The cliff path held for longer than any of them expected.
Loose stone, narrow ledges and hard climbing slowed the pace, but it also kept the open-road hunters from using their numbers the way they wanted. Lucian led the worst stretches, and Sera followed close enough that she could reach him if the ground broke. Istra watched the higher angles. Rhel and Toren held the rear and stopped often enough to listen for movement below.
By the third ledge band, all of them were covered in dust and old blood, and the main road was just a pale line a ways to the east now, lacking their footprints.
Sera wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her wrist. "If they are smart, they already knew we left the road."
"They are smart." Istra said. "Hence why I keep watching above us."
