By the next rise, high ground broke off into a wide shelf where trails separated beneath a hazy sky.
One trail stayed broad and worn along the lower edge, opening onto distant smoke and a line of fortified stone where shifting bands of light had been secured to block passage. The other trail narrowed almost immediately beyond the fork, running through neglected land marked by broken stumps and uneven ruins of construction not seen in recent days.
They halted there because the fork itself formed too exacting a test to choose casually.
Sera leaned against her knees and compared what lay along either path of travel. "Please tell me the ugly road isn't where we're headed."
Istra shaded her vision and followed the left-hand trail with a thoughtful look. "That outpost is already in conflict.
