[Belin]

Kadwyr peered anxiously at the armies. He remembered the moves he'd been taught, he was almost certain of it--that is, if these youngsters would leave him a moment to think. They flocked around him, apparently forgetting everything they'd ever learned about formations or demeanor. They crowded together, staring downward, murmuring. A real battle!

Impatiently, Kadwyr snapped at them. "You know better!" he cried. "Don't you remember anything? Weren't you--" His eye fell upon Brak. The older crow had somehow gotten his followers in order and was already in place. "Look at that!" called Kadwyr. "They remember!"

"We remember! We know!" they chorused.

"Well, come on!"

They sped to the fore, quick and high. Young, swift, and more expendable than the other crows, they were to be the first that the armies would see.

A tense silence settled over them. The orcs pressed ahead, never looking up. It was entirely possible that the straw-heads would be the first to see them. The crebain flew on, smoothly, trying, thought Kadwyr, to concentrate. It was certainly more than he could do. He looked over his shoulder at Pip'kha, who had captained him with the greatest good humor and a certain self-control that had, at the time, impressed Kadwyr as fearlessness, and he was startled to see the older bird looking troubled for the moment or two before he caught Kadwyr's eye and nodded encouragingly at him.

Kadwyr faced forward,unable to regain his composure and terrified of the perception of his followers. "Think of the eyes," he muttered, "think of the eyes."

[ December 28, 2002: Message edited by: Belin ]