Page 59 of The Infernal Battalion

“There’s another one,” Leti said.

“Hmm?” Winter looked up and saw the wolf, standing on a rocky outcrop, staring down at the passing column with steady interest.

“They usually aren’t so eager to show themselves,” Leti said, looking back. “I wonder if there’s something wrong with it.”

“It looks... thin,” Winter said. Her skin prickled. The wolf’s ribs were clearly visible, and its coat was patchy. Its tongue lolled, breath steaming in the chilly air.

Three Haeta, led by Vess, came running up the length of the column. Seeing Winter standing beside her sister, Vess hesitated for a moment, then strode forward.

“Wolves,” she said. “A dozen or more at the rear of the column, following close.”

“Wolves will not attack humans,” Leti repeated, though now she didn’t sound quite as certain.

“Wolves don’t gather in packs larger than a half dozen, either,” Vess said.

“I think,” Winter said, “that the rules may have changed.” She had an image of packs stalking through the empty forests, with most of their usual game fled or dead and rotting. Getting hungrier and hungrier, until...

She looked around. They were on relatively open ground, a rocky hillside leading down to a winding stream. A few miles farther on, the stream curved across their path, and beyond it was another ridge, huge chunks of tumbled stone rising above the trees.

“I think we need to move a little faster,” she said carefully. She wasn’t sure how well Leti would take advice from a strange foreigner. “If we can get to the forest, we can put our backs to those rocks.”

“She’s right,” Vess said, though her expression was pinched. “In the open they will surround us.”

Leti nodded. She was trying hard to look decisive, Winter thought, but it made it easier to see how young she was, her big eyes just a fraction too wide. Vess, half a head shorter and several years younger, seemed more calm. Leti shouted something in Haeta and sent her sister to the back of the column to spread the word.

Winter herself fell back, looking for Abraham. She found him and Alex together, watching apprehensively over their shoulders. Two wolves were visible, walking at an easy pace well behind the rear guards, their gray fur flecked with white patches.

“Did you ask Leti about—” Alex said.

“Yes,” Winter said.

“And are we worried?”

“Yes. We need to move fast. Abraham, can you run?”

“Run?” He groaned. “I can try. Not for long.”

“I can carry him, if we need to,” Alex said. “I’ve done it before.”

“Good,” Winter said. “Make sure he keeps up. If anyone gets left behind...” She looked back at the wolves again and shuddered.

The Haeta had adopted a faster pace, each girl alternating between a jog and a walk. The rear guards pulled in, staying within a quick sprint of the rest of the column, and the scouts in front pushed farther ahead. The precision of it all made Winter think of the Grand Army, and she wondered how many drills these young women had had to go through. Abraham stumbled along, puffing, with Alex staying protectively by his side. Winter went back to the front of the group, where Leti was calling to the others.

“It may not be enough.” Vess spoke, unexpectedly, from beside Winter. “If they attack, it will be at twilight, when they are hardest to see.”

Winter glanced at the sky. The sun was already well down toward the horizon. Under ordinary circumstances, they’d probably have camped on the near side of the stream.

“We’ll make it.” She tried to sound reassuring. Vess only glanced at her sourly and slunk away.

The clouds were changing to a delicate pink when the scouts reached the stream, the rest of the column descending the hillside close behind. From above, Winter could see the two girls on scouting duty look at the water and then at each other. One of them stayed put, while the other sprinted back up the slope and called at the top of her lungs in Haeta.

“What?” Winter’s heart was in her throat. “What did she say?”

“It’s too deep,” Leti translated, staring down at the stream. “We’d have to swim, or find another place to cross.”

“We don’t have time to find another place to cross.” If Vess was right, they didn’t have time for anything.

“Swimming water that cold and fast is too dangerous,” Leti said. She bit her nail nervously. “They may not even come today, or at all. We should—”