that Anumith the Destroyer and his armies had landed on the sunset shore.”
At the far end of the continent. Then Aerax would doubt no longer that the Destroyer came. Grimly he said, “How much time until he arrives?”
“Vela told this to my sister two summers past,” said Tyzen. “If the Destroyer travels the same route as he did toward that shore, it will be three years more before he reaches the western realms. But we believe his return march will be faster. Two years, perhaps.”
Because the sorcerer had already destroyed everything along that path a generation past; razing everything to the ground again would not take so long, and there were far fewer people to fight him.
“Not long to prepare,” Aerax said.
“It is not,” Kelir agreed, his expression grave. “Especially as Vela warned us that the Destroyer left seeds that would grow in his absence to weaken the western realms in advance of his return—and that we must root those seeds out where we can.”
Aerax frowned. “Seeds?”
“Some hidden, some not,” Tyzen answered him. “The demon of Blackmoor and the warlord who controlled him was one of those seeds.” A bitter expression passed over his features. “As was my father, when he attempted to weaken the alliance between Syssia and the other realms west of the Boiling Sea. We called it the Great Alliance,” he added wryly, “but Vela said six realms alone was not great enough.”
“So she tasked Yvenne with uniting all the western realms,” said Ardyl.
“And so she began,” Kelir continued. “First our queen sent other ambassadors and warriors to the realms farther west—to those who will be the first in his path. Yvenne urges those realms not to fight but to march in this direction, so that we might all join against him, and so all the western realms have more time to gather together. But we do not know yet how successful those ambassadors have been or if the queens and kings will leave their lands. And if they will not . . . the warriors’ priority is to help those citizens who wish to flee.”
Already people were fleeing. Aerax asked, “You believe he will come to these northern realms first?”
Tyzen nodded. “The southern route from the sunset shore would force him to cross the Dragon Sands—and the Destroyer might survive that desert, but his armies would likely not. Unless he attempts to cross the flaming mountains instead of using Stranik’s Passage, he will come by the northern route.”
“Are you monitoring the western passes?”
“Three hundred alliance soldiers have been sent to the mountains.”
Not to fight, Aerax understood. But so that if the Destroyer came that way, there was better chance of at least a few soldiers surviving to ride back to Parsathe and warn the alliance that the Destroyer was taking a southern route.
“My lady,” Tyzen said, returning his gaze to the Krimathean, “to every western realm, we intend to offer our strength—at the heart of which is thirty thousand Parsathean riders. Whether he crosses the highlands west of Krimathe or the frozen plains west of Koth, we will be ready to meet him in force. And if we cannot hold him in the north, we will retreat south through Stranik’s Passage—then make another stand in Blackmoor, and slaughter his armies as they emerge from the tunnel.”
The Krimathean gave him a dour look.
“It will not be so easy,” Tyzen admitted. “But his armies cannot attack in massive numbers if they are coming through the tunnel—and we hope that our numbers will stop them in the north. Yet whatever occurs, it is likely we will stand against him in Krimathe. And so it is your realm that would bear the weight of the alliance that gathers there, including the thirty thousand Parsathean warriors . . . and their horses.”
The Krimathean stared at him in clear disbelief.
“We would bring what we can,” Tyzen said, undaunted by that look. “If you join our alliance, then we will immediately begin sending supplies north to be stored in anticipation of our arrival. But we cannot yet know what the other realms will bring, especially if they must travel far or in haste.”
Still the Krimathean stared at him.
“Initially we thought to gather in Blackmoor,” he told her. “But your cousin said that Blackmoor is still recovering from the demon’s blight, and cannot support all of those who flee south through the tunnel in addition to an alliance army.”
Which would require not just feed for warriors and horses, but new storage built to hold