Greywatch had lost six people in the night.
They had died in the gap, holding it with spears and farm tools against things that should never have been inside the line at all. Orla knew every one of them. She gave their names to Big D sitting on the grass by the restored stones, with her bad arm strapped to her chest.
Keeper of Names.
When she was done, Big D was quiet for a while.
"You held that gap all night," he said. "Four hundred of you. With what you had."
"It was ours," Orla said simply. "Where else would we be?"
Hessa walked the ring.
She went all the way around it, from the north side to the south and back again. She stopped at every one of the two hundred and six stones and laid her hand on it. The stones were all glowing now. The three that Rudra had called back were the brightest of all.
At the last one, she stopped and put her forehead against it, and stood there for a long time.
