The retreat was not a surrender.
Valorin's forces pulled back from Drak'thar, from the sanctuaries, from the breaches. But they did not disperse. They regrouped. They rearmed. They waited.
Lord stood in the courtyard, watching the dimensional gate where the last operatives had disappeared. His gold eyes were distant, focused on something beyond the horizon.
"They're not done," Uru said. She stood beside him, her green hair still drifting from the residual energy of combat.
"They're regrouping. Planning. Valorin is not the kind of enemy who admits defeat."
"Then what do we do?"
Lord was silent for a moment.
"We show him that he cannot win."
---
The second assault came three days later.
Not at Drak'thar. Not at the sanctuaries. At the breaches themselves.
