"And the living?" I asked.
That bled off some of her rage, but not nearly enough. "Families are sending all non-essential people on to the winter camp. It's a little early, but none of us want our children here if they come back."
"Why aren't all of you going?" I asked.
"Because they took our family members!"
I lifted a hand and leaned back, not sure if she was mad enough to lash out. "Okay. So what do you need from us?"
And she flopped back with a groan. "I don't fucking know!"
"Okay," I said again. "Well, let me throw a few options at you. First, you can explain to your people that the missing aren't likely to be found. They should be mourned, and all of you should move to the winter camp."
"No."
"The second option," I said. "Non-combatants and children go to the winter camp, along with a small force of the lightly injured who can protect them. Just enough to make sure that if the Moles jump them on the way, they'll be able to break free. The rest of your guardians and dog handlers stay here. We keep a coordinated defense going until the wounded are safe to move to Lorsa or your winter camp. The grieving families are given that time to decide what to do."
"And then?" she asked.
"And then they can come to Lorsa with us and fight, or they can stay here on their own, or they can go to the winter camp, because we can't stay here forever, Eriska. We just can't. Lorsa's defenses are slim right now. I brought everyone I could, but in acouple of weeks, the Moles will attack again, and I can't take the risk they will attack Lorsa while we're here."
"No, that makes sense," she assured me. "Are there any other options?"
"Send everyone you can to the winter camp. The ones with missing families can come to Lorsa with us, and we'll give them the chance to fight Moles all they want. Unfortunately, if we leave them here, that's all but sealing their fate."
"What we need to do is storm the place!" Eriska growled.
"No," I told her. "We can't. It's dark in there. They have lights no brighter than moonlight. When it's dark to them, it's completely dark to us. Pitch black. Inside that compound, the Moles have the advantage."
"So what are we supposed to do?" she begged. "If we can't stop them, do we give up these fields? Generations of our families cleared and cared for this land. Finding another place that can grow this much in a season? I don't know if that's even possible - and if it is, we'll be starting all over!"
"I know," I assured her. "And we are trying to stop them, but it's not easy. We need a code for the door. Ayla has an informant on the inside. A few, actually. She sends letters to the girl through one of the hunters. He seeks us out in the chaos of combat, Ayla gives him a letter to take back, and they're making plans."
"Are you sure she's not the reason why we were attacked?"
"Positive," I said. "I've read the letters. She's shown me the replies. The problem is the men in charge down there restrict who gets the code for the doors. We can't just torture any Mole we find for it. Theydo not have it. So we have to have a trusted person get promoted high enough to get it. But once we have that?"
"I want my people to help once you do. When you can get in, the Reapers will be there, Rymar."
"Gladly," I told her. "But that's not going to be soon. What I need you to decide is what we're doing now."
She flapped a hand at me. "We're already moving the non-combatants and children. Most of the horses too. I'd like to store the seeds somewhere they can't be burned or raided, because without those, we won't have a crop next year."
"Makes sense. And yes, we'll help with that if you need it."
She nodded, showing she'd heard me. "The rest? Rymar, I can't make these people leave."
"Then let's worry about the wounded for now," I assured her. "My militia can stand guard so your Reapers can get some sleep. I'm going to bet everyone here has been going non-stop since the attack, right?"
"We have," she admitted.
"And you too," I told her. "Put someone else in charge for a few hours. I will help him or her. If anything bad happens, we'll wake you, but you need sleep too. You can't help anyone if you can't keep your thoughts straight."
"That obvious?" she asked.
I hummed softly. "The dark circles under your eyes were my first hint. The wildly swinging emotions? The second. That you didn't say no? That all but proves it. So tell me what you need from us, and I'll get that started while you assign leadership to someone overnight."
"Thank you," she breathed. "I'm glad you're the one who came, not Jerlis."
