The siege seed knew the Last Orchard's old commands.
It knew which roads had once carried defenders, which roots had supplied the western groves, and which abandoned passage had approached Edrin's core during the First Challenge.
It did not know a route Edrin had never used.
Quin turned the limitation into a plan.
"Create a new priority route." he said. "Make the siege seed believe the road carries something important enough to protect."
Edrin received the proposal through his private channel with Max, Dagar, and Merrit.
"It watches energy and commands." Edrin said. "A road created without a purpose will not deceive it."
"Then give the road a purpose." Merrit replied. "Move supplies through it. Assign wardens. Send enough power to resemble a core-support route."
"You want me to teach the weapon a new road."
"We want to choose what it learns." Max said.
