***
A scorpion crawled across the sand dune, and Khalazori swatted it away with a grunt. He was lying flat on his chest, and his eyes were narrowed against the blistering wind. Night would soon fall, but he had to watch the road to be certain that all was clear. Behind him, Adaria waited with the horses. Before him lay a bridge, which looked so ancient that it would have collapsed just by looking at it.
He beckoned for her to come closer, and she tied the reins around a dead stump before moving towards him.
“Do you see that?” he said, pointing to the valley just beyond the river. “That fire you see over there is a Colturian campsite. They’re a nasty pair, and you wouldn’t want to get mixed up with them. There are at least sixty of them, and they will run us down as soon as they see us
