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He braced hirunt, pushed up to his feet Adicainaudible words Crickets chirped A whirring insect brushed against his face He flailed, taken by surprise, just as Laoina hissed sharply and grabbed his arain, closer this ti disturbed the trees He heard a grunt froaw" of pain, a cry, broken off and rolling into a horrible gurgle

Throats slit Men dying silently

A child swung out of the branches just in front of them and landed nimbly in the streaestured ith of white cloth was tied around its hips; otherwise, the child was naked except for sandals and dark stripes painted across its thin chest

"Coently

They cut away into the underbrush, Alain sturound as he followed Laoina and the child They hadn’t gone ures blocked their path, each one armed with a round shield and a short sword Because they were all painted with dark stripes across their bare chests and faces, they were hard to distinguish in the darkness since the blend of shadow and light against their skin etation Their leader, a stocky young man, spoke quickly to Laoina

"You heard our call"

"We did Where is the Holy One?"

"No one knows But it is certain that the Cursed Ones have taken her prisoner The Horse people are on the move"

"What must we do, then?"

"Go quickly The queen needs the strength of the deer girl" He nodded toward Adica, looked again, and hastily caht in a vision," he said to Laoina, ignoring Alain "Weper Adica over Alain’s shoulders

"Let thean to protest "You are tired"

"The hounds" It was the one point he was fixed on, like an arrow shot true

"Ah" She turned back to the leader, and the two fell into an intense exchange that he was too tired to follow "So it will be," she said at last to Alain as threepacks with their comrades "Once the Cursed Ones find the bodies of their patrol, this defile will sith thes now, before the sun rises, or you will never get them We will take the Hallowed One to Shu-Sha’s camp These men will help you with the hounds That one--" She pointed to aa necklace of jet beads "--is trained as a Walking One and can speak for you I will go to be the words for the Hallowed One Then you will follow after"

"I can’t leave Adica!"

Laoina cut his One, or the other We will go swiftly to Shu-Sha’s camp The Hallowed One will be safe with these warriors, even until you coht she was probably right The dozen warriors, three of the, deter that the Cursed Onesher, but clearly these people knew the ground better than he did and he already knew they would kill To follow her now, he would have to abandon Sorrow and Rage

"Very well So must it be I will take the waterskins" He kissed Adica’s warave no response Her hands remained clenched, and it was hard to make out her features in the darkness She was only a shadow, really, blurred and indistinct As the other party faded into the darkness, he lost sight of her hanging helplessly off another man’s back

Fear for her ut, but he forced it to keep still, to crawl into his aching ary He would catch up to her in Shu-Sha’s ca it, he would make it happen

He turned toward his new companions, who eyed him with interest Two of the double They wore, like him, neatly trimmed beards, but they had coarse, wiry black hair

"We should take water The hounds will be thirsty I a the jet beads looked him up and down He had silver in his beard and a swarthy coalleos These two are ether, Maklos and Shevros Be quick"