The first national troops entered the challenge gate in ranks of forty.
They did not cheer.
They crossed the white portal with shields raised, stepped into Fey Nights, and moved away from the entrance before the next rank followed. Officers counted intervals. Porters stayed between protected files. Mages watched the fog without throwing spells at every shadow.
Three different standards entered during the first hour.
None belonged to a country Max knew.
The gate had opened somewhere far beyond the lands connected to Crag Mountain. Every person arriving from the distant city brought equipment, training, and magic from a region Max had never seen. The challenge did not need to invent an army. It only needed to offer enough of a reward for real ones to come.
Captain Kale met the army's commanders at the forest camp.
