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ELRETH 

Rika bit her lip, tossing ideas back and forth with Gar about how likely the humans were to travel on foot. Meanwhile, Suhle frowned and looked down as if she were working hard to remember.Â

When the older female lifted her head, her eyes were sad. "I do not think they had enough for all the numbers… but then, there were still groups coming. They may have brought more of the… veehickles with them?"

Aaryn jumped in. "The traverse was still open yesterday morning. If they\'d had it open each day, and they were bringing one hundred through each time…"

While Rika and Gar held a quiet conference, Elreth rubbed her face, then leaned into Suhle. "Tell me," she said quietly. "how bad is it?"

Suhle and her daughter looked at each other, reaching to grip hands. Then Suhle fixed Elreth with her incredible piercing eyes. "It\'s bad. It\'s very bad. I am very good at being silent and unnoticed, and the humans have poor senses. I listened and watched for an entire afternoon and evening. They had no question they could navigate the traverse—I don\'t know how they were doing it. But they spoke as if it was only time until there were more of them here than exist in Anima.

"When I got back to Lerrin, he pulled the few warriors we had to guard the entrance, but sent us to bring you, because we know he couldn\'t hold it, not for long. If at all. Those in the camp would soon discover if the others didn\'t arrive, or… or if there was a battle."

The female\'s tension was plain, and her daughter closed her eyes for a moment.

"How many of you are there?"

"With Lyndra and I gone… thirty-five adults."

​ Elreth swore.Â

"Lerrin sent us because he knew I could hide if I needed to, and Lyndra is very fast. They were planning to attempt to delay the humans if they could, but… I don\'t know if they were successful. My mate and I… we lost the mind link on my second night in the desert," Suhle said with quiet dignity, but her breath caught and her daughter dropped her head.Â

Elreth honored the woman\'s strength and didn\'t make a fuss. "Do you… know why?"

Suhle shook her head. "I pray it was only the distance. We haven\'t been separated by such distance before. But… but it is my greatest desire to return as quickly as I can. If he was unable to stop the humans, or delay them, Lerrin planned to follow them, to become the hammer to your anvil. If that were the case and it was only the distance separating us, then the humans must still be on the other side of the desert. I believe… I believe I would hear him once he reached the Great Plain. But he would not travel beyond that point because he is banished, and he is a male of his word."

"He\'s no longer banished, none of you are," Elreth said quickly. "If—when we make it through this, even as it happens, please assure any who are among you that you are welcome here. In fact, I believe you\'re safer if you all come to the Tree City. And your strength added to ours will be welcome. If the others are exhausted as you were, they can be flown in if they can\'t get in ahead of the humans. In fact, Tarkyn, please send someone to go find them and tell them. Unless they\'re going to join those in a head-on assault, I want the outsiders off the warpath and here in the Tree City."Â

"Thank you, Elreth," Suhle said quietly. "Thank you. I believe some would take you up on that, though I don\'t think Lerrin will want to return. But… but of course, there\'s no way for us to know that he is still… I mean, that they haven\'t—" Suhle bit her lip and dropped her eyes.

Heart thrumming for her, Elreth nodded and looked at Tarkyn who was muttering orders to one of his lieutenants. When he turned back to her, she raised her brows.

"Thoughts?"

Tarkyn zeroed in on Suhle. "When you listened to them speak about travelling, were they definitive? A date, time, plan? They knew how many forces were coming and what their orders were?"

Suhle nodded sadly.

Tarkyn sighed. "Then I would say unless Lerrin and the others were able to interfere somehow, that we likely have humans in the desert now… and possibly a second wave gathering to join them at the other traverse. There\'s no time, Elreth. We have to move now."

Elreth nodded and began issuing orders, praying that they would be in time. And that Lerrin and his tribe hadn\'t ended up pinned between two human armies.

But before she could finish conferring with Tarkyn about how to get a message to the Outsiders, the door to the cave opened and her parents walked in.

Elreth froze.Â

Her father came first, looking like he\'d aged twenty years in the past hour—his eyes were sunken and wide, darting around the cave as if a threat might appear from nowhere. And he clung to her mother\'s hand, ushering her in, then hovering over her like he would challenge anyone who so much as looked at her sideways.

Her mother\'s face was pale, but her shoulders back and she met eyes with everyone, nodding at Tarkyn, and forcing a smile at Rika.

Then they saw Suhle and both their mouths dropped open.

Elreth didn\'t miss that her parents never let go of each other as they rushed forward to greet the female, who stood from the couch and finally broke a smile, greeting them.

She tried… she tried so hard to be patient. But she had been waiting. Her parent\'s role in all this determined whether her own plans would work, so as they hurriedly caught up with Suhle, who kept repeating what a relief it was to see them, and congratulations on Elreth\'s raising, she moved to her mother\'s side.

And that\'s when she noticed that, despite their genuine smiles for their old friend, they hadn\'t let go. Their hands were entwined, gripping so hard they both had white knuckles. Her mother\'s face was pinched, the lines at the side of her eyes deeper than Elreth had ever seen them.

And when her mother turned, sensing her approach, those eyes went wide and she sucked in a breath like she\'d been punched.Â

Elreth stopped, frowning, cold fear twisting in her gut.Â