The message from Ardent Vale arrived before Leon could even finish reorganizing Rivenmark's patrol structure.
This time, it was not smoke or burned grain.
It was movement.
"Three separate woodlines breached at once," the imperial courier reported. "Not deep strikes. Controlled engagements. They are forcing rotation."
Leon studied the map again.
Ardent Vale lay west.
Rivenmark south.
Valcrest east.
Three angles.
Three pressure points.
The pattern was no longer subtle.
"They are stretching the region," Leon said quietly.
His father nodded.
"They want to see if you fracture."
Leon looked toward the courtyard where three armored warriors stood waiting.
"They want to see if the line collapses under distance."
He picked up his spear.
"Then we do not fracture."
Ardent Vale was already in motion when Leon arrived.
Smoke rose in thin columns from multiple forest edges. Not full village burns. Not direct wall breaches.
Distraction.
The lord of Ardent Vale, an older man with lined features and steady eyes, greeted Leon without ceremony.
"They strike and withdraw," the man said. "Every hour. Different angles."
Leon climbed the western watchtower and observed personally.
Bone-armored figures moved in coordinated bursts. They did not seek to overwhelm a single position. They forced guards to reposition constantly.
Fatigue would do what claws could not.
Leon understood immediately.
"They are measuring endurance," he said.
"And?" the lord asked.
"And we remove unpredictability."
Leon gathered Ardent Vale's guards in the courtyard.
"You are reacting too much," he said calmly. "They want you moving constantly."
One guard frowned.
"If we do not respond, they burn fields."
Leon shook his head.
"They do not burn deeply. They want rotation."
He turned to his armored warriors.
"Demonstrate."
The three stepped into formation effortlessly.
Leon stood just behind them.
"Anchor points," he explained. "You establish three fixed cores. No matter where they strike, the core does not shift."
The lord of Ardent Vale watched carefully.
"And the outer patrols?"
"They rotate around the cores," Leon replied. "Not the other way around."
The concept was simple.
Execution was not.
They drilled the structure quickly.
Shields aligned.
Spears extended in staggered depth.
Signal whistles established between outer patrols and inner cores.
When the next strike came, it was from the southern woodline.
Instead of scrambling, the nearest outer patrol fell back deliberately toward a fixed core.
The bone-armored figures struck hard.
But the core did not shift.
Shields held.
Leon thrust in controlled rhythm beside Ardent Vale's captain.
The creatures tested for weakness.
Found none.
They withdrew.
An hour later, they struck from the north.
Same result.
The third attempt came from the west.
Again.
No collapse.
No exhaustion.
Only structure.
The system pulsed faintly.
Multi-territory formation stability detected.
Battlefield authority significantly increased.
Leon felt it clearly this time.
His command was extending.
Not through numbers.
Through coordination.
But the forest was not finished.
As dusk approached, the golden-eyed leader appeared atop a tree ridge overlooking Ardent Vale.
Not alone.
Behind it stood two larger bone-armored figures.
Not burrowers.
Not scouts.
Command units.
"You hold," the leader called calmly.
Leon stepped forward beyond the wall slightly, spear upright.
"Yes."
"You adapt to regional strain."
"Yes."
The leader's gaze shifted to the lords gathered behind Leon.
"You unify."
Leon did not deny it.
"Your pressure forces it."
The creature's golden eyes gleamed faintly.
"And when we strike all at once?"
The words hung in the air.
All at once.
Leon's pulse did not quicken.
"You have not."
The leader tilted its head slightly.
"Not yet."
There it was again.
Leon understood the pattern now.
The forest escalated in phases.
Probe.
Measure.
Strain.
Prepare.
The leader stepped forward.
"We test one more variable."
The two larger bone-armored figures moved simultaneously.
Not toward Ardent Vale.
Not toward Valcrest.
Toward Rivenmark's direction.
Leon felt the shift instantly.
"They split," one of Ardent Vale's guards muttered.
Leon's mind sharpened.
"They want to see if I divide."
He turned to the lord of Ardent Vale.
"You hold here."
The man hesitated.
"And Rivenmark?"
Leon looked toward the horizon.
"They must hold as well."
The golden-eyed leader watched him carefully.
"You will not run to rescue," it said.
Leon's gaze hardened.
"No."
The leader's eyes narrowed faintly.
"You trust your structure."
"Yes."
The creature's lips curved slightly.
"Then we observe."
The two larger units vanished into the forest's edge, heading south.
Leon did not mount.
He did not split his force.
He remained at Ardent Vale's core.
An hour passed.
Then another.
A distant signal flare rose from Rivenmark's direction.
Red.
Not collapse.
Engagement.
Leon remained still.
He trusted the structure he had drilled.
If he fractured now, the forest would learn his weakness.
Another hour passed.
Then a second flare rose.
Green.
Repelled.
Leon exhaled slowly.
The golden-eyed leader watched the exchange carefully.
"You trust weaker lines," it said quietly.
"I strengthened them."
The creature's gaze lingered.
"You grow into command."
Leon did not respond.
The leader stepped backward slowly.
"You are not ready."
"For what?" Leon asked.
The golden eyes gleamed faintly.
"For convergence."
The word echoed in Leon's mind.
Then the forest fell silent.
The bone-armored units withdrew.
The coordinated assaults ceased.
For now.
When Leon returned to Valcrest two days later, a new message awaited him.
Not from a minor house.
From the imperial capital.
"Summons," the courier said formally.
Leon read the seal carefully.
Imperial Council.
The war had moved again.
From forest to region.
From region to empire.
Three armored warriors stood behind him.
Three.
Still not enough for open war.
But more than enough to begin shaping something larger.
Leon looked at the map one more time.
Rivenmark stabilized.
Ardent Vale structured.
Valcrest fortified.
The region held.
But convergence was coming.
And the forest had just named it.
He mounted his horse.
"If they wish to test beyond borders," he murmured quietly, "then I will meet them beyond borders."
Far within the forest, the golden-eyed leader stood before a far greater presence hidden in shadow.
"He does not fracture," it said.
"No," the deeper voice rumbled.
"And when convergence comes?"
The golden eyes narrowed faintly.
"Then we see if his line bends."
The forest stirred.
The region held its breath.
And the next battlefield shifted toward the capital.