“Oh, God,” Vica breathed. “So many of them.” The sight made her heart pound: the soldiers pouring down into the basin, riders guiding their horses through the step formations of the terrain below and climbing back up towards the rim of the valley.
Bren shook his head. “That’s but a single battalion. The regiment must have fractured and split to cover more ground once they lost direct sight of me, just in case. Hounds’ noses can be fooled. I’m sure they didn’t want to leave anything to chance.”
Right. That was exactly what Yezia had intended by taking Bren’s old clothes, wasn’t it? But this close, she had to wonder if the dogs would catch the other mage’s scent now. That wouldn’t do at all. She peered through the tall grass and stared at the growing number of horses ascending the steep sl
