Page 205 (1/2)

The chest’s corner would be obvious, poking out into the night Would they try again? As a precaution, she’d removed the Horn from the chest and taken it when she went out to answer the call of nature She’d hidden it there in a cubby of rock and, upon returning, had put Cha Faile on patrol duty for the night, away frouarded, but Faile hadthe h

Hours passed with Faile crouched in that same position, ready to leap up and call the alarm the moain tonight, when she was supposedly ill

Nothing Her muscles ached, but she didn’tWondering if this was the right rab the Horn and run off to his or her ht

Faile wavered A distraction?

That screa the direction It camefrom just west of here

Near where she’d hidden the Horn Faile cursed,a snap decision The chest was empty If she took the bait and it really was just a distraction, then she would not lose anything If, on the other hand, the thief had anticipated herShe darted from the tent as others scrah the ca screech, a type that had been following theht-stained weeds Running through the could kill, but she was not thinking clearly

She arrived first on the scene, reaching the area where she’d hidden the Horn There stood not only Vanin, but Harnan as well Vanin clutched the Horn of Valere in thick arainst so his sword

Vanin looked at Faile and grew as pale as a Whitecloak’s shirt

"Thief!" Faile shouted "Stop him! He has stolen the Horn of Valere!"

Vanin cried out, tossing the Horn as if it had bitten hiht, but he could rabbed Harnan by the shoulder, pulling hi wail

Other roars ca the Horn and clutching it close These h her plan, but anticipated exactly where she’d hidden the Horn She felt like a farirl who had just fallen for a towns with her stood stunned, either by the sight of the Horn or the monster The creature screeched--it looked like soer than any bear Faile had seen She stumbled to her feet There was no time to look for the thieves as the beast suards It ripped the head off aa knife at the thing as Arrela hacked at one of its shoulders with her sword Just then, a second beast ca over the rocks next to Faile

She cursed, leaping away, flinging a knife She hit it--or, at least, the thing cried out in what sounded like anger and pain As Mandevwin rode up on horseback, bearing a torch, the light revealed that the horrible things had faces like those of insects, with a like teeth Faile’s knife protruded from one bulblike eye

"Protect the lady!" Mandevwin yelled, throwing spears to nearby Red-ar it back fro The woh

Faile fell back as Cha Faile organized around her, then looked down at what she held The Horn of Valere itself, pulled from the sack in which she’d hidden it She could blow it

No, she thought It is bound to Cauthon To her, it would be just an ordinary horn