Cassius's blade cleaved through the first attacker before his boots fully hit the ground.
"Hold the eastern line!" Cassius shouted, cutting down a second fighter pressing his flank. "Don't let them push past the ridge!"
Ferris territory had erupted into chaos the moment the Concord's advance force broke from the treeline, hitting harder and faster than the earlier reconnaissance had suggested possible. Reinforced fighters from Marrow Ridge and Ferris held a tense, bloody line across the ridge's approach, but the sheer volume of attackers pressed the defense back step by step.
"They've doubled their numbers from the last engagement," a Ferris commander shouted, blood streaming from a cut above his eye. "This isn't the same force we prepared for!"
"Then we adjust!" Cassius shouted back,
