The communication stone rattled against the polished oak desk with violent urgency. Leo pressed his thumb against the activation rune. The chaotic sounds of clashing steel and roaring flames instantly flooded the quiet marble chamber.
"They are slipping through the net," Vance yelled over the noise of the burning timber.
The mountain ruler was breathing in ragged gasps. The magical link projected the sounds of his skirmishers fighting a desperate holding action in the eastern forest.
"The elemental strike ignited the grid just like you planned," Vance reported. "But the mercenaries are not running from the smoke. They are using localized gravity magic to walk along the undersides of the falling pine trees. They are bypassing the fire entirely and dropping directly behind our shield wall
