The first attack on the upper city came before the last evacuated family had found somewhere to sit.
Martin heard the warning from a Sairren warden rather than a bell. The runner landed hard on the crowded platform, nearly slipping on the bronze as he raised both hands in the physical signal Mireva had established less than an hour earlier.
"Lower approach. Armed group. Moving up."
Mireva turned from the wounded route-keeper. "How many?"
"More than twenty. Beastslayers among them."
Nobody in Martin's party needed another explanation.
The lower district had been abandoned, but the attackers had not left with it. Mireva looked over the upper city, where families occupied bridges, storage rooms, workshops, and every wide platform that could hold them without blocking a defensive route.
The Sairren had escaped the first collapse, but they had compressed themselves into half the space. That made every remaining road more valuable.
It also made every remaining road easier to study.
