It was a gesture that only I could see. For every warrior that runs, I will kill five others,” I said as I brushed my sword clean with my hand before returning it to its sheath. Salient crushed, my warriors cheered again and chased after the fleeing Arkadians. Now Vidar too recognized the danger. But Torstein astutely realized that the battle was not in fact decided. A tanned teenager in a cotton bra and shorts screeched in agony, her heels digging furrows into the sand. Now, he charged in its defense. He had expected me to fight like an unsophisticated brigand, never expecting that I would hide another force behind the curtain. Blood speckled her belly and her short hide skirt—probably somebody else’s as opposed to her own. Odur rammed his blade so far into her back that the point burst bloodily from her belly. After dashing themselves to destruction at the top of the beach, most were unwilling to do so again by the water. They’d stared at death long enough for one day. A short
