[Belin]

The day had been cold, nearly as cold as the night. All the down on Kadwyr's body did not suffice to protect him from the wind, which was as insistent as Pip'kha had been that morning, and not nearly as friendly. Korag had flown next to him, muttering irritably.

"Winter in the mountains," he said. "Worse luck ours. Do you suppose tonight will be colder still? If you ask me--"
Kadwyr hadn't, and hadn't meant to. He was quite cold enough on his own account. "Have you been in the mountains before?" he interrupted.

"Me, in the mountains? Certainly, of course. Dozens of times. Enough, anyway, to tell you that storms on mountains are--what are you laughing at, Eschkor?"

"Dozens indeed, you're younger than I am!" answered Eschkor, but several more naive crebain were already clamoring for details, and Kadwyr was glad to hear Korag's grumbled complaints subside into his usual outrageous gossip.

Their attention was so easily drawn off, he reflected. Just as in the battle, it was a question of minding small affairs or greater ones. For instance, Pip'kha's departure had gone unnoticed as far as they were concerned. But Kadwyr had noticed it. He noted the direction of the bird's flight, and stored the bit of information away, imagining the rumors that would arise once the others noticed Pip'kha's absence. He would keep it to himself, he decided; the gossip would be well worth hearing.

The ground beneath them was wild and uninviting. Kadwyr watched it carefully for signs of movement, but of course no ground-crawling creature would travel in such a place by choice. He wondered what it would be like for someone without wings moving slowly from tree to tree, perhaps glad of their shelter but still exposed to the constant injury of the hard, rocky ground that led up to the mountains, driven no doubt by some form of desperate need. Why woiuld anyone want to travel over such a land?

Indeed, why did they want to travel over such a land? There was nobody to spy on here, and Akaaw had been less than forthcoming, as was his way. But surely they were searching for something, and surely they needed to know what it was. As Akaaw brought them down toward the lake, Kadwyr was already considering the best way to pry information out of his chief.