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"Can you walk?" Mott asked, co to his feet

I wasn’t entirely sure if I could Fink ran over to me and put his shoulders under my arm With his help and Mott’s, I stood and found my balance Mott helped h into the valley to see the outer edges of the brawl The bulk of the fighting had already moved away from us, but tooa battle; ere targets for slaughter

When Mott and Fink rode up beside ?"

Mott scanned the horizon "Back to higher ground Away from the lake"

"Toward our camp?" My eyes widened in horror "Tobias and Amarinda are still up there!"

"We can’t make it past the battle to warn them," Mott said

I steered Mystic around "We’ll climb up where the dam used to be"

"You explodedis there to be climbed?"

"If it isn’t, we’ll build a way to the top," I said "We’ve got to warn thean arrives"

Mott had been right about the shortcut trail up to our camp -- the little that still existed was in terrible condition, and it certainly wasn’t safe to atte between h the valley and toward us To avoid it, this had to be our route

We left the horses at the base of the hill I hated to leave Mystic behind, butover rocks and across thin re still throbbed fro about it to Mott Besides, he probably already knew, based on the way I favored it At least, he stayed right behind me to offer a boost whenever I needed to use it

When ere nearly to the top, we cae of the trail where it was possible to look down on the battle below My heart stopped as I realized it was going far worse than I had feared The hills were stained with blood and littered with the bodies of the dead and wounded, rithed in pain, crying for help Hundreds of Avenians had fallen, but at least that many of my own hting with ever-increasing odds against the to lose

Besidescene Finally, Mott tapped et to the top"

We finished the climb as if a fire was at our heels, and what I found once we reached the camp surprisedthe linens, tables, and beds to receive the wounded from battle