THORNE POINT OF VIEW.

Cairn moved before the moment could settle.

The instant the last of the men rose from their knees, he turned with quiet urgency, already scanning the ridge as though danger might rise from the shadows at any second. His hand lifted, pointing toward a narrow cut in the rock that I would have dismissed as nothing more than a break in the terrain.

“We can’t stay here,” he said, his voice low but firm. “Not exposed.”

There was no argument.

The men responded ...