The first volley bought them distance, not victory.
Across the outer lines of Thorne Territory, the impact of the opening barrage still burned through the field in scattered pockets of fire, shattered stone, and torn earth, but the monstrous host kept moving through it. A dragon with one wing scorched black from lightning still stayed airborne long enough to release a violent gust that threw men from the ridge below. One of the ogre-like beasts lost an arm to a combined strike of water and earth, only to keep charging until three spears and a second barrage finally brought it down.
Shadow wolves burst through thinning sheets of flame with their fur still smoking, fast enough that several soldiers barely had time to raise shields before the first bodies hit the ground.
The lines held, but not cleanly.
