Reynolds' plan wasn't ambitious. Ambitious was too tame of a word for what the young lord hoped to accomplish. Perhaps Tulori could calculate the sum that it would require to build a stone fortress faster than the Horse Lord's demons could tear it down, but Erling knew the amount wouldn't be small.
Before he could comment on it, however, his ears caught the faintest of high-pitched cries, drifting on the wind but coming closer.
"Hold," Erling said, holding up his hand in a fist to call for silence as he strained his ears, closing his eyes to better focus on the distant sounds.
-hhhhheeeeeetttt!-
The bugle of the elk was unmistakable, even with the sound of rushing water from the rapids and the noise from winter winds whipping through the tree tops overhead. Most damning of all, dozens of birds took wing on the opposite side of the creek, putting distance between themselves and the baying hounds that were in hot pursuit of the fleeing elk.
