A total of 137 warhorses and 352 packhorses.
That was the number of mounts Rus's group had when they left the Scorpion Nest—an even larger force than when they had first arrived.
Before departing, Rus ordered the surplus fuel and food they couldn't take with them to be gathered in one place—and set ablaze.
The soldiers carried out the order with routine precision, while the gray dwarves lingered curiously around the bonfire.
But the most impassioned were the women.
Cursing, crying, they hurled firewood into the blaze with hate-filled hands. As the flames devoured the castle, their eyes brimmed with emotions too complex to name.
This place—a pit that had consumed their youth, dignity, and lives—was finally swallowed by fire.
By the time Rus and his company left, the Scorpion Nest had become a towering inferno. Then came a thunderous collapse, the sky swallowed in ash and smoke.
No matter which group of horse bandits came next, they would find the ruins uninhabitable.
