Demitia raised her hand and released a beam of Holy Light. Renault, standing at the front, first felt his wounds rapidly healing. Then came a wave of pain. Damn it, he'd received far too much Holy Light healing lately.
He looked back at his eight companions. Aside from Demitia, only Bridget showed no signs of fatigue. Though everyone in his squad was an elite from the training camp, the endless bloodshed had left them nearly numb.
He suddenly remembered what Demitia had said the previous night. She was a very pretty girl—though not quite as beautiful as Whitemane.
She had a vicious tongue and often said things people didn't want to hear. After more than three years, even someone as prideful as Renault still sometimes couldn't accept it.
He really should have listened to Bridget and changed their route. They should have attacked that Troll village directly. That would have opened up the supply route and let the squad establish a base in the village, ensuring a steady stream of supplies and reinforcements.
But to carry out his decapitation plan, he'd decided to bypass the village. Before setting out, he'd received word that the Mossflayer Trolls' leader had recently been visiting the altar alone to commune with the Loa. Killing the leader of Zul'Mashar before the other squads attacked would earn him an early promotion.
But the intelligence had been wrong. The leader who often came to make offerings was a Shaman!
Renault had suffered for it! His squad had spotted Zubrin Twistbranch near the altar. At the time, Renault had been overjoyed. He decided to have the squad regroup, then charge straight down and kill Zubrin Twistbranch before making a clean getaway. Then "the fraud" Demitia had suddenly asked, "Do you remember what I said yesterday?"
Renault had been