Empty LandChapter 10
Mak was only one of several scouts who ranged out ahead of the caravan. They wove from side to side, always picking out the easiest paths for the laden donkeys to follow. Even so the pace gradually slowed as the forest grew thicker, darker, damper. The game trails narrowed and were less frequent, cutting deep into the yielding soil. "We're coming to a river," Mak trotted back to report. "The ground is getting pretty swampy up ahead." Nurm brought out his map, laboriously handcopied on...