A Personal Invitation

The war against Queen Alyssa had settled into a grim and tedious rhythm.

For days, my two elite teams, the Wrecking Crew and the Shadow Strikers, had been making steady, brutal progress.

They were a sledgehammer and a scalpel, carving up the outer sectors of her crystalline fortress.

Every sector they conquered was a victory, but a costly one, chipping away at my limited resources and my even more limited patience.

The Proclamation of War had turned my domain into a sealed arena, an inescapable cage match, and while I was landing blows, my opponent was a high-level magic-user with an infuriating home-field advantage.

"This is a slugging match," I muttered, staring at the holographic map projected over the stone table in my Throne Room.

The glowing green icons of my forces moved with agonizing slowness.

"And I'm starting to feel like the slug.