Vykosa snapped her gaze onto Teroiah. “Hircine is not changing your precious plans. He will be saving his strength for the final battle with Vile [i]himself[/i]. It is our role to crush his minions within our claws.”

Shortly afterwards, there was movement in the sky that drew eyes upwards. Werevultures and werebats, just a few at first, but their numbers were steadily growing. Some of the smaller and lighter ones landed in trees, while others moved to any open space on the ground they could find. The lycan spirits were quickly filling up any space they happened to be able to find in view of the portal, landing in between formations, perhaps uncomfortably close to the Legionnaires and Dominion soldiers. And this was just the flying werecreatures. “Every lycan that has ever lived and died” was not a precise number, but already, its scale was coming into view. They were in a largely forested area, beyond their clearing, so they could not see off to the horizon. How many lycan spirits were converging onto their portal?

“It seems our hunters are nearly here. You may choose when we advance through your portal, but do not keep these lycans waiting [i]too[/i] long. They thirst for blood, and may not appreciate having to be idle for too long.” Vykosa remarked. 

Ri’vashi saw their new arrivals, but she kept her eyes on the map between her and the other commanders. This was a surprise, a last-minute disruption to their plans, but at least it was a [i]good[/i] surprise. “There are places we can use this.” Ri’vashi began, glancing up to Teroiah and gro-Tagnud. “Between the first and second waves, after we clear the area around the portal, but before we start constructing our fortifications, we can send in a wave of lycan spirits. They will spread out, engage the enemy, disrupt them from forming ranks, and slow down their response. They do not need to have organization or training to accomplish that much. We can treat them as skirmishers.”