“I understand,” Drek said, stroking his beard. “But can we give up our chance because of that?”
“It may not be such a good chance,” I said. “I’m sure you’re right that we could defeat them if they’re ordinary warriors. But what if there are Straight Path disciples in there, Augmenters with more power and experience than you? What if Mahrai has come along? What happens then?”
“You’re right, Master. Thank you for guiding me.”
“Just doing my job.”
And it was my job now, wasn’t it? Not just a hero on a quest but a leader, a teacher, someone shaping and directing upcoming Augmenters. I’d come a long way since I woke up in this world less than a year before.
Smoke drifted up from the sand-sunken village ahead of the main column’s line of march.
“What’s going on over there?” I asked Elorinelle.
“Some of the outriders have stopped in the village.” She peered across the valley with one hand shading her eyes. “They’re lighting fires, but I’m not sure why.”
“Cooking fires,” Onvar said. “It’s the Gonki way to rest and feed the troops before a big attack so that they go in at their best.”
His conclusion proved correct. As the main force approached the village, they stopped, laid down their weapons, and started gathering around the fires.
I halted our advance and gathered the initiates.
“This is an opportunity for us,” I said. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have to cross the riverbed and the road to get to the mountain trail. That means risking exposure to their scouts and anyone who’s paying attention. If we go now and go quickly, we can get across while they’re resting and distracted. We’ll need to be even more careful, as we’re close to them, but it’s our best chance.”
This time, I took the lead. Keeping low and moving from cover to cover, we advanced down the side of the valley and into the dried river bed. We were at our most exposed as we hurried across that expanse of sun-baked ground, and I kept my eyes peeled for scouts. But the army’s attention was on events on the far bank and further down the valley. Nobody was watching the former river we were traveling down.
Near the far side of the river bed, we turned and hurried west. Now, the terrain worked to our advantage since the bank here was steep and covered with the protrusions of old rocks and withered reeds. It provided perfect concealment for us from the army as we passed only a hundred yards from the road and the advancing column.
The risk now was that we would be heard, and when Drek lost his footing and slid down the bank, my heart raced. But the noise of a single falling dwarf and the rattle of tumbling stones was lost beneath the thudding of feet and the conversation of warriors staying entertained while they marched. Drek hurried back into cover, and we continued safely on our way.
We overtook the marching column and were just past the sand-sunken village before the bank became shallower and we needed new cover. It was time to cross the road.
The army had two scouts watching the route ahead. Perched on outcroppings west of the village, they were both facing the Sunstone Temple, their bows resting in their laps. If we tried to cross anywhere between here and the bottom of the stairs, they would see us straight away. We would have to pass behind them and hope that no one from the village emerged as we went.
I summoned a Plank Pillar, smaller and less powerful than the ones I used in combat. The Vigor shot from me, down through the ground, and up into the dunes to the west. The pillar emerged out of sight of the scouts, but the sand around it shifted and drew their attention.
A scout pointed toward the shifting sand. “What’s that?”
The other stood and raised her bow.
I nodded to my students. Onvar, Choshi, and Drek hurried silently across the road behind the scouts and into the cover of the dunes on the far side.
“Maybe it was nothing.” The second scout glanced back toward the village. “Should we tell someone?”
“Tell them we maybe saw something move? Yeah, that’ll go down well. You know what happened to the last scout who sent word of a breeze blowing a little sand. Cover me while I go take a look.”
The first scout got down off his rock vantage point and walked cautiously down the road toward where the movement had been. The other guard kept her bow raised as she watched him.
At my nod, the initiates hurried across the road. I followed them while keeping my eyes on the scouts.
“Looks like some old buried planks,” the first scout said. “They must have fallen and disrupted the sand.”
I flung myself into the cover of a dune just before he turned to look back.
When he’d returned to his vantage point, we left the scouts behind and headed through the dunes, closer to the mountains at the valley’s southern edge. Once we were well clear of the road, we turned west once more, through dunes, rock outcroppings, and steep foothills. The landscape provided lots of cover, but we didn’t know how widely dispersed the Hyng’ohr army’s scouts were. We moved only as fast as caution would allow, and I was grateful for the almost camouflage-like sandy colors of the initiates’ robes.
From time to time, we had to cross an expanse of open ground. Before those crossings, I would pick one of the initiates and get them to summon a Sandstorm. The swirling sand provided concealment as we ran from one
