Emberscale Invoker

The vanguard's reports from the Wild Northeast were worse than anyone feared. Jicarilla the Rime had turned valleys into lakes overnight. The orcs of Duratuk were dying in the highlands. Without reinforcement, the vanguard would fall within weeks.

The emperor ordered the main Dragonsguard to deploy. The ashinach weren't ready, but they were out of time.

Among the first units mustered were the emberscale invokers, military spellcasters trained to strike fast and hard, channeling fire through staff and claw to incinerate threats before they can close. Their magic burns hot enough to boil water from the air, and in the flooded wastes ahead, they'll need every degree.

They drill in Oasis's training grounds, practicing fireballs and flame lances again and again. Their instructors bark corrections even as supply wagons rattle past, even as other companies form ranks in the plaza.

When the order comes, they shoulder their packs and join the column. A land remade by water, an enemy who commands the sea itself, a battle that will test whether fire can burn in the flood.

Jicarilla's storms wait ahead.