The Best Distraction There Is

"The Best Distraction There Is" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread started on [IRL DATE] and finished on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
"It is to be overseen by us, the Wardens of the Committee of Half-Breed Containment and Security, to bear witness to the removal of tonight's condemned section of prisoners, who have hereby been accused of sedition and treason against the newly united government of High Central..."
The mist roaring around the group's ankles from the surrounding waterfalls framing the thin bridge on which they stood nearly drowned out the officiant's tired, bored voice, the formalities being somehow both dragged out and rushed through while the two attendants, one in ill-fitting Conclave armor and one in Vesallgardr robes, shoved the first of ten half-breeds to her knees. Her wiry, water-soaked canine fur trembled and shook around her eyes and mouth and off the tips of her ears, but she still squinted up at the offenders with beady dark eyes. The officiant flipped through a few pages and continued.
"...blah blah blah...right, here...because of the height of your crime, you have forfeited any right to a statement or defense on your behalf, and in the interest of protecting High Central's noble citizens from further despair and harassment, the Coalition of the Illuminar has decided your fate, which is death by--ack!!" He hopped backwards like he had been burned as a glob of bloody spit smacked against his knees. The old half-breed bared her teeth and growled, and he bristled, wiping droplets off his shoulders from the surrounding rush of water. The other half-breed prisoners began hissing and shifting, rallied by the show of defiance.
"Fuck this," he complained. "Just push them over and let's go get a pint."
They made it as far as leaning the wolfhound halfway over the stone railing of the bridge before they suddenly stumbled and paused, all heads immediately drawn towards the crimson-black horizon to the south. A very distant, alien, draconic sound; both a bellow and a trill, seemingly coming from miles away. The source of it had yet to appear in the scarlet tinged moonlight. But it was a bone-chilling cry.
"What the hell...?" the Vesall muttered.
Jan 11, 2022
Those stationed along the city walls had the same confusion. Multiple heads swiveled along the top of the guard towards that still remained, peering as far as they could in the distance whilst mumbling amongst themselves.
“Can you see...?” A young voice was hushed, clutching her weapon with a grip so tight her knuckles were turning white.
Her superior shook her head, “No, I don’t--wait, what’s that?”
The movement that she caught was nowhere near where the sound came from; in fact, she peered far below her position, into the waters of the moat that served as protection along the city walls. Gentle waves that should have lapped against the base were deathly still, a reflective sheet of red and silver, before from it twisted a stream of vapour, trailing in an elegant arc and circling a small figure that hovered not too high above the bridge. His white hair and short capelet flapped behind him, paying no mind to the bitter wind. Seeming like he stood on nothing, but if one squinted enough, one could see his bare feet against small, self made mists that dipped and rippled.
“Wh-who are you--!” The superior called out in fright. Pure white hair, pale skin! A nix? Here?!
He ignored her, back completely turned towards the city as he, too, stared towards the horizon. Diriin felt minute portals appear several diagonal miles out on either of his side, Ambon and Enby are in place. Took ‘em long enough.
“I’m warning you! State your name and purpose, or we are open firing!” A rifle clicked threateningly, five more weapons training towards him.
The nix glanced back, grey eyes flashing dangerously in the moonlight, but he merely smirked.
She grit her teeth, and yelled, “Fire!” Six shots exploded, straight and true towards Diriin, but in the second it took to reach him, all suddenly disappeared from sight. The air that surrounded the nix bent and blurred, spraying vapour outwards for a moment, further confusing the High Central guards. Then before anyone could react, with a low whine, the same bullets reappeared, and like a slingshot, shot back in the same angle, velocity, and power where it came from. 
“Amateurs,” he scoffed, several soldiers crying out in pain as their attacks were returned to them, a few bits of loose stone that got caught crumbling down into the water.
Diriin raised both hands, palms down and fingers spread open gracefully. He took a moment to close his eyes, and breathe. Then another hum came, much louder, much more present, surrounding all those along the south wall and penetrating their very bones. In the distance, within eyesight now, the horizon flashed silver. A sea of shimmering liquid stretched from miles apart where two other nixes stood, zooming towards each other silently and meeting in the middle to form a wide, somewhat shallow lake. It stretched thin and flat, then Diriin pushed forward with his arms. Like ghosts in the night, from the new portal came through a mass of figures, rivulets of water trailing from the top down then immediately drying, taking armour, weapon, and magic with them, ready in their positions as previously planned, as the first five thousand of the Rebellion were brought all the way from Fenrir’s Jaw to the doors of High Central.
