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When the storm had begun in earnest, Aleya had been nervous. Never has such a storm developed so quickly. Glancing to James, she just wonders what kind of man he is, that he can control even the winds.

Following Jiron as he heads along their lines, she’s thankful that he told her to cover her face with the cloth. The continuous peppering by the sand and rocks had begun to sting terribly.

As the storm rages in intensity, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep Jiron in sight. She finally has to ride with her horse just scant inches behind his to keep from losing him in the storm.

Then suddenly, they’re among the troops from Kern. Her horse is struck by a pike and she’s thrown to the ground, landing among the troops. Only the severity of the storm allows her to not be readily noticed by them. Getting up, all she can see around her are the indistinct forms of the soldiers. Jiron and James are nowhere to be seen.

Cries and shouts from the men around her are blown upon the wind, their meanings lost. Realizing she’s got to get out of there, she begins forcing her way through the lines.

A soldier suddenly appears before her, an officer by his uniform. “Back in line soldier!” he yells at her. The cloth over her face hides her features so well, he believes she’s one of his own troops. As she comes to within a foot of the officer, she acts like she’s stumbled. When he comes to help her, she lashes out with her shoulder and knocks him off balance and into the surrounding men.

Crying out, the officer stumbles backward as she races past. Behind her, the officer as well as his shouting, soon disappears in the roar of the storm. Moving quickly, she makes her way through the now disorganized lines. The storm has certainly reduced the moral of the troops, she can hear words of fear and dread coming from those she’s making her way through.

Suddenly, one young soldier grabs her and cries, “What’s happening?” Fear evident in the young man’s voice. Hating to do it to someone as terrified as him, she quickly disengages herself from his grip and shoves him backward away from her.

Moving past another soldier, she finds herself in the space between the footmen and the bowmen. It’s at this time the storm begins to subside and the visibility gradually improves.

“You!” a shout breaks through the storm behind her. She turns around and another officer stands staring straight at her. Fear at being found out immobilizes her as she stares into his eyes.

The officer then points to the squad of bowmen behind her and orders, “Get back in line!”

The bow on her back must make him believe she’s one of his troops. With the visibility improving, there’s little chance of her succeeding in bulling her way through the archers as she had with the footmen. So she moves and takes position in line with the other archers, praying that she will not be found out.

Glancing around, she finds that she’s in the fore of a squad of twenty archers, one of ten such squads positioned behind the footmen to offer support should that become necessary. As the storm subsides, she looks around for Jiron and James but they’re nowhere to be found. They must’ve made it through!

From before them, a horn sounds and the officer in charge of their squad hollers, “Ready bows!”

The other archers remove their bows from behind their backs and put arrows to string as they await the command to aim. Aleya follows suit. Standing there with her sole remaining arrow to string she tries to discover what’s happening.

From the south the forces of the Empire approach their lines, stopping a hundred yards away. Leaders from both sides ride out, meeting for a parley in the middle. Whatever is said between them, she’s much too far away to be able to hear. But she has a fairly good idea what they’re talking about.

“We’re in for it now,” she hears one man next to her mumble.

The leaders stay out there for a good ten minutes before each turns about and heads back to their lines. When the Cardri general reaches the fore of his men, he stops and