Kael's response reached the Ravine settlement on the third day after Brekk had sent his assessment south.
Brekk had spent those three days rationing the supplies to fourteen days, running the harassment pattern against the Threian Ravine sector detachments on reduced tempo: two sorties per day rather than four, conserving the warriors' readiness for the engagement that would come when the Threian detachment cycled its rotation. The Threians rotated the Ravine detachment every six days. The next rotation was two days out.
He read Kael's response at the eastern watch point because that was where he read everything that arrived from the south.
Twelve additional warriors, not thirty. Mara Ironfoot included. Sixty days of supplies staged at the south access point. And the final line: when Mara arrives, send me an assessment of what a disruption strike against the depot's supply function would require. I am not authorizing it. I am asking for the assessment.
