22. Witch KingCait and Ran left Islagray less than an hour later. Johnny and Danny travelled with them as far as the banks of the An, Smoke on the Water skating them down the Gleaming while Hellen and the others remained on the Isle to prepare as best they could for what was coming.
Cait spoke little, watching the bushes and trees drifting by, their branches frosted with ice. The only sound was the hissing of the runners on the ice.
They said their farewells to Danny and Johnny six hours later upon a grassy, wooded headland where the tributary joined its mother river. Smoke on the Water would head back up the Gleaming for what safety the Isle could offer while Cait and Ran trekked across the ice.
Ran stood apart, polishing the edge of his blade with slow deliberation, staring into the w
