Noon had long passed and the sun was halfway to the horizon when the forest began to thin out around Galen and Petra. Their horses trotted along the coarse sand along the river, the rushing water body flowing straight now as it had no more trees to weave around or hills to change its course. Within a quarter-mile, the waters would reach the edge of Atzla forest, leaving the embrace of the living wood and entering the endless, golden-grass expanse of the Rock lands.
Roughly a mile ahead of Galen lay the opening of the Sundered Trench: a canyon a half-mile wide that split the surface of the open prairie. Eyes narrowing the soldier began to scan the area ahead. He checked the hills and rocks, the fields and the opening to the trench, desperately searching but ultimately failing to see Pretay
