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"You are correct," Deepe said "But neither of us can do anything about that" He raised his hand, doing soht appeared over his hand--the signal he used to draw the others to hi They cannot continue to hold that kind of Poithout…consequences"
Yoeli nodded, then hurried away Ituralde took Deepe’s ar his attention
"You Asha’man are too ion sent us here to help, not to die If this city falls, I want you to take the others and whatever wounded you can and get out Do you understand, soldier?"
"Many of my men will not like this"
"But you know it is for the best," Ituralde said "Don’t you?"
Deepe hesitated "Yes You are correct, as you so often are I will get them out" He spoke in a lower voice "This is a hopeless resistance,out there, it will be deadly It galls est it…but what you have said about my Asha’man applies to your soldiers as well Let us flee" He said the word "flee" with bitterness
"The Saldaeans wouldn’t leave with us"
"I know"
Ituralde considered it Finally, he shook his head "Every day we delay up here keeps these o, Deepe This is still the best place to fight You’ve seen how fortified those buildings are; we can hold inside for a few days, split apart, keep the army busy"
"Then my Asha’man could stay and help"
"You have your orders, son You follow them Understand?"
Deepe snapped his jaw shut, then nodded curtly "I will take--"
Ituralde didn’t hear the rest An explosion hit
He didn’t feel it arrive He was standing with Deepe one moment, then found hiely silent around hi a tre in his right eye; it seared with pain when he blinked Why was everything so quiet?
He rolled over, coughing again, right eye squeezed shut, the other watering The wall ended a few inches away froasped An enorroaned, looking back in the other direction Deepe had been standing beside hi on the alk nearby, head bleeding His right leg ended in a ragged rip of flesh and broken bone above where the knee should have been Ituralde cursed and stu to his knees beside thebeneath Deepe, but he was still twitching Alive