Marcus glanced down. He hadn’t seen any blood splatter on his armor aboard Khral’s ship. It must have happened during the tunneling, when Sha had gutted the scheming ritualist. The speckles of blood had been smeared by the wind of his short flight, but fortunately that helped to thin it out, disguising its true color. Canim blood was darker than Aleran, but spread thin over the surface of his armor, it looked almost the same. “Just one crowbegotten thing after another, sir,” he answered.

“Tell me about it,” the captain said. He squinted up into the grey sky and nodded at the incoming enemy. “Tell me what you see, First Spear.”

Marcus grunted and turned to look as well. His eyes weren’t what they used to be, but he could make things out well enough to understand what the captain meant.

“That’s not an attack force, sir,” he said after a moment. “There’s not enough of them, and they’re spread too thin.”

The captain grinned as the wind began to gust harder than it had all morning. “That was my thought as well.”

“Scouts,” Marcus said.

The captain nodded. “Maybe spread all up and down the Shieldwall.”

With a grinding sound, the vessel nearest the Slive began to move, her sails bellying out before the cold wind. Up and down the line, other ships were getting under way, though the Slive’s sails were still furled.

“Why?” Marcus asked.

“Looking for us, naturally,” the captain replied. “I think odds are good that the vord knew we left Antillus marching north. And even though this idea has worked out, it wouldn’t take a genius to deduce that the only major structure north of Antillus might play a role in whatever we had planned.”

Marcus grunted. It made sense. The vord could spare a few thousand fliers for scouting duties, and barring the windcrafters enslaved by the enemy, the vordknights were the fastest troops they possessed. More ships passed the motionless Slive. “What is the plan, sir?”

“Oh, we run,” the captain said offhandedly. “They’re flying against the wind, and we’re with it. They can’t maintain the pace as easily as we can. They’ll tire, and we should lose them within a few hours.”

Marcus nodded. “Yes, sir.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not a sailor, sir, but don’t we need to use the sails if we’re going to leave the vord in our wake?”

Behind the captain, Ambassador Kitai grinned wolfishly.

“I don’t want to take unnecessary losses in a general skirmish,” the captain said. “We are going to remain behind. If they see a lone ship, potentially unable to run, I believe the vordknights will see it as an opportunity to attack.”

“You want to stop them from running off to tell their Queen about us,” Marcus said, nodding.