*Rhys*

“The traps worked,” the envoy said. “The trebuchets we reloaded with weighted nets brought down some of the smaller dragons, and the reinforced heat-reflective shields rebuffed a lot of their fire. They retreated without many casualties, but most of the family from a farm outside the city perimeter were slain in the attack.”

It was unwise for me to expect us to fight a stronger enemy without any casualties, but the public had lost a lot of faith in my ...