The mist clung to the ground that morning, curling low around the horses’ hooves. The world looked half-dreamt, shapes dissolving into pale shrouds of vapor. Kaelen rode near the rear of the company, listening to the steady rhythm of breath and hoofbeats.
They had lost another man in the night, his wounds had festered, fever burning him hollow. They buried him quickly, a shallow grave dug in silence, stones stacked without ceremony. No words were spoken. They had run out of words for the dead.
The company thinned with every mile.
Kaelen let the reins hang loose, his mare’s ears flicking nervously in the fog. He felt the road stretch, quiet, uncanny, as though something waited just beyond the mist.
They broke the fog near midday. The land opened into a shallow valley, grass bent under d