Diriin’s teeth flashed bright, “Alright, land dwellers. Let’s see what you got.”
Jan 11, 2022
As soon as the portal opened allowing the Distraction Team to come through, Dagny and Kari sat on their dragons and widened their eyes at the sight of the fortress of High Central. After all those years of stories that their mother had told them and all those meetings their parents had with King Haddock, they were finally seeing High Central for the first time, and it was just as imposing as they imagined. However, being the daughters of the Chief of Haligan Island and the sisters of the future Chief, Dagny and Kari glared in determination as they gripped their respective dragons’ saddles and steeled themselves...ready to fight. 
“This is it,” Dagny said glaring at the fortress. 
Jan 11, 2022
There was very little time to react or even think. As they emerged from the portal Jari had the trebuchets fire at the wall. The boulders strike at the wall. In truth the bulk of their force was in the rear for now. As this was only a distraction for the time being it was best to keep most of their troops and weapons prepared for when they actually took the gate.
Jan 11, 2022
From the skies, perfectly camouflaged in the dark sky, a flock of dragons waited for a good chance to start striking. Storm had been leading them in a lazy circle over the wall like a pack of vultures over a corpse, and then finally gave a signal. The dragons descended and started roaring fiercely, swooping overhead as a group and then peppering random objects with fireblasts to cause chaos. From there, they split into groups of two or three, watching one another and causing as much ruckus as they could, but saving their firepower. The couple dozen could have sounded like a thousand. Scoot was among them, ever mindful of Kari, listening to her and doing her best. Some of the dragons were roaring jeers down at Central, insulting them, even if nothing but screeches were heard. Indigo watched this from where he stood, proud of his dragons. He had a grin under his mask. Mmm, the sounds of chaos. Not something I've heard for a while. He thought to himself, though wasn't too fussed if anyone heard. Take them down, my family. Make me proud.
Jan 11, 2022
“Come on, SkySinger!” Dagny shouted as she and Kari flew down on their dragons. As Indigo and his dragons split into their respective groups, Dagny and Kari made absolutely sure to stick together in their own little group. “Let’s roast their racist asses!”
The Deadly Nadder did as instructed and fired some shots at the soldiers down below. Some fell into the ravine below. Others burned alive below them. 
“Come on, Scoot!” Kari shouted petting her dragon. “Feed them some plasma for breakfast!”
The sudden coalescence of bodies created a roar of violent intent; among them, a stag in the company of his caprinae inamorato, watching the beginnings of turmoil against the entity that brought back a twisting in his heart that had never really left in the first place. Looking down to his forearms, adorned in a gift held close from the bookkeeper that he felt closer to now more than ever, Dario roughly practiced motions to ensure his incantations would take effect as quickly as possible.
"Alright, better get moving quick." Dario turned to Milae, ensuring the beacon on his partner was properly secured before gripping the goat's hoof in his hand. "I'll keep you close to me. If anything puts you in danger, I am going to do whatever I have to do to keep us safe."
His hooves dug deep into the dirt below, anchoring him for a moment while he took in a breath of air that was painfully familiar to him. A smile from Milae pulled him back into the current setting; it was enough.
It was always enough.
Jan 11, 2022
"Rangers!" Deo calls loudly as she drew back her own bow. "Fire!" She called after giving them a moment to aim before commanding them to loose the arrows. Hers lead the charge, fire streaking along it's path before burying itself in the chest followed by several dozen others.
Jan 11, 2022
Flame and rock and a multitude of projectiles proceeded to pummel the city wall, making no genuine deadly hits as of yet but undeniably difficult to ignore. Diriin stayed where he was above the way into High Central, vantage point at its best. He was smack in the middle of several attacks, but with a slide of a hand, they were all caught with a portal right before they reached him, and spit out again through another behind him, paths unobstructed and crashing into their intended targets.
Unaffected, the nix pushed his palms down again as he prepared another wave of Rebellion soldiers to surface into Central territory, thousands adding further to the ruckus and raising the volume and chaos by several degrees. Virion screeched and unfurled a wing, as loose gravel sprayed beside Milae and Dario from a newcomer's small, stray arrow.
