Logan was tired of the cold. He shivered as he knelt against the hard grey rock of the ridge. He could be back at camp, keeping himself warm by the fire, but he couldn’t let himself stand still. At least while he scouted ahead, he was too busy to think.

  Below him, a ruined castle stood, surrounded by the same tall black walls that marked the remnants of Abfall. Stillness gripped the air, as if the entire area was locked in times long past. It called him forward with the promises of lost treasures. Statues of rearing elk marked the gates of the walls.

  Surely, Joshua would be there before them. The savod would have opened the seal, just like it promised. There should be hundreds, thousands of the dark creatures pouring out of the castle.

  Yet, it was silent.

  “I don’t like it either.” Carl kneeled down next to him. “If those tales the mage was spinning were true, we should have a welcoming party at least.”

  “There might be something there, hiding,” Logan said.

  “Well, I have a really stupid idea,” Carl said, drawing his sword. “We should go down there and check it out. We might as well test these swords that your friend gave us.”

  Logan grinned halfheartedly. He couldn’t argue with it. If they wanted to scout ahead, they needed to go down into the city. It might be dangerous, but it was what they knew to do. It was their job.

  They snuck down the ridge and across the snowy field that surrounded the castle. Logan’s breath came out in small bursts of white smoke as he and Carl crossed the open area. His heart jumped in his chest.

  Rocks crumbled down as they entered the walls through a hole, but still there was no sign of the savod. Logan’s head snapped left and right as he stepped carefully through the snow. Carl followed closely behind, his hand still on his sword.

  A dark shadow wavered to his right, and Logan threw himself tight against the wall. He hoped they hadn’t seen him. Now was not the time for a fight. Carl had found his place in the shadows across the road.

  Logan edged himself forward along the wall. Each step was painstakingly slow, but he had to be quiet. Finally, he was at the edge of the wall, all he had to do was peer forward. He leaned forward and held his head close to the cold edge.

  A second shadow made him jump back.

  The savod were there. He couldn’t see them well, but they were there. He edged forward again, he needed to know how many there were. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he finally saw them.

  They were unlike the one from before. There were five of them, fighting among themselves in the snow. Almost like dogs playing among their brothers, the four-legged savod rolled and romped together.

  They were like the first savod with their skin as black as night, and two eyes on their round heads. Two long flappy ears rolled out from their heads, along with a single short tail. They didn't seem fierce to Logan, but the long sharp claws on their short legs were a reminder. They were still deadly.

  Carl waved his hands at Logan, drawing his fingers into a fist and then pointing the way forward. Logan shook his head. They couldn’t move any closer right now. They would have to find a way around.

  They traced their steps back and down a separate alleyway. Just the sight of the savod wasn’t enough. If there were more inside, they would need to know. Logan and Carl kept to the dark until they finally found the keep.

  “That’s just as good a place as any,” Carl said. “Those savod are crawling everywhere else here. But that’s the one place where we haven’t seen any.”

  “It’s open ground all the way up to it,” Logan said as he knelt in the shadow of the building’s corner. “If something spots us, we won’t be able to escape easily.”

  “Well, we can’t just leave it,” Carl said. “They’re counting on us.”

  Logan leaned forward, searching the road that led up to the keep. It was quiet, not even shadows flickered in the bright sun. There was a chance he could run along the road and up into the keep before anything came out. That wouldn’t help if there were savod inside.

  He signaled Carl to step back and stepped out into the light.

  He needn’t have bothered. The roar of the large savod ripped through his bones the moment he was out in the open. Logan jumped back instinctively. It took all of his courage to peer around the corner again.

  A wave of shadows shot out from the keep’s door, like a thousand crows taking flight. There were too many of them for him to comprehend. Giant claws reached out as they flew out, pulling out the glowing maw of a giant savod.

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  “I think we found him,” Logan said among the din, pointing back the way they came.

  “Aye.” Carl nodded.

  They picked their way back carefully. There were more of the savod in the streets than before. They ran rampant through the ruined buildings. Logan stepped as quietly as he could, and did his best to control his breathing.

  They finally reached the wall, though it took much longer than getting in. The savod were like a swarm, and they could only make progress a little at a time. Finally, they reached the edge where they had entered.

  The savod swarmed near there as well. Logan and Carl had to wait in the ruins of an old home as the savod rolled and trampled each other in a writhing mass. There was something odd about their movements.

  One savod in particular kept running at the open hole in the wall. Each time it charged at the wall it was repelled back. There was nothing but air there, but the savod could not break through.

  “It can’t get out,” Carl said.

  “Something’s keeping them inside,” Logan said as he leaned a little further out of the shadows. “That means we can get out at least.”

  He dug into the snow and took hold of a rock. It would be enough to make a noise. Logan aimed it well, throwing the rock away from the hole in the wall. The savod scattered at the sound, and then swarmed at the noise.

