Answer now the call to war.

Call to War, by Tevan Fire Eyes, Tairen Soul

Celieria ~ One hundred miles south of Orest

10th day of Seledos

At midday, as the Fey army halted to rest and eat, Rain and the commanders of allied forces gathered in a magic-warded tent several miles east of the main militia. Fearful of the Mage using her eyes to spy upon the allies, Ellysetta remained behind with the other shei’dalins.

When Rain introduced Farel and his men to the other commanders, the air in the tent became decidedly chilly. The cool reception was not unexpected. Deeply ingrained Fey beliefs would not change in the blink of an eye, and thanks to the Mages’ relentless subversions and the dahl’reisen’s own murderous actions along the borders, the Celierians were no more eager to welcome dahl’reisen among their ranks than their immortal neighbors.

“I understand your reluctance to trust the dahl’reisen,” Rain told them. “A week ago, I shared it. But I have since learned that the dahl’reisen who form the Brotherhood of Shadows are not so honorless, nor so irredeemably soul-lost, as I have always believed their kind to be. They saved Ellysetta and me not once, but twice, without any thought for their own safety or even their own survival.”

He swept a hard gaze across the gathered commanders. “That is not, however, the reason I have welcomed them. Simply put, we need them. Our numbers are few while our enemy’s are great. We cannot win this fight without them.” He turned to Bel. “Bel, show them what we are up against.”

Lavender Spirit sparked in Bel’s eyes, setting them aglow as he raised his hands and began to weave. The Fey scouts dispatched earlier in the day from the allied camp had sent back images of Orest and its surroundings, and Bel had pieced the images together to create a large, three-dimensional map of Orest.

The city was crawling with Eld, Feraz, and what looked like Sorrelian and Imrhi mercenaries. Hundreds of thousands of them. Throughout Upper and Lower Orest, and lining the north shore of the Heras, batteries of bowcannon were trained on the Faering Mists and the surrounding areas, their barbed missiles glinting evilly in the sunlight.

As the faces of the commanders grew grim, Rain continued, “These last few days have taught me that as much as I value Fey honor and customs, there is something I value more. That something is the safety and survival of the people I love. If protecting my kingdom, my people, and my mate from Elden evil means I must accept aid from unconventional quarters, then so I shall. Farel and his warriors have bloodsworn themselves to Ellysetta. They wish to fight in defense of the Fading Lands and its allies like the Fey warriors they once were, and I shall allow it. And should they perish in that fight, I shall honor their sacrifice no less than I honor the sacrifice of any other warrior of this alliance.”

He gave them a moment for that to sink in, then said, “If there are those among you who do not feel as I do—if you cannot, for whatever reason, allow yourself to fight in the same army that welcomes these dahl’reisen—then you may leave now. Return to whatever place it is you call home and go with my blessing and my thanks for your service. And I will pray to the gods that you spend the rest of your days in peace and that the evil those of us who remain are about to face will never find its way to your doorstep.”

He looked from one grim face to the next, hoping to impress upon them both the depth of his sincerity and his belief that this was not just the right course to take, but the only course. “The dahl’reisen and I will excuse ourselves for ten chimes so that you may discuss your concerns openly amongst yourself and make your decision. If you choose to leave, do so before we return. Those who remain, I expect your full commitment and support to all members of this alliance, regardless of what personal feelings you may harbor.”

Rain made his way to the tent entrance and held the flap aside for Farel and his lieutenants to pass through. With a last nod to the Fey and Celierian commanders, he ducked through the opening and let the tent flaps fall back into place.

When Rain returned, he was pleased to see everyone had chosen to stay, though he suspected Bel and Lord Barrial may have had some hand in convincing the others.

“The army is large, by anyone’s estimation,” Rain said as the commanders examined Bel’s three-dimensional weave of Orest, “but with the dahl’reisen joining us, the Eld are not as insurmountable a force as they would otherwise have been.”

Cann Barrial arched a brow. “No, they just outnumber us at least ten-to-one and have the advantage of holding both high ground and fortified defenses.”

“Mei sorro.” Rain gave a wan smile in acknowledgement of the verbal hit. “But before the dahl’reisen joined us, we were expecting the odds to be forty-to-one or higher, so ten-to-one is actually good news.” He turned to the map. “We still have our work cut out for us. They’ve bulked up the bowcannon batteries here and here and here.” He pointed to the cliffs circling Upper Orest, the city walls of Lower Orest, and Maiden’s Gate, the fortified series of battlements that stairstepped up the mountainside from Lower to Upper Orest. “These are tairen killers and they need to go.”

“Do we really need to waste lives storming a well-defended city?” Commander Bonn asked. “They can’t go west into the Mists, and the spray from Kiyera’s Veil is poison to them. Why not just pen them in and wait.”

Farel shook his head. “Penning them in won’t work. The Mages can use the Well to come and go at will. And as for Kiyera’s Veil, the Mages have already dammed the Source that feeds it to take the Heras out of play. The northern falls are dry and the river levels have been dropping all day.”