Red Sky

Terrified cries went on for an entire night, and the Dog-kin's chaos lasted just as long. When the morning sun rose and shone down on the camp atop the mountain, the dense mass of Dog-kin warriors was already gone. From afar, the precipitous encampment lay utterly shattered, everywhere marked by the confusion left after great fires had swept through, along with Dog-kin corpses collapsed in disorder.

Xolotl climbed the small hill and looked toward the mountain stronghold, where only a few hundred enemies remained, then nodded in satisfaction. Then he smiled and said to the Captain of Warriors, the man he trusted most.

"The Dog-kin main force has already routed. After listening to their wild howling all night, I'm somewhat tired, so I'll go sleep for a while. Bertad, break the remaining enemies for me!"

"I obey your will, Your Highness!"

Bertad smiled and accepted the order. Xolotl turned and left, not sparing another glance at the mountaintop. Before long, waves of killing cries rose from the rear.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

An upward storm of arrows rose from halfway up the mountain, striking the ruined encampment and leaving behind a few fresh smears of red. The morning sun climbed into the sky, and before anyone knew it, noon had arrived. Brilliant sunlight fell from the blue heavens, illuminating the red-brown interwoven mountains—and the mountain stronghold where slaughter raged again and again.

The two hundred or so surviving Dog-kin warriors were sparse shadows, crouched behind the mountain stronghold, pinned down by the lashing feathered arrows so they could not even raise their heads. Under wave after wave of attacks from the Cactus Tribe, they had already lost more than half their number, abandoned Red Dog Main Camp, and retreated to the high ground among the mountains behind the camp.

Soon, after