131 Stoneheart's Misfortune

They walked toward one of the small fires and sat down around it, the young woman taking a seat next to Stoneheart.

"How did you end up in such a state?" Snowcloud asked. "And where are your other recruits?"

Stoneheart let out a pained sigh. "It all began after we left the Valley. Just a few days from the border, that venomous bitch Amaya—" He paused and shot a look at Snowcloud, seemingly worried that he had offended her.

"She deserves the title," Snowcloud said. "Continue."

"She ambushed us when we had only barely left the Valley," Stoneheart said, his expression somber. "We didn't have a chance."

Snowcloud raised an eyebrow. "You were defeated by Amaya? For all her cunning, I never figured her for much of a fighter. How did she manage that?"