Chapter 31: The Siege begins
Arthur stared at the dead crystal in Valentina’s shaking hands, his mind already running through battle plans. The leftover magic on the broken pieces made him understand everything—this wasn’t some random malfunction.
Someone had jammed their entire communication network.
"Valentina, breathe," he said, his disguised voice cutting through her panic like a blade. "Tell me exactly what you saw before these things died."
She pulled herself together, her spy training kicking in despite the fear. "Coalition banners coming from three directions at once.
Eastern forces hit our main gates an hour ago with siege weapons we’ve never seen before.
North and south are getting hammered too—it’s all coordinated." Her purple eyes locked onto his. "They moved early, Arthur. We had another week before they were supposed to attack."
Sylrathi glided to the window, her ancient senses reaching out beyond what normal eyes could see. "Magical artillery. Soul-draining weapons. I can feel that dark energy from here." Her face went grim.
"They’re not trying to capture the kingdom—they want to break everyone’s spirit before they take over."
Arthur felt like he was standing at a crossroads from hell. Save the dragon and gain the kind of power that could change everything, or defend his kingdom and maybe lose the chance to stop something way worse than any regular war.
[ABILITY ACTIVATED: Enhanced Tactical Analysis]
[PROCESSING: Running the numbers on multiple scenarios]