The castle was in defense mode.
Every entrance was sealed. Heavy oak doors, reinforced with iron, barred from the inside. Archers lined the upper walls, their positions staggered for overlapping fields of fire. The courtyard was empty of civilians, the non-combatants moved to the interior shelters that had been designed three generations ago for exactly this scenario.
They passed through the main gate. The doors sealed behind them with a sound that carried the finality of a castle deciding that everything outside its walls was the enemy's problem.
Captain Aldren was waiting inside.
"Alpha." His voice was clipped, urgent, carrying intelligence that had a timestamp on it. "Viremont has opened portals outside our ward perimeter. Wolves are in pursuit. They are moving in a northern arc, probing the perimeter for weaknesses."
"How much time?" Garrett asked. He was still between Cross and Agnes. He was still bleeding. His voice carried zero evidence of either.
