The weeks that followed the council's decision were consumed by the particular kind of work that was invisible from a distance but that determined, more than any battle or charge, whether an army would succeed or fail when the moment came.
Preparation was not dramatic. It was not the stuff of the war chants that the shamans sang around evening fires or the boasting that warriors exchanged over meals. It was the systematic, repetitive, often tedious process of ensuring that every warrior knew their position, every weapon functioned reliably, every supply wagon carried what it was supposed to carry, and every contingency that could be anticipated had been planned for with the thoroughness that Sakh'arran's analytical mind demanded and Khao'khen's authority enforced.
In the training grounds, the transformation was most visible.
