The Valley of Death

Several times during the night Venya is alerted by a panicky shuffling and snorting of the horses. She sees yellow eyes glitter in the moonlight as the coyotes creep forward to explore the perimeter and then snarl and back away as the animals sense their presence. These hunters have not forgotten the harm done to their pack, but they are not ready to attack openly.

As the moon slips down to touch the hills in the west, Venya judges the time to be right and wakes Kailus. Two hours before sunrise. Time to be on the trail again.

Cold rations and sips of water suffice for breakfast, and then back in the saddle (with a groan of pain for those without ranks in the Ride skill). It is too dark to observe any tracks, but there seems little doubt about which way their quarry can have headed. Slowly, allowing the horses to pick their own footing over the hard scrabble ground, the guards continue their pursuit into the north.

Dawn seeps slowly into the valley, a lessening of shadow, a glimpse of color, and then a sudden shaft of direct light as the sunshine finds a gap in the eastern hills. To the north, Venya can just make out a plume of dark smoke, a single thread as if from a campfire, but when her eyes water in the wind, it vanishes from sight, and the rising sun makes it hard to see when she wipes her eyes clear again. But she is sure she saw it.

The trail leads slowly uphill, out of the valley with the dry creek bed. There are signs of horses having passed this way, in both directions, within a few days gone past. Climbing over the final rise about mid-day, they see another long sinuous valley ahead of them, but this time there is a glint of water flowing between the rocks below. The horses snort and strain at their reins as they catch the scent.

While there is water to drink in plenty below, the ground is now hard rock and there is no sign of tracks to follow. This valley seems much more pleasant than the last, and Venya would judge that the plume of smoke she observed from the hillside earlier was coming from not too far ahead.

It is a logical time, as you fill your water sacks and let the horses drink and graze, to discuss your approach to an enemy encampment.