The sound of battle reached Grim's ears before he saw the source. Steel rang against steel in the distance, punctuated by shouted orders and the distinctive crackling of elven magic.
He spurred his horse toward the noise, following the sounds through a dense grove of trees that opened onto a rocky hillside.
What he found there made him pull up short.
A small group of Yanyu soldiers had made their stand on a natural stone outcropping, using the elevated position to defend against a much larger elven force.
But the defense was clearly failing. Bodies of humans lay scattered across the rocks, and only three soldiers remained standing.
At the center of the defensive position stood a woman in captain's armor, her sword flashing as she fought with the kind of desperate skill that came from knowing death was inevitable.
Blood ran down her left arm from a deep gash, but she continued to shout orders to her remaining troops while fending off multiple attackers.
