“Find out what the lookout is shouting about,” commanded the premer.

As the officer ran off, Doralin returned to gazing at the ships on his left flank. It was an awesome sight to behold as the huge ships rose and fell on the small swells. His mind drifted to the coming invasion, and he tried to picture the foreign city and what it would look like. The premer was deep in thought when the officer returned.

“The lookout has seen the sails of smaller boats,” reported the officer. “He thinks that they might be fishing vessels, but there are a lot of them. He thought you should be informed. Are they to be attacked?”

“Fishing boats?” frowned the premer. “We should not waste our time with them. I want this fleet together when we attack Alamar.”

The officer nodded and left. The premer faced forward again and returned his thoughts to the coming invasion. The fishing boats made his mind think of a peaceful city unaware of the coming storm, thousands of people going about their daily chores. He was well aware from the intelligence reports that the Sakovan armies were preparing for a fight, but he wondered if the citizenry had even been told of the coming mayhem.

The lookout shouted once more, and Premer Doralin gazed skyward. Again the lookout pointed to the south, but the man was obviously more frantic this time. Doralin turned to his left and raised his hand to block the sun. He could see the sails of the smaller vessels now as they came closer to his armada.

“Fools,” commented a voice as it came up alongside the premer. “Those small boats will be crushed if they get in the way of these huge ships.”

“Any sailor should know that, General Valatosa,” nodded the premer as he acknowledged the man next to him. “Can these Sakovans really be that stupid that they would put such small craft in front of this armada? I don’t think so. I think we are witnessing something a bit more nefarious than anything we expected. Summon a mage. Be quick about it.”