  Logan didn’t waste a moment. He sprinted forward with Carl close behind. A hundred savod roared behind him, but he didn’t look back. He wouldn’t look back until they were safely beyond the wall.

  He jumped through the hole, and landed hard in the snow. Carl leaned on his knees beside him, laughing as he caught his breath. Behind them, the savod pressed against the invisible wall in a writhing mass.

  “Let’s hurry back to camp.” Carl slapped Logan on his shoulder and started back east.

  The other men were gathering up their supplies when Logan and Carl returned. The fire from the night before was long dead, and Richard stood talking with Elaine and Adrian over a frayed map. It was impossibly old, but it was the only one Richard had.

  “The savod are released,” Logan said as he walked up to them. “We’re too late.”

  “Where are they headed then?” Adrian asked. “What are their numbers?”

  “Hundreds,” Logan said. “There were too many of them to count. But, there is something else. They’re trapped within the walls.”

  “A seal within a seal,” Richard said. “There’s still some hope then. Those sylvestrians are more formidable than I thought.”

  “What do we do then?” Adrian asked.

  “We need to break past them to the original seal. The savod will find a way to dispel the outer one eventually. We need to go inside and restore the first seal,” Richard said.

  “How are we going to get past that many of them?” Logan asked. “If we step inside the walls, we face the entire horde.”

  “Not necessarily,” Elaine said, pointing down to the map. “A diversion might be enough to get us to the seal. We just need to buy some time.”

  “The savod did come out of the keep,” Logan said. “We will have to cover a lot of ground to get there. It would be possible.”

  “It’s a good chance to test out these swords,” Carl said. “How will we divide it up?”

  “I will need to go to the seal,” Richard said. “I will read the magic and do my best to create a counter to invert the magic flow.”

  “We’re going after Joshua,” Logan said, nodding to Elaine. “It’s a promise I’m going to keep, no matter what.”

  “Then I’ll take command of my men and give you as much time as we can.” Adrian nodded. “We’ll attack from the south and west through what holes we can find and draw as many as possible to us.”

  “Don’t stay inside the walls too long,” Logan said.

  “You worry too much,” Adrian said, laughing. “The Crows have been through worse than this. We’ll be waiting outside when you get done.”

  “Thanks.” Logan nodded.

  “We will need to attack soon,” Richard said. “Go, gather your men and tell them about the plan. We’ll have to move in before noon if we hope to get this done.”

  They broke away after that, each going about their work. Logan found a place to sit and started to sharpen his swords and knives. It wasn’t necessarily the thing he should be doing, but it would help him focus.

  It also distracted him from the growing emptiness in his heart. Elaine came and sat next to him after a while. She didn’t say anything, just sat on a rock and closed her eyes. Her breath quieted in moments.

  All around them, the men were gathering their supplies. They would need everything ready for the journey back, after the battle was over. None wanted to stay out in the cold wastes longer than necessary.

  The sharpening stone clattered across his knife as Logan did his work. He kept his eyes focused on the sharp edge of the blade. His hands were numb, even with his gloves covering them. He didn’t care.

  Again and again, he ran the stone across the edge, until he finally made a mistake. A single slice cut through his glove and nicked the skin beneath. He couldn’t feel the pain, but could feel the warm trickle warming with a sharp prick.

  A tear ran down his cheek, slowly descending to his chin. It wasn’t the pain that caused it. He could scarcely feel anything at all. He looked out over his friends and knew that many would not leave Abfall alive.

  He might not even live through it.

  It was not the first time for him to confront death in his life. It would not be the last time. It couldn’t stop his heart from weeping. That knowledge wouldn’t even stop the pain that he knew would come.

  “There isn’t much we can hope for now, is there?” Elaine asked with a sigh, sitting up and looking to Logan.

  “We might not be able to save Joshua,” Logan said. “We might die before we reach the seal. We might not be able to stop the savod at all.”

  “You’re thinking about it as well,” Elaine said.

  “I am.” Logan sighed. “But I also know it doesn’t matter.”

  “What doesn’t matter?” Elaine asked.

  “What might possibly happen doesn’t matter,” Logan said. “If it does, we aren’t coming back. We have to focus on our path. If we let the chance of losing hold us back, we won’t get anything done.”

  He drew some courage from his heart. He might not have Talan’s guiding words in his mind anymore, but he would at least see her quest through. Even if it was impossible, he knew that he had to try.

  “We will save Joshua,” Logan said. “And we will stop the savod, even if we have to face down each and every one of them.”

  Elaine smiled at him, and he knew that she was already ready to do the same. She just needed to know that he was ready. He sheathed his knife. They stood together and walked toward Richard and Adrian.

  Adrian was already telling the plan to the men. The men didn’t scoff. They didn’t call the plan impossible. They knew better than to doubt. These were the Crows, the greatest mercenaries in Nelim.

  They wouldn’t go down without a fight.