Alitha woke most mornings to find their camp blanketed with a cooling fog, and often, in the evening, she saw the fog swirl inland from the sea. She was more accustomed now to rising before daybreak and setting off in the early dawn, to ride all day with only brief stops to eat and rest their horses. Though her body was sore after a day's long ride, she no longer woke still tired from the previous day's journey. Now she met each new day refreshed and eager for whatever lay ahead. As they traveled south, the country became drier, more stark. There were few trees—the low, grass-covered hills to the east basked in golden splendor under the summer sun. Though hawks might circle overhead and rabbits run from cover as they passed, and an occasional deer might eye them with curiosity from afar, the land was becoming more and more a desert—a desert bordering on a benign summer sea whose waves swept endlessly onto the sandy stretches of beach.
