One Month Later
Goblin Village - Council Hall
The map table stood at the center of the war room, its wooden surface scarred by years of use. Symbols carved in charcoal marked the territory. A breeze drifted in from the open windows, but the room felt airless. Heavy.
Skitz leaned forward, one claw tapping an anxious rhythm on the map's edge. Aren stood with arms crossed, brow furrowed. Grokk loomed like a stone statue near the back, while Shade remained in the corner, half-shrouded in shadow as always.
A scout stood at attention before them, feathers still clinging to his shoulder from the golden eagle he'd carried.
"They bear the silver lion of House Ravenshade," the scout said grimly. "Five hundred strong. Infantry and light cavalry."
Murmurs rippled across the room.
But no one asked why they'd come.
They already knew.
They'd come for the elf, and likely their heads as well.
