Brekk received Drakk's report at the Ravine settlement on the ninth day of the highland holding action.
He was at the eastern watch point when the rider came up from the south approach: a ridge of exposed granite forty feet above the valley floor with clear sight lines into the Threian approach terrain. He had been at the watch point since the second hour of the morning. He read the report standing up, with the morning light still low enough that he had to angle the page to see it.
He read it twice. Sixty soldiers. Planned breach point. Controlled withdrawal with wounded.
He put the report in his document case and looked north.
