Chapter 15 "Following the Enemy"

The road to Mano was rough for both young travelers. They followed the enemy, but guards or slow-moving creatures often were on the trail, cutting them off or making them work as a team to keep hidden. While Termâs could fight the large creatures quite well, their unpredictable nature of them was mentally fatiguing. The Beras pass was desolate and cold. Termâs and Cai were often buried in thick mists and light rain. Finding food was not such a problem. Because of the confusion created by the marching army, animals were easy prey. Sometimes appearing right in their path or already dead when they came upon them.

After a long hard climb, they saw the vale that led to Mano. The sky had cleared some and the sun was a welcome warm relief on their aching legs and bodies. Evidence of the marching band ahead was all around them with footprints, bloody dead animals, and a kind of putrid smell like a dead skunk or a week-old slain deer festering in the sun. Termâs remembered the smell