tried trusting the information of the King, and for one of the only times, let his gut scream, he couldn't. There was just something wrong with this whole thing.

Orcs were smart, as far as he knew; there wasn't some sort of Will that allowed you to hide your presence, so he doubted the spy hadn't been spotted by at least one of the many orcs that were going to attack.

And he wasn't trying to be egotistical, but he was probably one of the only people inside this book, and he wasn't saying only because he didn't know everyone, who could actually keep an eye on them without being caught, and that was because of his Affinity and mantle.

He wasn't going to be able to sleep when his gut kept telling him that the attack was tonight, it just felt right. So... he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

'Better than going to sleep and never waking up.'

...

...

He hoped he was wrong; he really was.

...

But tonight, it was not the time.

He was right.

...

...

At first, it was the silence.

The forest had always made noise. Insects sang through the dark, leaves whispered with the wind, and branches creaked like old bones shifting in sleep. It was something normal, something you would expect to hear from a forest, as it was never truly quiet.

But now it was....

Everything living had gone still, almost like they had run away from something. From what?...

Aether stood atop the gate, eyes fixed on the black sea of trees before him. His hand rested beside him, fingers tapping unconsciously, as he impatiently bit his lip. He knew something was happening, and he couldn't wait to see what it was.

Then the ground trembled.

It was fast, and if you didn't pay attention, you couldn't have heard it

But then it happened again.

And again.

'Damn it!'

Something was coming, something that wasn't scared to make itself heard, or rather.

It was something with a force too large to care if it was heard.

The guards that were guarding the gate tonight stiffened, but quickly took their stance, yet he could hear one muttering a prayer under his breath, almost like they expected what was to come next. Torches along the wall flickered as if even flame had grown nervous.

Then the first tree moved.

No wind touched it, yet it bent sharply to the side before snapping from its trunk and crashing into the earth.

Aether's eyes widened as he frowned.

It was clear what was happening.

Another followed.

Then another.

And from the broken path they came.

...

Massive green bodies emerged from the darkness like monsters being birthed by the woods themselves. Towering things, shoulders broad enough to block torchlight, muscles layered so thickly they looked sculpted from wet stone.

Their skin was rough and scarred, painted with old wounds and dried blood.

Tusks pushed from their jaws.

Small eyes gleamed beneath heavy brows, not wild, but focused.

Thinking.

That was what made them worse.

They were not beasts charging blindly.

They were soldiers.

Soldiers who could think, who could plan, and trick a whole civilization.

They really were as smart as he had thought they were.

...

Some carried axes taller than men, blades chipped from use rather than neglect. Others dragged clubs made from whole trunks wrapped in iron bands. Some bore chains, hooks, jagged spears.

And some carried nothing at all.

Those were the ones Aether watched closest.

Hands the size of helmets flexed as they walked.

If they wanted, they could crush boulders with their hands.

...

Across many of their chests hung cords of trophies.

...

Fingers.

He heard of this from the old man from the bar, but seeing it in person was another level of sick.

Dozens of them.

Human fingers. Clawed ones. Thick boar kin digits. Old, dried, blackened things rattling together with each step like bone charms.

...

Then one of them roared.

And from the forest behind, more answered.

Not dozens.

Hundreds.

The trees kept vomiting them forward, line after line, until the dark itself looked green.

They just didn't stop emerging.

...

Aether quickly set up, screaming at the guards.

"Blow the horn or something! They're here!"