On the magical battlefield, the giants came into view at a frightening speed. The ground rumbled beneath their inhumanly large stride.The elves were filled with uncertainty. Everything about the giants' faces made them grimace. Their mouths hung open as yellow crooked teeth filled their gaping maws. Their wide flat noses flared with each breath like they might breathe fire at any moment, and a single wide, black eye in each head stared out viciously at the elves and fairies.But the most terrifying part of their unwelcome appearance was their arms. They carried loads of boulders from the rockier terrain that lay east of the Beachy Plains."Steady yourselves! They have—" the elven king did not finish his thought.Like a flesh-and-bone catapults, the giants each took a boulder in one hand, reared back and launched the stones over the gnomes and into elven ranks. With eyes wide in disbelief, Zoltan saw the boulder heading straight for his son-in-law, Alvar.The king had promised Lanassa

"A vision? When? Why didn't you tell me?" Brinn was stunned by his words.She knew the boy was eager to, even dead-set on getting to the Empress as soon as possible, but she had simply thought that he was wanting to make amends before it was too late. Either that or perhaps he would try to stop the human army by surrendering. A vision was not something that Alaron had ever mentioned.The blue-eyed young royal shrugged. "I had it while I was being that beacon of light, and I did not tell you because you did not ask."Brinn swallowed her anger. The elf was mistaken before; Alaron was as infuriating as ever."That light in the night sky was you? Amazing! Please tell us, what did you see?" Aurora asked, hoping it was something they could use.Alaron closed his eyes, "I saw how to end this war. It requires three magical objects.""Magical objects?" Reyan was drawn in by his words, causing him to hover uncomfortably close.Nodding, the blond boy continued with what he had seen. "With magica

The entire company of the Fates exited through the celestial portal and filled the sky with their terrifying presence. Their light magic emanating from them was oppressive even to the other magical creatures.As soon as Hanna grabbed the Empress's arm, Aurora blinked and was instantly across the field beside the slowly waking Cafer. The Fate slapped the magic blocking cuffs on the gnome and stepped back as he came to his senses.Cafer grabbed his head, unsure of what had happened. The last thing he remembered was being blasted by a light before everything went dark.He had seen, but been unable to process, the source of the light on the other side of the battlefield. Whatever it was had power beyond anything he had ever seen.As he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a reproachful look from his least favorite Fate. He instinctively tried to use his earth magic to repel Hanna. That is when he noticed the cuffs on his wrists. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded as he stood to hi

Brinn used her keen hearing to listen for her husband as she scanned the carnage of the battlefield. Alvar was many things, but quiet was not one of them. She was sure that with enough patience, she would hear the elf she was searching for.Along the ground, some fairies were popping in and gathering up the wounded and taking them to the healers. Other fairies had the more difficult task of collecting the dead. Separately she passed by elves who were still gathering the gnomes in groups to hold them until the peace talks were complete.It was amazing how quickly things had been organized. Brinn realized that these plans must have been made before the battle began because neither the fairies nor elves seemed to need direction or supervision.Even more amazing was the new King of the Gnomes. The timid, mousey gnome that Brinn had witnessed at the palace when she was pretending to be Mairwen was gone. The difference was night and day.Lukoss was walking around and ordering his new subjec

With slow progress, the prisoners and the victorious army headed for Valiant. Since the city was still empty of human citizens, there was no fanfare or grand welcome for them. That was fine; they were all just happy to be one step closer to being home.Only a small skirmish awaited the Imperial Army from those left behind. The palace was easily reclaimed without the catastrophic results of the last battle fought there. The sight of the large human force in the wrong shade of blue made the gnomes flee immediately, and those left of the ill-named New Emperor's Army only put up minimal resistance.The servants on the inside of the palace, seeing their rescuers in sight, freed those in the dungeon and set off a myriad of traps and clever devices that had been left behind by the scientist but never deployed.One such device covered the unlucky recipient in a slimy goo that made them slip and slide, never able to stand in that area again. Renat was thoroughly chastened for it later and force