Forty-three rookie beacons filled the three camp clearings below Blackforge's western saddle. The Mirror Elk herd reached the first marker in less than four minutes, leaving Vell time to protect his route or spend it on strangers.
The old Wiretail feather pointed toward the matriarch while no other team had crossed that ridge. Keeping their lead meant walking west before Jia's mistake became somebody else's funeral.
"We turn back," Vell said, packing the feather beside Wren's unused recipe case, "forty-three witnesses owe more than an empty ridge."
Yenna closed the salvage case without arguing, then studied the rookie camps below them. A drainage cut ran between two root banks beyond the tents, providing one corridor that could hold the herd while still letting hunters escape.
"I hold the southern bank," she said, looping both chains around her forearms, "you clear people through the cut before the bulls arrive."
