They rode hard for more than half the day before they reached the invaders.
Sooni’s family spread out so as not to present a single target. Sooni herself brought her horse next to Alena’s. They pulled out looking glasses and began studying the invaders.
Alena wasn’t sure what she had expected, but her first glance of the invaders revealed little. They were pale compared to Alena and her family, but that seemed to be their only outwardly defining characteristic. It was hard to tell from a distance, but she thought they might be a bit taller, too.
“What do you think?” Sooni asked.
Alena kept watching through her looking glass. “If they weren’t so pale, I would say they were Etari.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at the symbols on the tents. They are divided up into units, and the construction of their tents isn’t much different than ours.”
Sooni grunted. “This is why I needed you.”
Alena noticed other details, too. The range of ages was less than among the families and clans. That made sense, she supposed. When invading, it wasn’t wise to bring along the old or young.
“There aren’t many women,” Alena noted.
“I saw that, too,” Sooni said. “I wonder if it is wise to send a woman to deal with them.”
Alena didn’t know the answer to that question. There were a few women in the enemy camp, and Alena didn’t see any signs they were treated as less than the men, but it was hard to tell from a distance.
Alena stopped focusing on the camp and began studying the surrounding area. As she did, little details became much more interesting.
She caught sight of movement between them and the enemy camp. When she focused on it with her looking glass, she saw that it was a wolf, prowling outside the camp.
She frowned. Perhaps it was her memories of the wolf they had hunted on their way to Cardon, but something about the creature seemed unnatural. She continued to watch until she realized what bothered her.
The wolf wasn’t acting like a wolf. It didn’t wander back and forth, or stop and sniff the air. It walked in a straight line. She watched as it slowly made a circle around the enemy tents. It was a wolf moving like a human.
Further observation revealed it wasn’t just the wolf, but other animals as well. A large bird circled constantly overhead.
The one sight that haunted Alena more than any other, though, was that of a deer, advancing demurely toward the enemy camp. It walked directly toward a group near the camp’s edge, where a lone hunter stepped forward and cut the animal’s throat with a knife.
The group was mostly men, but as Alena focused, her eye was drawn to one wearing brighter colors than the rest. It was a woman, older than the rest, although not by many years. The men appeared to defer to her, and as soon as the deer was killed, she slumped forward so suddenly Alena worried she had died.
The group of men went to work on the carcass, skinning it with practiced efficiency.
As they did, two others cared for the woman. They didn’t seem too concerned about her health, and after Alena watched for a few moments, she saw the woman come to. Alena squinted. Did the woman look younger now?
She tilted her head away from the looking glass and blinked a few times. She was beginning to see things. When she looked again the woman was up, and now Alena was convinced she was younger than she had first appeared. The woman went back into the main camp. She was easy to track, her clothing brighter than anything else in camp.
After some more observation, Alena figured she had seen all she needed. She tore her eye from the looking glass.
“Did you see that deer?” she asked Sooni.
“I did.”
“And the wolves and the birds?”
“Yes.”
“What do you make of it?” Alena broke her gaze from the strange sights in front of her.
“Soulwalkers.” Sooni replied. “And strong, too.”
“What’s a soulwalker?”
“An abomination.”
“What does that mean for us?”
Sooni’s voice was dry. “That if we fight, it’ll be very interesting.”
47
During officer training, Brandt had learned that few command challenges were as difficult as leading an orderly retreat. To many, a retreat simply meant putting your back to the enemy and running as fast as you could.
But such a retreat was even more dangerous than an advance. Archers could shoot you down with confidence, knowing they didn’t have to watch the skies for a counterattack. Cavalry could run you down, and even basic infantry could give chase, secure in their victory. It was always easier to attack an opponent’s back.
There was another, more insidious problem, though. The problem had been drilled into him time and time again. The mental focus of a retreating soldier is far different than an advancing one. An advancing soldier has a mission in front of them and danger approaching. A retreating soldier begins to think the battle is over, that all that is left is survival. It’s too easy to lose focus.
It didn’t take much to give away their position. A single twig, broken within earshot of the ambush they had avoided and observed.
For the space of three heartbeats, Brandt thought that perhaps his mistake had gone unnoticed.
His gut twisted when he saw movement behind him, indistinct, camouflaged by the strange clothing the invaders wore.
“Run.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. They sprinted like startled deer, Brandt following Ana.
After all these years, he was prepared to admit that her lightness was still better than his. She tapped her way through the forest, her footsteps so gentle they were almost as silent as they had been on their much slower approach.
Brandt could almost match her speed, but never her grace. His footsteps were heavier.
He considered separating. Most likely they would follow his loud footsteps.
But separation was no guarantee of Ana’s safety. They had a better chance together.
His right shoulder suddenly went numb, and a small
