The golden warmth of the Aldenar gardens felt like a cruel joke as Zachren stood before them, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps that tore through the peaceful day.
"My Lord," Zachren repeated, his voice cracking and shaking with the sheer weight of the disaster he carried from the border. "The High Pass... it isn't just a raid. It isn't the usual winter skirmish. It's an eradication. The Frost-Gate was bypassed, not broken by force, but bypassed by creatures that move with a speed and ferocity we've never witnessed in our history. The silver-wool settlements in the lower valley are already in flames. The reports from the surviving raptors say the creatures are acting as if possessed by a singular, mindless madness."
