Free Fallen Ward (Deepwoods Saga Book 3) by Honor Raconteur Page A

a steady jog, silently, felt eerie to Siobhan. She was used to this many people moving at once, but there was always laughter and jokes and stories going about during the trip. This dead silence, except for breathing and the low thunder of footsteps, felt like they were traveling to a funeral. Hardly a comforting thought, when they were heading for an enemy-occupied city.
    The hours and spans passed with nothing more than the occasional word exchanged. The sun slowly disappeared, the stars becoming brighter in the sky, and the temperature dropped. Siobhan’s body was warm and loose after constantly moving, and she was thankful for that, as the wind on her face had a distinct chill to it.
    Tran might’ve been accustomed to running at full speed wherever he went, but he was also used to traveling with people that didn’t have the same stamina that he did. He did nothing more than glance over his shoulder now and again, and when the first person flagged, slowing to a walk, he slowed as well. Siobhan heaved a silent breath of relief, as she was sure that if he’d kept that up much longer, she would have stumbled to a walking pace.
    Out in this open space, with nothing more than moon and stars to light the way, it was difficult to see anything more than vague silhouettes. Still, everyone could see Goldschmidt as they approached it. Tran didn’t go directly to the city, but skirted around the southern edge, toward the dry river bed.
    Siobhan frowned, as that wasn’t the plan. They were supposed to go to the east, by the canal, and drop off the sandbags.
    “Tran?” she asked in a loud whisper.
    She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but his voice had a frown in it. “We’re making too much noise. Even in this darkness, if we get too close to the walls, they’ll hear us.”
    Oh. Were they really being that loud? Siobhan strained her ears and discovered that Tran’s concern might very well be dead on. They were used to a certain level of noise from Goldschmidt, no matter what hour it was, because the city was that large. But with it occupied by only a few thousand people, the city was relatively quiet. In fact, there was hardly a noise to be heard from it. In the stillness of the night, the noise their group was making could probably be heard on top of the walls.
    Storm and sky, that wasn’t something they had factored into their plans. She’d have to figure out how to get all of those sandbags over to the canal. Actually, she had a sinking feeling she already knew how that would have to happen. Siobhan was just in denial at the moment. Her aching legs and back preferred not to think about carrying additional weight at dawn.
    They arrived at the mouth of the dry river bed and Tran slowed to—for him—an absolute crawl. The river bed wasn’t smooth, after all. It had a very uneven surface with rocks sticking up everywhere. People had to move with caution just to avoid turning an ankle or landing on their faces.
    As they packed in, Siobhan stayed at the mouth while Tran moved forward, softly encouraging her group to stay to the right, and Tran’s to stay to the left. When it came time to move, she didn’t want her group tangled up with his, and having to jostle their way out. When the last person was settled, she moved forward, checking on her people as she did so, and finding that while they were all winded, with aching legs and backs, no one had lost their determination. Satisfied, Siobhan passed along the word to eat, drink, and settle in for whatever rest they could on this rocky ground. She estimated it to be nearly three in the morning, and dawn happened in roughly two and a half hours. They wouldn’t have time to sleep after that, so they needed to snatch whatever sleep they could now.
    Finally, she reached Tran’s side again. He had his head turned so that he kept an eagle eye on the city gates not far from them. Although what he expected to see in this darkness, she didn’t know. With fumbling,