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.Who could guess what cataclysm would happen next?The following morning they set out for the high pass.Given the difficulty of the way, aday s journey took a day and a half.Fortunately, the road itself was relatively clear, and the newsthat Klei and Saash had brought enabled them to take the road although watching carefully asthey traveledBecause the trees were gone, it was difficult to recognize landmarks, but Jon thought hesaw the place where Zoë had rescued him from the Brotherhood. Was it there? he asked her. Yes, she said. He shuddered at the memory of those two days.Crossroads was a ruin, just as Klei had told them.Sem remembered the pride his fatherhad taken in creating this new town, laying out the design of its first walls and even planning abridge across the river.He hoped his father was safe, but so many terrible things had happened, itwas difficult to believe anyone could have been spared entirely.Once they had begun climbing the lower reaches of the high pass, the trail was clear ofdebris.Zoë had expected to find guards at the top of the pass, and was surprised to find no onebarring their way.It was evident that something was amiss.Coming up to Zoë, Saash made a combination of sounds and gestures that were obviouslyintended to tell her something. What s he trying to say? she asked Klei.Klei spoke to Saash and Saash replied with nods of affirmation. He wants to take us to a place where we can look down into the valley before itbecomes dark. She agreed, and they followed Klei and Saash up through the rocks to a ledge that hungout over the cliffs.Below them, the woods covering the hills at the southern foot of the BoundaryMountain stood green and lush.Looking beyond the woods, they saw fields stretching in alldirections, and along the center of the valley, Bent Lake glittered in the sunlight.Sem let out asmall cry.To their right, where the lake made its two bends, they saw the ruins of the town.Jon went up to Sem and put his hands on his shoulders. Alf must have escaped to the Valley of Women.Most of them must have escaped. But where are the invaders? Sem asked. There is no trace of a storm here.What canhave happened to them? Saash pointed to the West.There, where the lake narrowed to a river and the walls of the valley followed it inward,the enemy had established a vast encampment.There must have been a thousand tents clusteredon the meadow north of the river. They are at the gate of the Valley of Women, Jon said. And that means they haven t broken through the gate yet, Zoë pointed out. We mustget to the Valley of Women as soon as possible.I wish we d gone that way in the first place.Now we ll have to travel all the way back to the Forest House and take the path to the lookout. Saash shook his head no, and Zoë looked to Klei for an explanation. Saash knows a shorter way, Klei told her. Then we ll follow Saash. 3By the time they reached the lookout above the Valley of Women, the shadow of thegreat mountain in the West had already darkened the village and all but the far end of the lake.Below them a few women were stationed to guard this back entrance; otherwise, everyoneappeared to be at the gate of the valley, where the enemy was making its attack although it wasimpossible to discern what was going on from this distance.They made their way carefully down the long slope to the grassy edge where the whitewall began. Can we do this in the dark? Axor asked? We have to, his mother told him.At the edge of the fissure, Zoë stood up, a tall figure illuminated by the setting sun, andcalled down to the women below. I am the Empress, she told them. I bring reinforcements to help save the valley. Jon could see that the women saw her they were pointing up in their direction but didthey hear her words? I will go first, Zoë said. And I want Naxa and Phillipa to follow me.They mayrecognize us and at least they ll see we are women.And Ellen, you come after Phillipa. Below, one of the women lit a torch.Jon thought that was a good sign.Together, the four women began the long descent, followed by Linnea and Sally, whodidn t want to be left behind their mothers. Do I have to do this? Dan asked. It looks pretty dangerous. Jon shrugged his shoulders.Mvrak made a sound that was almost a laugh. I think Mvrak is saying that I shouldn t worry, Dan said. That means she s going tohelp me. You ll be safe with Mvrak, Jon told him. Even without their tritargons, the Rand arestill very strong. He then slipped over the edge and began climbing down himself.Having done it once, itdidn t seem so difficult to do it a second time, even after more than twenty years time.Sem, hesaw, was right behind him. Just go slow and steady, he told him. You don t need your eyes use your hands andyour legs.It s probably less frightening in the dark anyway, since you can t see how far it is youcould fall. Thanks, Sem told him. That s a comforting thought. Anything for the son of an old friend. Meanwhile, Zoë was getting closer to the ground.She saw that the women where holdingbows, but hadn t drawn them.Were they merely waiting until they got into closer range? Itwould be easy to pick them off, one by one.Two women with enough arrows could polish off anarmy this way.Then she heard a voice from above her. Carla, is that you? It s me all right, Carla back from below. But what on earth are you doing up there,Naxa? You should be with the other women, fighting back the wild men at the gate.Youwouldn t believe how many there are of them.You kill one and three more jump up and take hisplace, the murdering bastards
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