The plan was simple.  Zakar's forces were heading due west down a narrow valley, right at the defending Ikros forces. Though the Ikrosian armies had been weakened, the added troops from those countries that had escaped Zakar's wrath bolstered their numbers.  Zakar's forces weren't as up to par either, for weeks of battling the entire continent of Kahlan, as well as the loss of so many troops to the destruction of Tel'Karak Zrahl, meant that the two armies were meeting as relative equals.  The valley's steep sides prevented any sort of flanking maneuver, but Ulmerad was relying on a semi flanking move to do the trick.  As the skeletal forces advanced, Garn, the paladin, would do his best to keep the defending Ikros warriors from succumbing to the might of the horde.  Meanwhile, the combined mounted cavalry, lead by Sir Haleron, would charge the south side of the horde, forcing Zakar to send his reserve troops to meet them.  The plan then called for Garalt and his small team to infiltrate the north side of the attacking wave and take out Zakar directly.  It was a long shot, but the plan should work.

    And so there they were, the two armies in the middle of the valley, near the ruins of a once mighty capitol city of quite possibly the greatest country of all Kahlan.  Two opposing forces, the living and the risen dead, the light and the darkness.  The two armies faced off for quite some time, not one hundred feet from each other.  Garalt had not known many major battles, but he knew his King had.  And the look on Ulmerad's face told Garalt that this was certainly not a normal battle.  Why would Zakar just hold his army so close to the opposition?  Was he a foolish commander?  That couldn't be, Zakar had come too far and was too high ranking to be.  Zakar had warned Garalt earlier that the army was on it's way, why warn him?  Zakar could have easily crushed the Ikrosian forces with a surprise attack in one sift stroke.  No, there were only two reasons why Zakar would be hold his army like this.  Either Zakar an honorable, though evil, man, or he was so confident in his army's strength that he did not need surprise to be at his advantage.  Garalt feared the reason for this display was the latter.  Ulmerad wasn't waiting, however.  Garn was ordered to begin what was necessary to protect the troops, and so he did.  Garn stepped forward and raised his sword aloft, standing behind the main wall of defenders.  As he began to chant in some ancient language, Zakar's forces began to advance.  The call to arms was given, the battle had begun.