“We should leave,” Hapre said without hesitation.
Volk chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered his answer. As the man’s pause lengthened, Hapre began drumming her fingers lightly against her thigh. The big man always thought over his answers carefully before speaking, which the other generals found annoying even as they appreciated that it was a good habit, especially as Volk dealt with all the intricate matters of rebel security.
“It could be exactly what the allies want us to do,” Volk said at last. “They may have found the world we’re hiding in, but they don’t know all the places we are located in here. Rather than waste time seeking us out, all they need to do is scare us into fleeing, watch the well-used paths to the next worlds and attack anybody that leaves.”
“Then we don’t take the well-used paths,” Hapre said. “The allies can’t stay in the place between worlds. They’ll have to wait at the arrival places those paths lead to. We can make new paths and avoid them.”
It was Tyen’s turn to frown. “I’m almost certain that the allies have a way of breathing between worlds, or simply don’t need to. During the battle Preketai considered taking Yira between worlds and holding her there until she suffocated.” His voice caught and he paused to swallow before continuing. “He did not plan to take a deeper breath, or believe he could hold his longer than she could. He just considered it something that he could do.” He looked up to find the pair staring at him in amazement and horror.
“You saw into his mind,” Volk said, shaking his head. “Your strength never stops surprising me, Tyen.”
Hapre grimaced in sympathy. “That must have been a hard thing to see.”
“Yes.” Volk looked at his counterpart again. “This means we truly can’t risk leaving right now.”
She shook her head. “But we can’t stay. They’ll hunt us down, group by group. We must scatter, each group forging new paths out of this world. Some will be caught, but most of us will get away since there aren’t enough allies, as far as we know, to stop all of us.”
“The first to leave will be the most likely to die,” Tyen pointed out.
“Someone has to be first.” Her eyes were hard. “We’ll call for volunteers to lead the allies away.”
“Or we lead ourselves, since we are the strongest,” Volk suggested.
“No. It means those who hold the most valuable information will be at greatest risk of capture.”
Tyen shook his head. “It would be better if we all left at the same time. I agree with Volk that they’re probably expecting us to flee. But we can’t stay, either. They will hunt us down if we do. We need to wait until they believe we’ve decided to stay, then, when they enter this world to look for us, leave all at once. That’s when we’ll have our best chance of evading them. In the meantime, we should set up fake hiding places to draw their attention first and alert us to when they’ve entered this world.” Tyen looked from one general to the other. “What do you think?”
The pair nodded, both thinking it was a reasonable plan. “We should consult Frell,” Hapre said.
Volk shrugged, resisting the temptation to tease her over the romance that had begun between the pair, which was a habit Hapre did not find amusing. Even so, Hapre’s eyes narrowed as she saw his expression and guessed what he was thinking. Tyen drew in a breath to speak before the two could begin antagonising each other openly.
He let it out in a sigh as a knock interrupted him. The thoughts of the messenger behind the door told Tyen what he’d come for.
“Frell wants me to meet one of the new recruits,” he told the generals. “Since he is already expecting me, I will go and warn him of the situation at the same time.”
“I’ll begin setting up the fake hiding places,” Volk said. “I have a few locations in mind. Ones we abandoned because they weren’t secure enough, or we discovered the locals are untrustworthy.”
“And I’ll tell the other groups what happened and warn them to be careful and ready to leave,” Hapre added.
“No warnings yet.” Tyen turned away and headed for the door. “Every group should already be ready to leave at any moment. Every messenger we send risks leading allies to them or us, especially now. Stay here in case more reports of allies arrive.” He opened the door and nodded at the man waiting outside. “So where is Frell, Daam? Ah, in the market still. Let’s meet him there.”
Daam nodded as Tyen stepped past and led the way down the corridor to the stairs. Tyen considered the other information he’d gleaned from the man’s mind. Something about one of the new recruits was unusual, but Daam didn’t know what it was. He only knew that the man was a strong sorcerer. Stronger than Frell.
A shiver of warning ran down Tyen’s back. “How strong?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
Daam smiled. “Not as strong as you, Tyen,” he said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Frell believes so.”