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them. The cold was a secondary concern,
made bearable by her layers of feathers.
For long miles, she flew and flew, scanning
the empty terrain. Villages they had passed
through during the summer had been emptied,
their inhabitants fleeing north. She prayed
they’d found safe harbor before the snows,
that the magic-wielders within those villages
got far from Morath’s nets. There had been a
girl in one of the towns who had been blessed
with a powerful water gift—had she and her
family been taken in behind Orynth’s thick
walls?
Lysandra caught an updraft and soared
higher, the horizon revealing more of itself.
The first of the foothills passed below, ridges
of light and shadow under the cloudy sky.
Getting the army over them would not be a
simple task, but the Bane had fought near here
before. They undoubtedly knew the path