The sky burned with dusk as Khao'khen walked among his warriors.
No herald announced him. No banner rose ahead of his path. Yet every step he took sent a ripple through the orcish host like the beat of a war drum. Warriors straightened. Trolls nodded low. Goblins paused, eyes wide. The Warg Cavalry dismounted and stood at attention as he passed, and even the Rhakaddons and Thyrians bellowed low from their pens, sensing the presence of their warfather.
This was their leader, their chieftain.
****
The open plains were now a black-and-crimson sea of preparation. The 1st Kani'karr Corps had completed deployment of siege weapons, placing catapults in staggered formations and anchoring the ballistae to stone-laid cradles. Goblin sappers rolled barrels of fire oil into trenches and marked lines with painted bone dust.
