CHAPTER 26
Penrys flew in at mid-day under a gloomy sky to report a change in terrain. The track was cutting west through the low, mostly treeless hills it had been following, and the land was becoming better watered. They would be passing through sparse woodlands along a set of streams to some sort of gap in the ridge.
“I went ahead, far enough to confirm where the track was headed.” She avoided looking at Najud when she said this, conscious that it was further than he liked.
When Penrys described this, the two senior wizards exchanged looks. Jiqlaraz said, “That’s the entry to the long vale of Silmat. It’s in between us and the Mahab tribe to the west, and just far enough away that neither of us use it for grazing on the tarizd. Both of us go there for wood, though—it’s well forested.
