They broke camp within the hour, following the trampled, hurried tracks Marrow's retreating force had left through the underbrush — considerably easier to follow than a careful, unhurried retreat would have been, evidence of exactly how badly the Shrine's outcome had rattled even Marrow's discipline.
"He's moving fast," Corvin observed, crouched over a fresh set of hoofprints. "Faster than a controlled withdrawal should require. I think today cost him more than he's willing to admit."
"Does that make him more dangerous or less," Draven asked, "moving that quickly."
"Both," Sylas said. "Frightened men make mistakes. They also make desperate ones."
They pushed through the afternoon at a hard pace, the ancient creature ranging ahead of the column to scout terrain none of them could safely