Ambon and Enby abandoned their initial posts in assisting the First, and with a quick skate and humming portal, immediately reappeared much closer to the city. In practiced moves, water from the city moat exploded in a thunderous wave, crashing over wall and taking several soldiers and stones with it. Water collided with dragon fire and plasma, creating several clouds of steam that rose into the starry sky and alerting those within of their exact location.
Jan 12, 2022
If the Jaw and the Conclave were the rising of a resting beast, then High Central was the slight shifting of a slumbering titan, and it was just getting started.
Shining ripples of silver and steel began to flow from wall to tower to wall, peppered with bright flashes from countless muzzles and barrels aimed straight down into the thick of the surging Rebellion. With an eerie lack of audible signals, it seemed as though both sides of the battle were just striking chaos wherever they pleased. The vanguard began to apply pressure to the edges of the moat, almost lost in the mist rising from millions of gallons of pounding waterfalls pouring into the gaping chasms below the final, intact bridge. To keep soldiers from pouring into the depths below like lemmings, several officers raced ahead and held firm before the cliffsides in order to direct the flow of battle away from danger. Flocks of dragons advanced in formation, the bulk of them having arrived with the second wave. With their approach, the walls of High Central, beginning to show the first signs of scar and char from cannon and siege weapon alike, made a terrible noise. Like a shuttering fan, several sliding cracks collided from east to west and back again, a sound whose height could literally be felt and heard.
At various points in the beautifully constructed stone, multiple dark vertical gaps appeared, too thin for any major weapons, far too tall to be an accommodation for mortals. They were black and imposing for several seconds before several cries rang out through the Rebellion's mental net, straight from the front lines: GET DOWN!!
With little warning, the night blazed white. It died, leaving splotchy afterimages, and the evidence of a rolling tongue of strange fire leading directly outwards from one of the gaps. It was sticky, viscous, burned too long and too bright for something that should have smoked and died. A few seconds of silence held before a nasty teeth-stinging pulse of pressure and agonizing noise blasted across the surface of both gorge and plain. An echo, slower than the visual the attack had just provided. They were offered little relief before it happened again, from a different opening--a strange, cartwheeling lash of pale fire hundreds of yards tall that unfurled like a snapping whip, crossed the gap and disintegrated like the world's largest flashbang, and wreaking havoc on the senses once more. The foremost Rebellion panicked and tried to hold. Again, and again, and again. The air tasted like sweet metal. The attacks were strong enough to lick at the toes of the rangers in the rear. The onlooking mages and engineers rapidly traded messages. Several consistent words coalesced.
Plasma-based. Cannons? Power without accuracy. Localized triggering explosion. Seal the slats. Seal the slats. Seal the slats!!
Jan 12, 2022
Deo groaned as she pushed herself up from her knees. "Feckin' dickbags." She hissed as she began to conjure a large scale illusion. Each one of the slats that she could see appeared to the High Central Soldiers to be covered with lava which then hardened rapidly into stone. She hoped that would buy them a few minutes. She reached out through the mental network and contacted the Nix, both above and underground.
"Alright, underground Ah need ye teh cover them slats with lava! The rest o' ye need teh cool it down. Lay it on nice and think."
Several large, bright, targets appeared on the wall where Deo was creating the illusion. The few underground Nix that were present began to focus on the stone around the slat and began to apply heat and pressure causing it to become malleable. Soon it was lava and the Nix began to fill the stone with the heated rock. Once it was in place the others caused another wave to crash into the wall with expressed purpose of cooling the lava and sealing the slats.
Jan 16, 2022
Each slat that filled would bubble and warp for a moment before the next shot exploded outwards, sending strings and flecks of molten orange across the chasm, but with each attempt, the damage from the wall’s defense systems slowly decreased as the molten stone and earth clotted the opening with every wave. It would take some time and focus to completely close them.
In the meantime, the Rebellion slowly raised the pressure on the bridge, but it was too risky to push forward without getting slaughtered. Bodies were already beginning to line their side of the bridge, from those who had ventured out too far and been easy prey for the archers and gunners. The foremost vanguard seemed to be attempting to pull together a shield formation so that they could begin to cross, but it was slow-going and hesitant. The Construct had not yet arrived to draw High Central’s attention. One of the dragons in the sky doubled back on itself and began swooping low over the ranks, and a strange misty green-and-blue light began flashing from its back as it did so, like some kind of signaling searchlight.
