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.They had posted guards on the slope above the buildings; as themoon rose he saw them clearly.The archers would have marked them too.They were well within range of the double-curved bows, and the night wasalmost still.The wind would not be a problem.In an hour, he counted only five men at any one moment, and hetouched Lyn Gustav s shoulder. We ll move now.Stay behind me, keepto the shadows.You ve seen the guards on the hill? We ve seen them, Jenna Bartok assured him. They ll be the firstmen down. She had a shortsword in one hand, a dirk in the other.No more than a shadow moving among shadows, Rogan followed thetrees down the slope, and ducked into the cover of the gorse until hereached the creek.It was only a yard wide now, and he leapt over.Helanded lightly in the blue-black moonshadows of a coppiced thicket.Fromthat point, he followed the west side of the creek, where the trees werestrung out along the bank, and sheep and goats roamed, bleating forlornly.If movement should be glimpsed here at all, it would be ignored.The closerto the camp they drew, the safer they were, for the night guards wouldsurely have grown as complacent as their drunken fellows.A dozen yards from the pens, Rogan stopped and ducked into thecover of a hazel patch.He cupped his hands to his mouth, looked oncearound his own group for objections, and gave the owl-call.The archerswould know it at once the hunting cry of the ghostwing, so common inNordheim and so unknown in Harbendane, it could never be mistaken fora real bird.Nothing moved across the valley, but he heard a thud from the pens,253 and then another, and another.In all, he counted seven, and the guardsposted on the slope above Westarven s roofs would have gone down first.The night remained quiet, but for the voices of sheep, a nightjar on theskirts of Alloway, and the sound of drunken revels in the tavern.Without a sound the company moved on.Rogan held to the shadowsand scrub along the creek until the sheep pen itself concealed them fromthe steading.There was no direct line of sight into the pavilions or the barn,and he dared move right to the post-and-rail fence, and show himself.Five men peered at him in the white moonlight.One face belonged toStefan Halloran, and Rogan permitted himself a wrench of relief. Stefan,are you hurt? I m.all right, Stefan said in a low, guttural voice. Rogue! Wheredid you come from? You have a way out? With us, Rogan muttered as he braced his feet and threw everypound of his considerable weight against the bottom rail. Other side of thehill, horses, into Alloway and The rail gave way with a creaking soundand he froze.If the guards had been alive, conscious, the game would havebeen up in that moment, but no eyes were on them, and no ears. Stefan,what became of your company? What you see, Stefan rasped. Get them out. You first, Rogan began.But Stefan was already thrusting others at him. Get them out.Go!Under the rail, Robin.Hurry now.Alaine next, move yourself! Cursing fluently, Rogan took them in the order they were shovedtoward him.He hauled them out under the bottom rail, which had splitaway from the nearest post, making just enough space, and handed themphysically to Gustav and Bartok.He did not stop cursing until he hadStefan s shoulders in both hands. Get down, get flat and slide under, he rasped. Stefan, be quick,man, what s the matter with you? It was Robin, the boy Stefan had pushed out first, who said, For thegodsakes be careful with him, Colonel. He s hurt? Rogan licked his lips, watching the slow, awkward wayStefan moved, the difficulty he had getting down and snaking under therail, as if his body were uncooperative, stiff, almost too reluctant to move. I ve got you, he said then, as he got a firm grip on Stefan s shoulders andhauled him out.A high, sharp cry issued from Stefan s throat, a sound Rogan hadnever heard from him before.The whole company froze, but the cry couldeasily have been a fox, and might have come from a distance, back towardthe forest.Sweat prickled across Rogan s brow, cold in the night air, and heheard the hammer stroke of the pulse in his own ears.The camp remained quiet, save for the muted singing, the squeals ofwhores, the iron clatter from the forge, the soft sounds of horses moving254 about in the stable.Rogan began to breathe again.He hauled Stefan out,physically picked him up and set him on his feet. We don t have a physician with us, he whispered. Can you make itas far as Alloway? I can lose you in the forest, safe, till I can get you asurgeon. Just get.out of here, Stefan muttered
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