by Ava D. Dohn
* * *
Jonathan watched the battered army units trickle past. The number had been steadily increasing all morning. He figured there must be close to six thousand hiding along the ridges just behind Chasileah’s line of cavalry.
It was fascinating to watch these soldiers as they appeared like ghosts coming out of the whipping snow. He would first see them, struggling into view, barely able to carry their weapons - if they still were carrying any. Then they would see the cavalry with the troopers standing next to their mounts. The soldiers’ eyes would open wide in wonder and, without a word they would walk past, stopping just behind the second long line of horses.
Chasileah had managed to gather ninety-two hundred willing combatants, all veterans, to join her in one final ride into glory. Few believed they would survive the mounted charge into the armored tanks and mobile artillery, not to mention the ZoonKeras, which were reportedly advancing down the valley.