Milae finished the last of his hasty scrawl in the journal strapped to his forearm and craned his neck up to look at the barriers of the city, looking exactly as he remembered them, what felt like centuries ago. He trailed Dario while he clutched one hoof to the beacon hanging in front of his shoulders. “Forward team, we are in position, but we need the rest of our forces to follow us through so we can advance to the gate. We may want to speed things up.”
Jan 16, 2022
“DAGS, WATCH OUT!” Kari shouted from where she and Scoot were flying in the air. 
Dagny managed to yank on SkySinger’s reigns forcing the Deadly Nadder to swerve to the right to get out of the way of an incoming projectile. Once she was in the clear, she sighed in relief and looked to her youngest sister. “Thanks, Kari!” she said. 
“Don’t mention it!” Kari said happily. She then looked to her Night Fury. “Come on, Scoot! We got to keep this up!” 
Jan 16, 2022
Scoot let out a sound of agreement, doing her best to dodge the threats hurled at them, even if her depth perception wasn't the best. She was working with her rider to fly effectively through the fire. Other furies occasionally passed them in the fray, roaring and blasting the walls and other things with the occasional peppering of fireblasts. Indigo watched from where he was keeping his beacon safe, eyes scanning the skies and mind set around him, alert for anything. All clear over here.
Behind the pair of pounding wings that kept Indigo aloft, the dark sky suddenly seemed to warp and bulge, a brief silent twist and a sudden stillness. A curtain of mist slowly shimmered upwards, only visible in the plasma cannon flashes and strong moonlight. Across the battlefield, nixes held. Their hands tightened like they were all holding the corners of a sheet that was about to be pulled tight across the bed. The tension heightened, and a bout of deafness befell soldiers both Rebel and Central.
The hovering First gestured up, then down, one more time, and then the sheet tore.
Jaggedly, rapidly, several pummeling flashes blazed upwards to an alarming height, and then they yanked apart like shredding claws. The battlefield was spotlighted in curtains of deadly scarlet, briefly terrifying to the Rebels despite their knowledge and proximity to its source for the past months. Out of the shuddering, flashing gate behind the armies, one impatient limb after the other speared into the ground and hauled forward, and the long, elegant neck of an impossible artificial beast swung out overhead, causing the splotches of radiant light shedding from its eyes to scan instead across the walls of the imposing capital. Its chest followed, and where a heart would be pulsing life and blood, a complex system of tubing and gears and plates and supports were blinding with coruscating cascades of deep reds and violets, clashing beautifully with pulsing golds and azures. A slow cyclical thump accompanied each wave of light, underlining the now-deafening monstrous call that the lookouts had heard from so far away. Now, it was here, it was in their face. And it was furious.
The screaming Construct began to pull itself from the portal, and as it did so, the final wave of soldiers poured from the oceanic waves of light at its feet. One of the emergent figures was suddenly swept upon by the circling dragon-powered searchlight, its young half-breed rider urgently helping him on and immediately sweeping for the front lines. The ranks of soldiers that had previously been focused on defending the bridge were suddenly scrambled by the arrival of a fifty-foot demon they had absolutely not expected to see crawling towards them at a measured but alarming pace, eyes ablaze, throat beginning to vibrate and glow intensely. The pressure on the bridge began to lessen.
Deep within the folds of an astral mind, a carmine-tinged sun shone quietly on a peaceful plain, and on a gentle hill covered in waves of grass, a contrastingly violent-looking female form lay on the ground with her arms spread at her sides, palms facing the cloud-studded sky on either side of her hips. Her mask-like face was tilted up, framed by strangely draconic, feathery spikes, and straight robes with slit hips swept down her front and around her bird-taloned legs, crossed over each other calmly and casually. Her huge, twisting tail was long enough to encircle several people, laying to create a still patch in the vegetation. Her eyes were serenely closed due to her heavy focus on other matters, so she was unable to tell if her partner in crime had chosen to retreat and be beside her or not. Either way, the refuge hummed deep within her being, for both of them. While she yanked open the Construct’s jaw to fire a devastating blast of heat across centuries-old walls of stone, while she raged and thundered and screamed outside…inside, the Warden was grounded, both figuratively and literally. It felt very different from the Ragnarok battles of old.
