Blackmane clamped a hand on his shoulder. ‘Any problems, ask for Wynne.’ Letting go, he added, ‘And by no means give her a weapon of any description.’

The man gave him a puzzled look before getting down on hands and knees and heading off through the tunnel.

Tolly jogged up to where they stood. ‘Was that a baby I just saw?’

Blackmane nodded. ‘There are more on their way.’

Tolly cursed under his breath. ‘Am I still not allowed to kill the man responsible?’

‘You can kill him,’ Tatum said. ‘We just can’t let you kill him. Best wait until we’re back behind Chadora’s walls to do it.’

Tolly walked away muttering something about defenders.

They got more efficient as time passed, managing to get twelve infants out in the first hour. The problem was they had roughly one hundred and eighty children to go, which at their current pace would take them another fifteen hours.

‘We don’t have fifteen hours,’ Tolly said when he returned. ‘We have six hours at best until mothers come looking for their children, and then we’re going to have some problems.’

Blackmane glanced in the direction of the camp. ‘We can make up time with the older children, take them through three or four at a time.’

‘Good point,’ Tatum said. ‘We’ll tie them together with a rope if we have to. That way no one gets lost or left behind.’

Tolly nodded. ‘Let’s get them out.’

For the next three hours, men climbed in and out of the tunnels, returning with as many children as they could coordinate at the time. That number varied depending on the emotional state of the children coming through. Naturally, some of them were scared, especially because they did not know the state of the children on the other side.

They were around one hundred and forty children in when a whistle sounded from the tree above, signalling that a guard had entered the pen.

‘Shit,’ Tatum said, picking up the bars and tapping them together. ‘Who’s in there?’

‘One of mine,’ Tolly replied, staring hard at the tunnel.

Tatum placed the bars down. ‘They’re going to notice that many missing children.’

‘We don’t know what the situation is,’ Blackmane said, ‘only that someone entered the enclosure. Maybe one of the cooks bringing food.’

‘Or a mother coming to feed her child,’ Tatum said.

A second whistle sounded, different to the first. The three men looked at each other. It was the signal to collapse the tunnel. The problem was they still had a man inside, which meant there was likely a child inside too.

‘Come on,’ Tolly said under his breath, beginning to pace.

Tatum and Blackmane retrieved their bows, loaded them, and pointed them at the hole.

Another whistle sounded. Collapse the tunnel.

‘It’s been too long,’ Tatum said. ‘We need to stick to the plan.’