Skaljv was towering her great army. It wasn’t as large as the one that had destroyed Agartha, but still she was proud of it. More than 60 Jotun wolves, 80 Valkyries, 40 supporting Serf warriors and about 15 battle mages. Not quantity but quality. Both wolves and valkyries had proven their value and that was surely enough against most threats.

And as the last snows of winter had melted to leave place to a blooming spring, she was focused on taking the fortress of Mireni. The assault was due in a few days and the place would probably easily fall. And no enemy army had been sighted anywhere close to prevent that fate …

So when scouts announced that a large enemy army had been spotted marching on Mireni, they were first met with disbelief. An enemy army ? But from where did it come ?! Slowly the informations were becoming more and more precise and the picture began to make sense.

The 3 Queens of Elemental Air were towering the army, all the 3 of them ! They had flown all along above Green Harbour with 20 invisible Ker demons . Also, about 170 spectral warriors had been hiding in the fortress and went out to break the siege. But the biggest surprise was that another Telkhine had successfully made its way to join the attack.

How could the scouts miss such a force ? That was incredible, but they were here, and they had to be taken care of. Skaljv stayed calm, gathered her force, and faced the enemy. Every mage, every soldier had been trained for this and everyone knew exactly what to do.

Quickly the two armies deployed and, by late evening, the battle begun. The Valkyries had been set up on the flanks to destroy the enemy rears. The enemy Kers on the left flank were surprised and slaughtered without mercy while a force of spectral kouretes suffered the same fate on the right flank. At the same time, the Jotun wolf horde charged and easily destroyed the spectral warriors on the frontline. The enemy sent a few Hounds of Twilight to oppose the horde but they were eaten alive …

Meanwhile, the Queens unfolded their battle plan. A huge storm started to cover the battlefield and thunder started to fall everywhere. A that moment the battlefield looked like the world was ending and those unlucky to be under a thunderstrike where struck down to death. Furthermore, the toxic vapours emanating from the Telkhine were spreading everywhere and those breathing it were starting to cough blood. However, thanks to the power of the Throne of Thorns, Lord Kall’s blessing protected most of the troops from the vapours. Not enough to avoid death in the long term, but enough to ensure survival if the battle was short enough.

And under that apocalyptic storm, the wolves and valkyries routed the enemy regular troops and started to march on the queens. Things had gone so fast that they had not been able to completely unfold their plan : summon a horde of Air elementals to overwhelm Helheim’s troops and leaders. So there were just a few of them to defend their Queens from the bloodthirsty enemy horde. Thanks to Lord Kall’s blessing, hurting spectral or ethereal creatures such as the spectral warriors or the air elementals was easy. And soon the Queens were surrounded and killed one by one.

Was it smartness or cowardice, we’ll never know but Megalesius the Telkhine managed to escape and fled into the nearby seas. The only surviving Queen, the Queen of Thunder tried to follow him but was cornered and cut down by the Valkyries …

When the final fleeing enemies were sent back to the realm of the deads, Skaljv could be satisfied. A powerful enemy army had been completely destroyed for a very small price. What they had lost was worth more than 300 magical gems, a huge loss from which they would never recover. Lord Kall and the War council had supposed that the war against Therodos would be an attrition war, where for each loss inflicted to the enemy 2 of our own troops could be lost. What happened that day was far beyond what was required for victory. A very, very good way to start the war.

After that, taking the fortress of Mireni was just a formality and Helheim could turn its eyes onto the next targets : the Oceans and the Iron Throne.

No hope for the ghosts as the messengers of death bring their sentence