Do help me keep any stray weapons of mass destruction away from the bridge, Bookkeeper, she said softly, undisturbed, tail feathers flicking slowly beside her head.
Feb 8, 2022
Dagny and Kari stopped midflight on their dragons when they saw the large structure emerge from the portal. They were forced to cover their ears as their respective dragons flew further screeching at the high-pitched scream that came from the Construct as it emerged onto the battlefield. Thankfully, they did just in time as the Construct blasted the walls with its fiery power. 
“Aunt Nala and Juro are in that thing?” Kari asked aloud as they watched the scene unfold below them. 
Dagny could only stare and nod at Kari. Neither of them had seen the Construct up close before. They heard about it from their parents when they returned from rescuing Stonegit and their aunt Nala from Jarl Vidar, and even Sven didn’t get a chance to see it up close during his brief time with the Rebellion. Now, to see it up close knowing that their aunt was in there was amazing and even…somewhat terrifying. 
Sep 17, 2022
The Construct clawed at the ground almost desperately, clambering to make heavy, painful gouges in the dirt and pull the rest of the Rebellion forward. Diriin gasped lightly under his breath–he refused to be dragged by the weight and force of this portal, but he was beginning to struggle. Faint veins rose on his forearms as he strained to lift the last of their soldiers through the sheet of water already stretched to its extremes, and they burst into battle with short breaths and droplets streaming down their face. The First was reaching his limits.
Amidst the confusion of weapon and armour, little boots and rabbit ears scampered behind the nearest thicket she could find, clutching at the sleeve of a newly made deer mouse friend, who was innocently convinced to let her tag along, as the portal shut behind them. “I’m a healer, I can help!” Rhis and Aria held their breath as the last of the distraction team thundered past them. Only then could they slowly follow.
A demonic bird cry grated across the battlefield once again, before the sound of pistons locked into place. Those near enough felt a slight drop in pressure as the Construct sucked air into its vents. Neon reds and golds flashed and streaked from its chest and outwards. In the single moment it felt like it took a massive breath, the temperature suddenly rose high enough to make several soldiers sweat, and before they could look, several huge blades of scorching air shot out of hidden vents and landed on the edge of the incoming droves of enemies, clashing with the chilly night air and muddy water scattered on the ground and sending columns of mists into the red sky.
The Bookkeeper whipped his head around, staring fearfully behind him where there was no war, where the grass rolled and the wind tickled his skin, where he sat cross legged within the folds of the Warden’s tail. He was doing his best, chest pulsating at regular intervals as he provided her the power she needed, but even when he thought he would be ready, he couldn’t help the tremble in his hands. He clutched his ankles in attempt to calm them, and reached for words that brought him most comfort, the memory of a hoof in his palm crystal clear. This is yours. I believe in you.
Sep 23, 2022
Briefly interrupting the horizon like a strange sunrise was a light urgently and cyclically flashing between gold, emerald and sky blue. Kendra’s mental contact zipped through their combined consciousness like a speeding cormorant. Nala! I have him! 
GOOD. The word shuddered through the Rebellion’s bones and they were immediately set on tenterhooks across the eastern side of the chasm. THEN IT’S TIME.
The Bookkeeper saw that her chin abruptly tilted up to the sky and her eyes cracked. This is the first true push, she said to him, calm as ever. Be ready.
The Construct’s jets sputtered momentarily, and then the remaining energy that it had collected minutes before all coalesced towards its chest, veins racing with heat and swirling around the pod centered in its collarbones. The corners of its body began to glow orange and steam heavily, and magic began to spool up and amplify, causing waves of a soaking wet ashen scent to ripple through the dark. A dark four-winged silhouette carrying three figures flashed in front of the curtain of mist illuminated by this display, and a loose streamer of shimmering turquoise trailed behind them. Upon spotting this, Milae slapped the beacon on his chest again, crying out over the combat, “Commander! Faysal and Kendra are headed for the bridge!” They had hoped to avoid such a narrow choke and scale the walls, but with the danger of multiple plasma cannons firing from one end of the wall to the other, tactics seemed ready to shift. The dragons above circled, expectant for either orders or their own initiative.
Sep 23, 2022
Jari glanced over towards the bridge as the trebuchets were preparing to fire once again. Lila had placed her in charge in her stead. Jari had never truly been in charge before. Being the middle child she was never really in a leadership role, not of this many people at least, nor did she really want to be, but war created necessity.
