Wilhelm gave a slight smile and spun on hisheel gesturing for five men to follow him. Without another word, heswung onto a horse and rode down the canyon, leaving the others totrail behind.
“Did you get what you needed?” Darius asked,changing the subject and clapping Fallon on the back.
Fallon glanced at his friend “Yes, but itwasn’t the answer I wanted.”
“Oh?”
“The Trateri will be able to take theLowlands easy enough, but from the information we gathered, thereis no easy way to breach the Highlands. Every route we foundinvolved a climb. It’d be near impossible to get the horses upthere, and there’s no easy way to get a large army, equipped withsupplies and weapons into position without destroying the elementof surprise.”
Silence fell between the two, broken only bythe sound of a horse’s whinny. Fallon stared off into the distance,lost in thought as Darius studied him.
“We’ll have to limit our plans to theLowlands. For now.” Fallon’s head turned slowly to Darius,anticipation burning in his eyes. “Prepare your men. Our armymarches on the Lowlands shortly.”
A loud whoop escaped Darius as he lungedforward to clasp Fallon in a tight hug. For nearly twenty years,they had planned for this day. They had sworn the moment theybecame friends at the age of ten they would lead the clans tocreate an empire spanning across the continent.
“I’m at your side every step of the way,”Darius declared, clasping Fallon on the shoulder.
“I never doubted it,” Fallon told him. “Come.Let’s find Wilhelm, and you can tell me what the Clan Heads havebeen plotting in my absence.”
Darius gestured for one of his warriors todismount and give his horse to Fallon. They mounted and headed inthe direction Wilhelm had taken. It wasn’t long before they pulledtheir horses to a stop as Wilhelm and his men met them coming fromthe opposite direction
“My lord, they’re gone,” Wilhelm said withoutpreamble. “We found no track. It looks like they justdisappeared.”
There was a moment of stunned silence at thisnews, and then Darius gave a bark of laughter.
“It appears you’ve found an entire clan ofghosts,” he told Fallon.
“I’m beginning to think you’re right,” Fallonsaid, shaking his head and spurring his horse in the directionWilhelm had come. He wanted to see this for himself.
Wilhelm hadn’t lied. The other four weregone. The hidey hole hid nothing but dirt and a few smallrocks.
Darius’ men spread out to see if there wereany other places for the four to hide but had so far turned upnothing. The strangers had disappeared into thin air.
Fallon gave a considering look at the canyonwalls, wondering if they had done as the woman had and simplyscaled them. He shook his head. No. One had been too injured tomake that climb, and since he wasn’t there, they would have takenhim with them.
It was a mystery that teased at his brain.Besides thinking up new strategies for battle, life had gottenslightly boring of late. If the woman, Shea, had wanted to make himlose interest in her, she should have simply surrendered. Now, shepresented a challenge. Prey to be hunted.
He turned his horse and kicked it into atrot, trusting the others to follow.
“Should we keep searching?” Wilhelmasked.
After giving Fallon a long considering look,Darius answered, “No. She’s his to find now.”
Darius clicked to his horse, breaking into acanter and quickly catching up to Fallon. He pulled lightly on thereins to slow his horse to a walk.
“What do you want to do about thevillage?”
“We don’t have time to deal with themnow.”
“And later?” Darius asked already knowing theanswer.
“Burn it.”
From her hiding place atop the cliff, Sheawatched Fallon and his men ride away. When they were gone, shefound a path down to the canyon and ran to the hiding place. LikeFallon and his men, she found nothing. Unlike them, she wasprepared for that.
Witt would have moved the group as soon asthe last villager passed. That had been the plan all along. It waswhy she had drawn the strangers along with her rather than leavingthem behind.
She didn’t need help distracting thevillagers, but the strangers had set off every instinct she had.She hadn’t wanted to chance revealing the way into theHighlands.
