A foul wind blew through what remained of Tyrn Lhug. There was silence and no living thing moved within the huts or trod the pathways. Aphar turned his horse and shouted to the troops behind him,
"Forward! We go to Bail Rova!"
The column began to move slowly, more slowly than when they began for the ranks were now swollen to twice their number. The score of easterlings behind Aphar were careful now to keep their eyes front, for the sight of the hollow-eyed women and children that stood among the soldiers of the dead unnerved them.
The salt-covered flats spread before them, desolate and poisonous at the same time. Large turtles moved slowly through the mineral laced pools and mudpots belched their stench into the thick air.
It may have been a trick of the light, but in the distance it seemed a rider approached. A halt was called, and the Easterling prince sat astride his horse and waited. The rider neared and hailed the host, driving his horse forward towards Aphar though it shied and screamed at the presence of the dead. The dust covered rider bowed deeply from the saddle.
"My lord Aphar! I bear a message from the one called Yilgtig..." He held out a parchment. The Easterling prince rode forward taking the parchement from the rider's trembling hand. Aphar's face blackened with hatred as he read.
"Who? Who is this "hunter' who declares he will bring ME to nothing?" He motioned for his Kundolar guard to take the man from his horse. The beast ran in terror when it felt the weight of its rider taken from it, disappearing quickly over the horizon.
The terrified man cried, "There is such a man dwelling with the hillmen of the lake! Mercy, my lord..."
Aphar looked at him coldly and motioned to his guardsmen.
"Let him join the ranks. We march for Aughaire."
