The Chackara captain turned sharply to his soldiers.
"Ready the line!" he barked out the orders loudly. His voice cut through all the noise of the camp. "All formations! Shields forward! Spears angled! Move!"
The Chackara mobilized with startling speed.
Hundreds of reptile-men surged into place, forming a wide crescent that faced the city gate.
Finally, there was an eagerness for battle on their faces; the readiness of creatures who had waited too long to bleed.
It took less than ten minutes for them to prepare.
The captain turned his attention back to Sonder.
"This is your moment, mage. When the gate breaks, we march. Quickly."
Sonder turned toward the tall wooden gates.
They were massive, and reinforced, bound with thick iron, and built to withstand.
She could tear them open.
She drew back a few paces and planted her feet.
Her bracelets glowed faintly, and so did her staff, until they hummed with power.
She raised her staff.
A tiny whisper of doubt swirled in her mind. This would invite the Chackara into the city.
This would unleash a battle.
This was dangerous.
But whatever was wrong with the Shemmi inside the city, it would be better to end the siege quickly than let them starve, condemned to a slow, unmerciful end they could do nothing to prevent.
"Clear the front!" Sonder called.
The Chackara pulled back their nearest ranks, and the captain lifted a hand.
"All formations, hold!"
Sonder braced.
Her hair lifted in an unseen wind as the glow at the tip of her staff grew bright.
This wasn't a pulse of elemental magic. This would be a pure bolt of mana.
She pointed the staff and a force erupted from it.
It slammed into the gates, wood splintering, iron bending. Chunks of timber flew through the air.
It blew apart as though struck by a giant's fist.
Afterward, there was a giant hole; wood charred to black ash, and metal melted into puddles.
A moment of silence followed as the Chackara could barely believe what they had seen.
She lowered her staff.
The captain stepped in front of his men.
"What're you waiting for!" he yelled out. "Forward!"
The army surged past her with a roar, pouring through the shattered gate and flooding into the city.
As the captain charged into the city, he looked back for a moment, and in his eyes there gleamed something like a new fear of Sonder.
He lifted his spear and went with his men.
Sonder stayed where she was. For the first time in a long time, her heart hammered with hunger.