The formation had been standing since morning and the southern horizon had been empty since morning. And then it was not.
The darkening came first. A smear against the pale sky south of the line, thickening as it spread, the kind of column that only came from a mass of horses moving over dry ground at pace. Batu was behind Torghul's left position when the relay rider from the outer screen came back at a hard gallop and pulled up with two words.
Formed line.
Batu looked south and read the dust himself. A commander who dressed his riders before beginning the advance had used his scout's report and used it correctly. Berke had not come north in march column.
The arc was planned before he moved.
The horses nearby knew it before the men registered it fully. Along Torghul's front the animals had their heads up and their ears set forward, reading the sound coming through the ground before it reached the air.
