Shreck's troopers were edging closer. He had sent a couple of packs back to get directions. "A couple of minutes. I'll come down in a couple of minutes." She spoke the words to the troopers on the palisade and to Steel back in the yard. Then she turned to survey her domain. She had only extended two of herself across less than a quarter of a mile. But there was no perceptible time lag; coordination had the same abrupt feel it did when she was all together. And there was plenty more pull in the braid-bone straps. What if all five of her spread out, moved miles apart? All of the northland would be her private room. And Flenser? Ah, Flenser. Where was he? The memories were still there, but.... Tyrathect remembered the loss of consciousness right when the radios began working. It took a special skill of coordination to think in the face of such terrible speed. Perhaps Lord Flenser had never walked between close cliffs when he was new. Tyrathect smiled. Perhaps only her mindset could hold when using the radios. In that case.... Tyrathect looked again across the landscape. Flenser had made a great empire. If these new developments were managed properly, then the coming victories could make it infinitely grander. He turned to Shreck's troopers. "Very well,
复件 (85) air max1, I'm ready to return to Lord Steel." .Delete this paragraph to shift page flush CHAPTER 31 It was high summer when Woodcarver's army left for the north. The preparations had been frantic,
Limited Edition - Detox High Performance Professional Headphones, with Vendacious driving himself and everyone else to the point of exhaustion. There had been cannons to make -- Scrupilo cast seventy tubes before getting thirty that would fire reliably. There had been cannoneers to train -- and safe methods of firing to discover. There had been wagons to build and kherhogs to buy. Surely word of the preparations had long ago filtered north. Woodcarvers was a port city; they could not close down the commerce that moved through it. Vendacious warned them of this in more than one inner council meeting: Steel knew they were coming. The trick was in keeping the Flenserists uncertain as to numbers and timing and exact purpose. "We have one great advantage over the enemy," he said. "We have agents in his highest councils. We know what he knows of us." They couldn't disguise the obvious from the spies,
复件 (30) air max2, but the details were a different matter. The army departed along inland routes,
复件 (30) air max1, a dozen wagons here, a few squads there. In all there were a thousand packs in the expedition, but they would never be together till they reached deep forest. It would have been easier to take the first part of the trip by sea, but the Flenserists had spotters hidden high in the fjordlands. Any ship movement -- even deep in Woodcarver territory -- would be known in the north. So they traveled on forest paths, through areas that Vendacious had cleared of enemy agents. At first the going was very easy, at least for those with the wagons. Johanna rode in one of the rear ones with Woodcarver and Dataset. Even I'm beginning to treat the thing like an oracle, thought Johanna. Too bad it couldn't really predict the future. The weather was as beautiful as Johanna had ever seen it on Tines world, an endless afternoon. It was strange that such unending fairness should make her so nervous, but she couldn't help it. This was so much like her first time on this world, when everything had ... gone wrong. During the first dayarounds of the journey,
复件 (36) air max1, while they were still in home territory,
复件 (13) air max1, Woodcarver pointed out every peak that came into view and tried to translate its name into Samnorsk for her.