The attack did not come from an order.
That was the problem.
Nyvoria's forward units were still moving into position when the first clash happened. A patrol crossed paths with an Aethros supply group at a narrow pass too narrow for retreat, too tense for words.
No banners.
No warning.
Someone panicked.
Steel met steel.
By the time horns sounded, it was already too late.
Lunara arrived to find wounded soldiers on both sides, the ground torn up by hurried fighting. The Nyvoria unit looked shaken, confused.
"We weren't told to engage," one soldier said quickly. "They were already there. Like they knew."
Lunara's jaw tightened. "Hold your ground," she ordered. "No pursuit."
But across the pass, Aethros forces were already forming lines.
Too fast.
Kael rode in moments later, pulling his horse to a stop when he saw the bodies.
"This wasn't planned," one of his officers said. "But they were waiting for us."
Kael looked around. The terrain. The timing.
"They knew the route," he said quietly.
Someone had talked.
Orders flew in from both sides, overlapping, rushed. Commanders tried to regain control, but confusion spread faster than discipline.
Then Vaelis arrived.
He took in the scene with one glance. "They're testing us," he said. "Seeing how far we'll go."
"And someone gave them the chance," Lunara replied.
Vaelis met her eyes. "Then we stop reacting and start choosing."
Before she could answer, a Nyvoria runner approached, breathless. "New orders from the palace," he said. "We advance. Limited strike."
Lunara stared at him. "This fast?"
Vaelis smiled grimly. "The king has decided."
Across the field, Kael received his own message.
"Rhaegor is moving," the messenger said. "He wants blood for blood."
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
This was it.
Not the war anyone planned.
Not the war anyone wanted.
But the war someone had sold.
As night fell, fires were lit on both sides not for warmth, but for signal. The border glowed again, alive with movement and anger.
And far from the noise, Eryx Valmor rode on, unaware that the chaos he created had begun to move on its own.