Hajin jabbed his chain into the broken arch while StarGuard shoved the Gate's pulse away from the road.
The ward sucked mana through his wrist whenever the frame pressed its edge, leaving the rest of the ravine exposed. A runner reached the sheltered side with Hans's latest report and waited until the chain slid out of the crack.
Hajin snatched the sheet before the kid could take one more step toward the pulse.
"Second shelter's secured, my lord," the runner reported, pointing back toward the palisade, "Vella reached the clinic with the headman, and the western water crews kept the barn's sparks off the stakes."
'Casualty names under the shelter counts, and every one of them sits beside a treatment.'
"Keep the rotations moving, they've got wounded to haul and no time to wait on me blessing every damn bucket," he said, folding the sheet away from the chain.
Ash dropped onto his shoulder the moment the runner bolted back down the ravine road.
