The dawn wind rolled eastward across the grasslands, carrying with it the scent of frost-damp earth and trampled blades. The land stretched wide and open, a vast expanse sloping gently toward the distant shimmer of the Gar'thum River, where more of the of orcish territory lay.
To the west, the Lag'ranna Mountains loomed...dark, ancient, and sharp-edged, their forested lower slopes bristling with pine and oak. The trees cast long shadows across the plains, and within those shadows stood the orcish host, concealed, anchored, and utterly at home.
To the east, where the land flattened into rolling grass and shallow hills, banners of blue fluttered in disciplined rows.
The army of Aliyah Winters stood on ground that favored movement, visibility, and order.
But visibility cut both ways.
Today was not a day for battle.
It was a day for watching.
*****
