Subject: Re: The Chase; Avenging Sa'id (6)

Flashes of light on flame and steel, and the writhing darkness out at the edge of his vision-- magery and fire. Shadow. Mission looks at Sa'id as if seeing him for the first time. This was how magery bent men. Did Promise see? Did he understand how even honorable men, men like Farron and even Sa'id, were turned inhuman by magery?

Mission looks down at his son. The boy's eyes are wide, but he is silent. It is not for Mission to cover the eyes of the Kaishin.

Mission says to Rennick. "If you start a fire, you will mark exactly where our camp was to the rest of Kor Garesh's army. They won't need a tracker to know where we've gone, then."

What about the witch? How had she tracked them? Mission remembers feeling Sa'id's magic crawl across his skin, lingering on his tatoos. His stomach lurches at the thought. Magery.

His voice is tight and desperate. "We can't let the witch live. If she found us once, she could find us again, and bring more troops."

He will scan the trees again for her and the eagles.