The boy is working very quickly now, Mariketa; very fast.

A blue light spreads through the garden, enough to make the plants wilt but not kill them.
He’s collecting knowledge so quickly, Mariketa, that we’ll lose our advantage.
He’ll get away, Mariketa.

Why?

He thinks that the white wolf can control a dark servant; and we’d lost our one such, the Butcher.
Can he?

We need to send the boy back to die.

She’s talking to me through the Wolf of the North.
The Butcher of the Red Brotherhood, the Butcher that should have been destroyed years ago, that he should have killed years ago …

The Wolf was silent.

The Trollocs have the field.

I feel them move on the far side of the river, not too far.
Can they turn that loose, to come on here?

No, I don’t think they can.

Their beasts can’t cross the river with their backpacks and soldiers and equipment.
The wolves are too small.

I can sense the other beasts moving in the distance, hundreds of them, coming to the caravan.
It’s a war party, a massive one.

The wolves, though, cannot cross the river.
How large is the caravan?

I don’t know.

I only know that the Trollocs are looking to turn loose a good many beasts here.
He makes a move with his head, as if nodding to her.
He’s saying, “We move the battalion, take these beasts and flee.”
So he’s gone.

I let him go, Mariketa.

He will take the unicorn.

I sense it.

His demise is only a matter of time.

The land is left over, the Grey-Jeweled Queen, and the River Raedah.
No others come to us.

The three armies turn and march back toward the tents.
There, the work starts all over.

The army camps downriver has retreated to the riverbank, providing a covering fire to turn back the Trollocs on the road.

The tents are ready, the tent troops and riding troops have been gathered.

Tales and councils are given to the men to get them moving.

The fires were taken out as soon as the supplies were unloaded, and the area is being kept dark.
That means this part of the plan is at last done.

:: 02/07/2022 ::