Renown of the Raithlin: Book One of the Raithlindrath Series Read Online Free PDF

tell you how I felt.
    Even as that chance had been lost with his uncle, so
it was again. In future, he would try to say these things while he still could.
    He turned away and walked down the southern path of
the tor toward the approaching enemy. The route twisted around trees and jagged
rocks that protruded from the earth like long buried bones exposed by wind and
rain. At the bottom of the path was a massive boulder. It was just what he was
looking for.
    He ground the charcoal on his left hand and mixed it
with a little water to form a paste. Reaching up as high as he could, he spread
his fingers and marked the face of the boulder with the drùgluck sign. The
imprint of his fingers and thumb were clearly visible, and that it was a left
hand was obvious. He repeated the process several times until there was a band
of five drùglucks. When the enemy saw them, they would wonder what they signified.
But when they found the five slain scouts atop the tor, and their marked left
hands, it would unsettle them. Why would the scouts have left a warning before
discovering what was on the crest? But having reached the crest and being
killed, how could they have marked the boulder?
    It was now past noon and the day was on the wane.
The elug army was only miles away, and other scouts would be in advance of it.
He must remain unobserved. Nightfall would allow him to move with less risk,
but he could not wait until then. The army would pass close to the tor on its
direct march to Esgallien and would establish camp for the night several miles
to the north and closer to his home. Soon this whole area would be thick with
the enemy.
    It was not enough to leave the tor and stay ahead of
the advancing army. When the elug he had allowed to escape returned to his
leaders, they would send further scouts and perhaps regular troops to find him.
It was vital that they failed. Otherwise, the illusion of otherworldly power
would be destroyed. He reasoned they would be expecting him ahead of them.
After all, they were approaching enemy territory and they would think that
anybody trying to hinder them, natural or supernatural, would stand between
them and their goal. He must therefore circle behind.
    His next task would be to infiltrate the army. This
could only be done at night, for even disguised he would certainly be
recognized during the day. The scimitar on his back would give him the expected
outline in the dark but would be insufficient to fool anyone in daylight.
    Once he had penetrated their camp, he would be in a
position to cause damage, sow confusion and inflame their superstition. He had
to make them fear that the words he had yelled after the fleeing elug were
true: that the footfalls of doom followed them.
    He moved northeast across the green expanse of
Galenthern. It grew lush once more and was again speckled with vetch and red
clover. His passage was clear for anyone with the skill to read it from the
bruised grass, though. A good tracker would also know how long ago he had
passed by the amount the bent blades had sprung back.
    He would have stayed where he was and allowed the
enemy to sweep by him if there was a suitable place to hide. Staying still was
usually safer than moving, but there was nowhere he trusted enough on the
plains.
    A good way ahead was a large stand of trees, and he
decided to skirt its northern side to provide cover between him and the enemy.
He walked at a steady pace until he saw tracks and came to an abrupt halt.
    The grass was greatly disturbed, and he smiled to
himself. It was a stroke of luck, for the tracks were from a herd of aurochs.
The beasts spent most of their time in the scrub-choked swamps, which were
common on the plains, but they sometimes moved onto the open grasslands to
graze at night or move between wetlands. Whatever the aurochs had been doing
did not matter: what was important was that he could follow their tracks and
use the trampled earth to hide his own.
    He increased his pace and glanced at