"Forcing her north or back to the west," the Yatol observed.
"North to the road where more Jacintha soldiers might join us in encircling the To-gai-ru," the Chezhou-Lei explained. ?And west back to the steppes. It would be better if we pushed her out of Behren altogether, I believe."
"She will be harder to find and destroy in the steppes."
"But Behren will be secure, and the people will be calmed, and that, I be-lieve is a primary goal of Chezru Chieftain Douan."
"Do not presume to know the will of the God-Voice!" Yatol Bardoh snapped back, and then he recoiled, fearing that his suddenly excited tone would reveal much of his thinking. For Yatol Bardoh did not wish any help from Jacintha in ridding Behren of this To-gai-ru witch, nor was he concerned about calming the populace. Bardoh understood well that tur-moil was his opportunity to strengthen his own position, and that the more credit he could take for killing the Dragon of To-gai, the more power and influence he would attain throughout the kingdom. He especially needed that great victory now, given his disgrace in losing Avrou Eesa to the woman. Even though the city was firmly back in Behrenese hands, the scars of the Dragon of To-gai's attack would be enduring indeed.
And so the man was somewhat ambivalent about this new assistance where his master, the Chezru Chieftain, claimed to be communicating di-rectly to Yatol. Yes, Bardoh was thrilled to have the intelligence he needed finally to catch up with his adversary. But on the other hand, it galled him that the assistance was coming from Jacintha, and thus stealing his glory.
"If we do not catch this Dragon of To-gai, and soon, then the people may come to look upon us as failures, Yatol Bardoh," Chezhou-Lei Shauntil dared to remark, quietly, so that only the Yatol and not the other comman-ders in the map room could hear.
Bardoh straightened and stared hard at the perceptive warrior, but he calmed quickly and even nodded his appreciation. It was an important reminder.
"Let us begin to herd the witch," he said.
"They knew that we were moving south," Brynn said to Pagonel. From a high dune, the pair could see the distant lights of a long Behrenese encamp-ment, stretched out across the desert.
"Their line is thin," the woman went on. ?We could break through it."
"And lose more warriors in the fight."
"We would kill many more than we would lose."
"And they can afford to lose many, many more," the mystic reminded. ?Our pursuers try to force fights, even skirmishes. They dog us and look to attrition to thin our ranks. We are not on the steppes, and while you know that we are fighting for your homeland, our mere presence here forces the whole of the Behrenese population to feel the same way. If we break through and kill a thousand, and lose only a hundred in the process, then the day will still belong to Yatol Bardoh and not to Brynn."
"We must continue to ride hard, then," said a determined Brynn. ?Our opportunities may prove fewer in number, and so we must be vigilant to find and exploit each and every one."
Pagonel nodded, but he could not wipe the grim expression from his face. He understood what was going on, and with the Chezru Chieftain using a soul stone to locate the To-gai-ru and relay their position to the pur-suing army, Brynn's greatest advantage, unpredictability, was no more.
He and Brynn had even discussed the possibility of breaking up the sin-gle army into many swifter independent forces. It had been a fleeting thought, though, for how would they supply so many divisions? No small force would be able to take on a city, and Behren was a kingdom of great cities, not small enclaves.
Pagonel didn't voice his fear then, but he knew that Brynn already understood that she and her forces might soon be running across the To-gai steppes once more.
Even there, they would be effectively hunted.
Agradeleous' expression told Brynn that he hardly wanted to hear her words of encouragement. She had come to him to explain the need for their continuing run, to beg him to fly off more often and gather the supplies to keep the riders and their mounts fresh and ready to flee.
"Attack them!" the dragon demanded. ?Let us vanquish our enemies here and now and be done with this folly!"
"You stand straight no longer," Brynn observed, and the dragon, whose wounds from the breakout at Avrou Eesa had indeed bent