Chapter 54

• The day was fading into shades of violet and crimson. The cold wind that had howled across the pass had given way, at the foot of the hills, to a quiet, clammy dampness.
• The company made camp in a small grove of crooked, gnarled trees, their bare branches scratching at the low gray sky.
• The soldiers worked in silence, pitching tents and lighting fires, careful not to make too much noise. The Wild Lands did not like loud sounds.