The mountain crossing took twenty days and extracted a toll in lives. Their ragged band buried several bodies under mounds of rock. They were starved and exhausted, clutching what few possessions they didn’t abandon when it became too difficult to carry them up the treacherous mountain trails. As they descended and the land around them became flat, they found berries and mushrooms, ample water flowing in streams, and an occasional rodent or hare they could trap. Mogadun was rumoured to lie only a few days’ walk south.
The group settled in for the night. It was shortly after Hati and Shek retreated for their customary evening chat that the bandits attacked. A dozen men on horseback trampled the travellers. Their blades glinted in the reflected light of their torches.
Shek shushed Hati and
