DYER The second messenger does not need prompting again.

Once the first words leave him, they come in a rush, broken at first, then steadier, sharpened by urgency and disbelief.

“They weren’t scattered,” he says, voice still rough. “Not like raiders. Not like scouts probing a border. They were organized. Disciplined.”

I remain standing, hands braced on the edge of the stone table in the smaller strategy chamber where I have brought them both. Torches line the walls, throwing restless ...