Kay leapt onto his horse and spurred Demon toward his own band. He heard Lhored give another order: “Fol—put that one out of her misery.†The thunder of Demon’s hooves almost drowned the woman’s scream. He didn’t hear the arrow that whizzed out of the hills and into the young herdsman’s back.
The allied war bands of A’o and Okan are drawn into the fierce Battle of Loma Alda, a fight whose consequences will echo down through several generations. In the trials to come, Kaybrel Kubna of Moor Lek and his cousin, Jag Bova Mayr of Rozek, will win the titles Fire-Rider and Snow-Killer through their valor and desperate bravery.