I turned my head in the direction her green eyes indicated, expecting perhaps a few small, hungry creatures that had grown bold enough to leave the deeper grass in search of an easy meal.
But what I saw instead made the reins tighten hard in my hands.
A large group of bandits.
They emerged from the long grass and from the shadowed spaces between the scattered stands of trees in a wide, uneven arc that slowly tightened as they advanced.
I counted them, and the number settled in my gut like a cold stone.
Fifty at the least. Possibly more.
They moved with the unhurried confidence of men who had done this many times before and expected the same easy result.
A few of them already wore the half-smiles of predators who could smell valuable cargo.