She looked around the scene. Construct ready to fire, the ports around the plasma cannon being forced closed by the nixes, Kendra and Faysal heading for the bridge. She ran through the possibilities in her mind as quickly as she could. Central troops were still coming across the bridge in a phalanx. If the Construct could hit them in the blast it could clear a path for them. “Nala, Juro, bring down that gate. Secondary objective would be to take out the ones coming across the bridge.” She says across the network.
She looked up towards the dragons that were assaulting the wall. “Keep harrying them. It’ll be easier for us if they can’t get organized. If the plasma cannons are still an issue, take em out as you can.”
Sep 23, 2022
The deer looked over his hands once more as the team pressed forward – the damage that had been done earlier that year now seemed to be nearly faded into the cracks that lined his palms. He had opted to stick with his magick over conventional weapons for this fight; both for ease of movement, and a newly instilled confidence in his ability. Dario whispered an invocation softly to himself as his fingers danced in practiced pattern. I don’t wanna die. It wasn’t the typical reasoning for Dario; despite the average individual’s predisposition for living, he needed to stay alive for him. He looked to Milae as he struck the beacon placed close against him, and the stag could have sworn that he could see it beat against the goat’s chest in a familiar rhythm. Settu vinnuna í, gróðursettu garð, reyndu að halda þér á floti.
– The falling of small paws against the ground was easily drowned out by the surrounding environment; a symphony of impending destruction offered itself as the soundtrack to the ferret’s aimless endeavor towards flanking what little he understood of Central’s infrastructure. The beacon strapped to him did not differ in size from the other three, and with his size being even smaller than that of Milae, it covered an almost comical portion of his back. He had originally had it against his chest, much like the others, but it quickly created issue with mobility. The countless troops that surrounded him as he ran provided ample cover – Blair had been convinced that the beacon carriers would be a likely initial target, lending to his protest at the idea of being one himself. As he held firm on his path, the thought of what could come next stayed fixed at the forefront of his mind, and in it’s company, the faces of those he was afraid he would never see again.
Jul 5
Several holographic, ring-shaped targets lined up in the Warden’s mind’s eye, steel beams locking in her neck to keep her next move from dragging anywhere it didn’t belong. The cyclical pounding began to rise in pitch and volume, and the lower jaw of the artificial beast dropped open like a snake’s, widening into two pieces, then four. All of Nala’s limbs sank several meters into the ground, causing the few vanguard soldiers sprinting past her to stumble slightly as she created new sinkholes that would surely bother many generations to come. The Construct’s neck snapped out like a heron’s, and its glowing optics almost seemed to bulge, madly focusing on the far end of the bridge they now had to cross.
VIBRACRYSTALLINE BEAM ENGAGING.
The battlefield split in two. Bisected in white, shedding a lifeless radiance for several miles, occasionally bursting white-gold and bright cyan as the power nestled in her chest surged to and fro. The Construct sprayed its fearsome beam across the walls of High Central. It messily zipped from left to right too quickly, leaving behind enormous melting and snapping scorch marks, overcorrecting three times before it landed on the main gates. Nala had only had one bout of practice with the weapon, and it hadn’t lasted long; they didn’t want to give away one of their best assets to spying eyes. She was now completely occupied with giving the gates their trial by fire.
Taking this as a very clear sign, a wall of swirling blue and green energy bloomed at the front of the charge, highlighting an impossibly tall man in thick hide armors and furs, head adorned in a tight-fitting eyeless helmet, whose forearms the gigantic translucent shield was emanating from. The first rows of the vanguard fell behind Faysal, and the forces in front of them began to mill in a panic, eventually deciding that charging across the bridge was the best thing to do in order to stop the new tactics.
Unfortunately for them, unexpected moves was the new name of the game.
Jul 6
Lila stood near the back from an elevated position watching as the battle unfolded. She stood stiff as she watched the beam zigzag across the battlefield before finally striking true on the gates. Her troops began to push forward as Faysal erected a barrier but Lila would not join them, not yet. She had to have a clear view for now so she could direct her people.
She reached out through the mental network the changeling had created and spoke to each of them at once. "Do not push too hard. We want to draw them out. Remember, we are merely a distraction. Until we hear from forward we must hold the line."