Edge of the Abyss

King Greville consulted with Bronze Bessie's engineer, who was peering into the machine's radar screen. It showed the movement of troops in the area as red blips pf light. Greville was expecting to join up with the Varangur allies who had pledged to help drive the abyssals back to their hellish grotto. Greville had met with their leader Magnilde and had hammered out the terms of the alliance (dwarfs do this literally - into iron plates) and Herneas' keen eyed scouts had reported Varangur troops were approaching the camp. Greville thought he'd just check all was well.
'Sir, there's an anomaly here. Those are not Varangur' The engineer's face looked puzzled.
'What on earth do you mean Butch? How can you tell? Greville frowned - he was a fighter not a rune priest, he didn't understand the strange rune magic of the Behemoth.
'Well if they were Varangur, they'd be green Sir. Red means.....Abyssals'.
A messenger hurried in. 'News from Magnilde sir. She reports her troops have been delayed for 4 days by a Ratkin ambush.'
Greville was horrified. The demons must have been using foul sorceries of disguise, knowing they were expecting the Varangur to join them. Luckily dwarf engineering magic had seen through their disguise.
'Sound the alarm. Tell Herneas to deploy his Rangers and lay down suppression fire. And get Bannick Kholearm in here!'

Greville picked up his magical Hammer of Flight and prepared to soar aloft to see for himself this dastardly tactic. The hammer soon took him to cloud level. To the naked eye the troops advancing looked like humans. But he knew this wasn't the case. Damn their eyes! The situation was confirmed as he saw mounds of earth being heaped up and foul ratmen poured from underground tunnels to join their allies.
There's no rest for a dwarf, Greville thought, and plunged into the fray.