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the approach to the garrison. Apparently, Menak did not consider an attack from within Losz to be of any concern. At night, it appeared that only four crossbowmen stood watch on the wall overlooking the mountain pass, with another two soldiers down on the ground guarding the mechanism that opened the door. Six more guards, these armed with swords, patrolled the cluster of buildings and two stayed outside of Menak’s quarters at all times.
    There were only six men separating them from the relative freedom of the mountain pass. The other eight were either on patrol, and therefore not immediately able to get in on a fight, or guarding Menak, and they would be loath to leave their posts for any reason. In fact, it seemed safe to assume that should a fight break out, one would rouse Lord Menak, and the other would awake the other soldiers. But it would take them time to organize, and there were only six at the wall and gate. It was about a half mile from the furthest out building to the gate, which, on horseback, they could cover in a matter of minutes. Cor knew he could handle the two guards on the ground.
    “Do not worry about the crossbowmen on the wall,” Thyss had said, a familiar gleam in her eye.
    The bigger problem that Cor saw was that their group was comprised mostly of children. Keeping them on horseback at a gallop would be difficult for some of the younger ones. Also, should any fall or become separated, there would be no time to save them; they must reach the gate before the alarm went up, then eliminate the guards and open the gate within a minute at most. Hopefully then they could slip into the darkness of night in the pass and make their escape. Traversing that rocky terrain at night presented another problem altogether, but one he would worry about later.
    Cor opted to tie all the horses together with Thyss’ rope; she had no doubt that it would withstand whatever stresses the horses put upon it. He left his own palomino and Thyss’ horse off of the train to give them the freedom that would be necessary. The four oldest would be responsible for keeping track of the others, for they would be riding fast to reach the wall.
    The guards on patrol represented another problem, and both Cor and Thyss knew it. They could hope with such a large area that they would not be seen by one of these men, but there was little doubt that the guards would hear them ride in. Cor did not plan on trying to be silent; if he had, he would have discarded the horses altogether. No, speed was needed here. The guards would most definitely hear some commotion, but they would try to investigate the noise before raising any alarm. Hopefully by the time they knew what was going on, Cor and the Dahken would be at the gate.
    They ate a cold meal shortly before the sun began to set, and Cor forced his group to remain as still as possible and rest. He knew they would need the rest, for the hardest part of the journey was yet ahead, but requiring children to reign in their boundless energy was not so simple. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the air’s temperature dropped substantially, and this helped calm even the younger children. Eventually, they all began to huddle close to each other for warmth and drifted off to sleep, except for Cor. He could not calm his nerves, and he noted disdainfully that even Thyss had stretched out languidly and slept.
    Cor woke them up before midnight, starting with Thyss and the older Dahken. He and Thyss tied the horses together and made other preparations while the teenagers aroused the younger children. He noted with satisfaction that it took little effort to get the entire group up and moving quickly. The infant remained asleep, and Cor hoped he would stay that way for some time. He did not look forward to having a screaming infant adding to the din of battle and confusion that was sure to come, but Cor had little faith that the child would sleep through the mad dash for the Loszian wall.
    The horses