“Did we lose anybody?” I asked, trying to breathe only through my mouth.

Delik Slin nodded. “Only one, a Kefnakian priest. His name was Corhil, I believe.”

I shook my head sadly. “How about wounded?” They all nodded at that. “Any of them serious?”

They looked at each other then Thilos shrugged. “I do not think so.”

“Thank the gods. Let’s get the wounded tended to and then get moving again as quickly as possible. I need to talk to Vone.”

They all nodded and we separated. I saw Vone kneeling by his fallen brother with the other Kefnakian priest beside him. As I approached I could hear that they were quietly praying so I stopped short and waited. When they were done Vone stood and saw me. He waved me closer. “Dirk, are you okay? And everyone else?”

“I’m fine. I only fought the injured and sleeping. Even I can manage that without getting hurt. I’m sorry about Corhil.”

Vone nodded, looking back at the two priests that had accompanied him. One still kneeling as he removed the possessions of the other. “He died well. He killed several of the largest drants before he fell. He gave his life in service to Kefnak and there is no higher honor for us, his priests. That being said he did not need to throw caution to the wind and rush forward so quickly that none of the rest of us could keep up with him. He was so eager to kill as many drants as he could.” He turned back to me, sighing. “I wish he had not been so careless, though, we could have used his help against any Kathaldi we run into. He was fearless.”

I laid a hand on Vone’s shoulder. “Sometimes, a little fear can keep you alive.” He nodded. “What do we need to do for him? For his body? We need to get back on the road if we hope to make it to Tarn before nightfall.”

“That, at the least, will not be a problem. For Kefnakian priests on campaign there is no need for a lengthy ceremony. We just need to burn the body. Stern has already collected his personal items so they can be returned to his parents. We will be ready to leave in but a few minutes.”

I released his shoulder, it had started to become awkward. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Vone was as good as his word. They doused Corhil’s body with some lantern oil and soon he was burning fiercely. “We do not have to wait for him to be consumed. He is afire strongly and that is all that is required.”

I watched Vone closely, to make sure he was okay. He seemed fine and we needed to get to Tarn. “Let’s mount up!” I called out and everyone moved to comply. Except for Thilos, who waved me over to him. He was standing by some horses. When I got there he stepped back from the one he had been petting on its nose. “We have two injured horses.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have spares.” I said with a smile.

“It is, but it means that two of our party will not be able to switch horses. They will have to fall behind or risk injuring or even killing their mounts.”

“Even if we put our two lightest people on our two best horses?” I asked.

Thilos shrugged. “That will help a little but it would not be enough. I believe we are going to end up with two people not making it to Tarn tonight with the rest of us. They will either have to camp out alone and hope that no drants happen upon them or we can send them back to Captain Klote and the cavalry. They only have one horse each so they could keep up with them with no trouble. I think that is the best option.”

I nodded. “Which two do we send?”

“Two of my warders. We are not using them as scouts at this point and they can try to evade any drants they find.”

“Sounds good. Let them know. Hopefully, we’ll see them soon in Tarn. We can wait for them there and find a couple of horses to be their new spares.” I started to leave then paused. “What will you do with the injured horses?”

“Set them loose. They cannot keep up with us or the warders heading to the calvary so there is no other option. Thankfully, they are not injured enough to require being put down.”

I nodded before heading to find my own mount, pulling my cloak around me for warmth. During the fight with the drants I hadn’t noticed the cold but now that the excitement of potentially being injured or killed had worn off I felt the fact that winter was almost here more than ever.