The horses powerful haunches bunch beneath them as they attempt the steep descent. The loose grey slates and scree slither beneath their hooves, clattering together as the unstable hillside slowly begins to slide.
My men are tense, alert to the shifting rocks. Words are short and pointed. This descent tries even a skilled horseman. It is well that my men are almost as assured a-horse as I, the presence of the northmen in their bolt-hole forcing us in this wide arc around them, onto this difficult mountainous route.
