Leg stepped aside, clearing the cave entrance.
Kale did not move, and the team members behind him remained on guard.
Damp air flowed out from deep within the cave, carrying the scents of earth, herbs, and blood.
"Please come in," Leg said again, weariness in his voice.
Kale signaled, and two team members went in first. Only after they confirmed it was safe did he lead the others inside.
Xiao Lan followed behind Kale. The dimness inside the cave offered her a little comfort. At least she no longer had to see the bloody scenes outside.
The passage was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk abreast.
Torches made with fish oil were set into the rock walls at intervals, their dim yellow light stretching everyone's shadows long.
Farther in, the passage suddenly opened up.
It was an enormous natural cavern, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Water dripped from their tips, gathering in small puddles below.
The cavern was packed with people.
Old people, women, children. They sat or lay wrapped in tattered blankets and animal hides.
Every face was etched with numbness and fear. When they saw Kale's party enter, wariness crept into their eyes as well.
No one spoke. There were only stifled coughs and the occasional cry of a baby.
Leg led them through the crowd toward a corner deeper in the cavern.
Several large sheets of canvas partitioned it off, forming what looked like a makeshift treatment area.
Low chanting drifted from behind the canvas.
"Lord Elias is inside." Leg stopped.
He lifted a corner of the canvas.
The space inside was small. Straw covered the ground, and seven or eight wounded people lay on it.
A young man knelt beside one of them.
He wore the simplest coarse linen clothes. His dark