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"Ah, but you do not see,to me The information--that is what is iold I could give that gold to a coive it to theof beauty

"Please, my Lord, let me remain a simple secretary You see, one of the easiest ways to tell if soes" He chuckled "I’ve uncovered more than one assassin or spy that way, yes I have No pay is needed The opportunity to ith you is its own payed, but nodded, and Balithdrew Perrin stepped out of the pavilion, stowing the pictures in his pocket They disturbed him He’d bet these pictures were in Andor, too, placed by the Forsaken

For the first ti to need an arht

The wave of bestial Trollocs surged over the top of the hill, overrunning the last of the fortifications They grunted and howled, thick-fingered hands tearing at the dark Saldaean soil and clutching swords, hooked spears, hammers, clubs and other wicked weapons Spittle dripped from tusked lips on some, while on others wide, too-human eyes stared out from behind wicked beaks Their black ar with him at the bottom of the back slope of the hillside He had ordered the lower camp to disband and retreat as far as they could to the south along the riverbank Meanwhile, the army had retreated froround, but getting pushed down that steep hill during an assault would have been deadly He had room to fall back, so he’d use it, now that the fortifications were lost

He positioned his forces just at the base of the hill, near where the lower camp had once been The Domani soldiers wore steel caps and had set their fourteen-foot pikes with butts in the dirt, holding the wave of Trollocs A classic defensive position: three ranks of pikemen and shieldmen, pikes slanted toward the top of the slope When the first rank of pikes killed a Trolloc, they’d fall back and pull their weapons free, letting the second rank step forward to kill A slow, careful retreat, rank by rank

A double row of archers behind began loosing arrows, sla bodies down the slope Those rolled, soer nuet at the pikele-headed Trolloc died on a pike in front of Ituralde There were chips along the edges of the thing’s beak, and its head--set with predatory eyes--sat atop a bull-like neck, the edge of the feathers coated with some kind of dark, oily substance The monster screeched as it died, voice low and only faintly avian, soe

"Hold!" Ituralde called, turning and trotting his horse down the line of pikeed down the hillside, dying on those pikes It would be a temporary reprieve There were tootriple pike line would be overwhel tactic Behind thean their retreat Once the lines had weakened, the Asha’ tie the strength He’d pushed them hard Maybe too hard He didn’t know their limits the way he did for ordinary troops If they were able to break the Trolloc advance, his army would fall back southward That retreat would take them past the safety of Maradon, but they would not be allowed in Those inside had rebuffed all Ituralde’s attempts at communication "We do not abet invaders" had been the reply each time Bloody fools

Well, the Trollocs would likely for Ituralde and his men time to fall back to a ain, riding past an area where the Trolloc press was beginning to show results Atop one of the hilltop fortifications, a pack of wolf-headed Trollocs lurked, wary, while their coed down before the

A volley of arrows followed, spraying the wolf-headed Trollocs, or "Minds" as the Dragonsworn in Ituralde’s ar theanization, but his men often referred to individuals by the features they displayed "Horns" for goats, "Beaks" for hawks, "Ar the ent; so the huain with or trick their opponents

Ituralde knew much about Trollocs now You needed to know your eneence and personality And there were roups Ituralde swore he’d seen one twisted abooat

The Trollocs atop the fortification tried to get out of the way of the arrows A large pack of hulking beasts behind shoved thes, norry, but if they hipped into a frenzy, they fought well

The Fades would follow this initial wave Once the archers were out of arrows, and Trollocs had softened the ht, Ituralde thought I hope we can outrun them The Asha’man waited in the distance for his order He wished he had them closer But he couldn’t risk it They were too important an asset to lose to a stray arrow

Hopefully, the front ranks of Trollocs would be severely battered by the pikeainst the pikes--and the Trollocs behind stuainst their own bloody re Saldaeans would ride as a harrying force at any who got through the Asha’man blasts Then the pikemen should be able to draw back and follow the rest of the arateways to fall back to his next chosen position, a forested pass soues south

His ht, but he hated being forced to command a too-fast retreat like this

Stay fir to ride and call out the order to hold It was ion Reborn He&rs