Corvus drummed his fingers idly to the tune of a classic video game, his old habit, as tiny clay figures moved on the map before him. Two large teams, and dozens of smaller ones, were dotted across the map and moved slowly across it.

His mind was spread, focusing on the eyesight of the puppets accompanying all of those groups, as he used them to update the battle map in real time. It was like this that he truly wondered if this was how a god felt. Present in the small moments, and yet able to see the entire picture all at once.

The smaller teams of miniature puppets leapt onto the miniature models of the abandoned forts, kicking down the icons of the Lightbringers monuments and standing over them triumphantly.

One by one the icons fell. Some easier than others.

Some miniature armies faced no resistance, while others had mock battles with poorly crafted clay figures meant to represent the Lightbringers forces. As much as his showmanship was important to him, the tiny battles were inconsequential, and thus weren't entirely accurate. At most a few sword strikes before they froze, finished with their representation.

Unfortunate, I know.

Instead he devoted his attention to assisting his Unkindly Guard, manoeuvring them around the effects of abilities they had never seen before, and had not been programmed for.

So whilst anyone might walk in the room and find him staring at a map mindlessly, in actuality he was fighting a hundred battles in his head all at once. These smaller battles were all left up to him and his puppets, as the two larger forts that the Lightbringer had conquered were left up to his dependable anchors.

As for these Forts, one was positioned to the North east of Ravenkeep and was closer to the 'City of Light' that the Lightbringer himself dwelled in. While the other was further North and slightly West of Ravenkeep, which also happened to be close to the Bo'garan, the domain of the plant people and where Alfie had been staying with his lovely new floral bride.

It was to this fort, and for that reason, that Alfie had been assigned. Accompanied by his new bride, as well as the mysterious Fox who had volunteered specifically because of who had been reported to be guarding this fort. Carnifex had also been sent along to help with this pair, since neither was exactly known for commanding armies.

That left Alexandra, Cynthia and Astra to lead the other half of their army to assault the North-Eastern fort, while Seth stayed behind to coordinate the other attacks and to act as backup should he be needed, as well as to defend their home from any sneak attacks while their defences were down. At least, that was the story behind the decision.

A decision he had argued against at first, hating the idea of hiding in safety while everyone else fought. But they had verbally beat him down, helping remind him that his life meant the continuation of all the attacks and If he alone fell, then everything would fail.

It was a fact that helped him come to terms with the decision, and only made the guilt intensify.

***

Alfie stood before an army of humans, puppets and living flora. The last one consisting of towering tree people, men and women formed from plant fibre with various floral arrangements hanging off their bodies to act as clothes. Not to mention the fungal infested undead that lingered by the edges of the army, where no one dared to approach them lest they join their numbers.

He glanced up at the sky as black ominous clouds hung in the sky, low rumblings of thunder accompanying them. Droplets of water fell from these clouds, not enough to equal the torrential rains of previous days, but just enough to chill the spines of their human members and lower their morale.

But while it seemed a terrible sign for the humans, the floral were ecstatic. They extended their arms to the air, bathing in the refreshing liquid from the heavens.

Fox placed a hand on Alfie's shoulder, nodding to the boy softly, to which Alfie let out a soft sigh. He fixed his glasses on his face and risked a glance towards Juniper, who seemed even more radiant in the gentle rain.

The dew lingered on her wooden skin, making it shimmer. Her shrubbery decorations seemed more green and vibrant, as flowers bloomed within her leafy hair. She smiled softly at him, letting the scent of petrichor drift into his nose which caused him to blush deeply.

Pulling his eyes away from her, he puffed out his chest and stood tall. He summoned his weapon and a spear made of the forest itself wove into existence and rested in his hand. It had a twisted wooden shaft, which wrapped around and engulfed his hand so that it couldn't be removed by force, and a closed floral bulb at the tip.

The petals of this unbloomed bulb were razor sharp, coming to a deadly point that, despite the rain dripping down on it, refused to open and bless the world with its beauty.

He slammed the spear down on the ground, rapping it three times against a rock, as he shouted to his forces, letting out a commanding bellow despite the nerves still building up within him.

"ALL FORCES, FORM RANKS!"

The army before him, despite being made of three different entities, moved as one. Shuffling between each other, until the disorderly mess before him had morphed into one, singular unit.

Men mixed with puppets, fungal undead stood ahead of the pack as did beasts woven out of wood and plant fibre, summoned by a few of the floral people. The towering tree people were dotted throughout the ranks, their positions standing out like relay pylons every dozen or so metres.

Alfie let out a sharp whistle as hooves pounded against the dirt before stopping before him. A unicorn, its entire body seemingly made out of pure diamond which still glittered and shone despite the lack of light, stood before him and padded against the ground with its hoof.

It was once Erik's mount, but had pledged itself to Alfie for this battle after it forced its way through the portal the army arrived through.

Alfie petted it softly, brushing his hand against its neck before pulling himself into it's saddle.

'Don't worry Princess, we'll avenge your old master. If you want to stay with me after that, I will gladly accept you.'

He never said it out loud, yet even still the diamond unicorn let out an agreeable whinny and kicked its hoof against the ground a few more times.

Alfie helped Juniper into the saddle behind her, as she wrapped her hands around his waist, while Fox dove into the steeds kaleidoscopic reflective skin. As for the steel giant Carnifex, he strode with his own two legs beside the commander, acting as a bodyguard.

Waving his spear in the air, Alfie gathered the attention of his army before pointing towards the fort in the distance.

"ALL RANKS, FORWARD MARCH!"

The earth trembled beneath them as they advanced, a thousand steps pounding against the dirt like a living earthquake. In the distance, figures poured out of the gates of the fort. Various warriors in gleaming armour, carrying freshly made weapons and perfect shields, none of which had seen blood nor battle before.

But those were not on the front line.

The front line was filled with men and women, as well as a few that were barely old enough to be called as such, in ragged clothes. Their weapons were crude and makeshift, most of them wielding clubs or hammers, or simply sticks and metal rods sharpened into spears.

For the few that had shields, they were made of similar materials. Sheets of scrap metal or half destroyed wooden doors repurposed into defensive equipment. These ramshackle, makeshift equipment was all they had.

No armour, no real weapons, no Requitals. There wasn't even a simple sense of consistency between them.

Yet in the face of the army that was their complete opposite, well organised and even more well equipped, they didn't show fear. Instead they were overwhelmed with determination and excitement.

None tried to flee at the sight of the approaching army, in fact some eagerly stepped forward as if they couldn't wait to prove themselves against the overwhelming enemy.

Behind the eager, ragged sacrifices and the soldiers in gleaming armour, crates were being carried out of the fort by more gleaming soldiers. The crates were of various sizes, but all of them were bound in heavy chains.

Chains were rattled and clanked as the crates shifted, even when they were placed on the ground. The process of carting them out only stopped when there were nearly twenty crates against the exterior walls of the fort.

Above it all, atop those same walls, stood a man in a flowing black cloak and dark sunglasses, despite the overcast sky that darkened the world already. A perfectly clean and polished katana rested in his hand, the blade already drawn as its sheath rested in his other hand.

A few figures stood either side of him, dressed in brilliant white robes. One of those figures, even being a child.

With a wave of his katana through the air, the soldiers positioned behind the ragged front lines pulled out bows, drew back their strings and let them loose. Hundreds of arrows filled the air, arcing towards the approaching army. More than enough to blot out the sun, had the miserable clouds not already beaten them to it.