*Rhys*

The sun had barely crested the horizon when the first alarm bells rang out across Egoren, their urgent peals shattering the stillness of the early morning air.

I was already awake and pouring over maps and battle plans in his study. My heart lurched from a sickening sense of dread as the sound reached my ears.

The war had begun.

Without a moment's hesitation, I was on my feet and moving. Bursting out of the palace doors, I scanned the chaos that had ...