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When the deh that Jardir could see its teeth, he threw The horsehair net spun as the weights pulled it open, and the wind dehten the net, Jardir pivoted smoothly out of the way and watched the creature pluai down!" he cried "Northeast quadrant! Layer seven!" Acry

He was about to turn back and free Qeran whenfro as they scraped and strained against the stone

"Don’t let me fall!" Abban cried

"If you fall, you will die a man, and Heaven await you!" Jardir said He left unsaid the fact that Abban would never see Heaven any other way Qeran would see that he ended his Hannu Pash as khaffit, and paradise would be denied hian to turn away

"No! Please!" Abban begged, tears strea down his dirty cheeks "You swore! You swore by Everaht to catch me I don’t want to die!"

"Better dead than khaffit!" Jardir growled

"I don’t care if I’m khaffit!" Abban said "Don’t let usted, but he bent despite hi hard on Abban’s ar to crawl up Jardir’s back and onto the wall He threw hi

"Everam bless you," Abban wept "I owe ust e my mind and throw you back"

Abban’s eyes widened in shock, but he bowed and scurried away as fast as his lao, a fist connected hard with his kidney, sending hiony fired over him, but he opened himself to it, and the pain washed away as he turned to face his assaulter

"You should have let hiht A dal’Sharum’s duty is to support his brothers in death as well as life" His spittle splattered on Jardir’s shoulder "No gruel for three days," he said "Now fetch ai’sharak does not wait for cowards and fools"

CHAPTER 3

CHIN

333 AR

ABBAN RETURNED WITH JAYAN and Asoed with thele da," Jayan said, ushering the cleric forward "It is he who ordered the silos burned" He shoved the dama hard, and the man fell to his knees

"How many?" Jardir asked

"Three, before he could be stopped," Jayan said, "but he would have kept on burning"

"Losses?" Jardir looked to Abban

"It will be some time before I know for sure, Shar’Dama Ka," Abban said, "but it could be close to two hundred tons Grain enough to feed thousands through the winter months"

Jardir looked to the dama "And what have you to say?"

"It is written in the Evejah’s treatise on war to burn the enemy’s stores, so they cannot h to feed our peoplethe asps around the room "I need to levy the Northerners, not starve and kill theotten!"