Xavier pondered everything even as he waited for the force of Foth to assemble at the black cove. Aeon was right; if he hadn’t agreed to give Damien a fair shot at this war, he would have had the upper hand and already wrecked enough damage. Was it pride talking when he made that agreement? Did his anger at every sneaky tactic the King of Foth has used so far make him decide recklessly? He wouldn’t know.

Assembled here at the black cove were twenty thousand soldiers of the three kingdoms combined. The enemies coming against them were estimated at fifty thousand soldiers, but he knew they could take them...