They heard the fighting before they saw it, which was the first bad sign.
The Gutwrack Span had been loud when they left. Now it was louder, and the sound came from the wrong places, echoing up out of ravines that should have been behind the defensive line rather than inside it.
"They've been pushed back," Jian said, and picked up his pace despite ribs that had very strong opinions about the decision.
The northern position came into view first, and Kira's stomach dropped.
The ridge they'd been holding when the three of them left was gone. Not overrun. Gone, collapsed into the ravine below, and the line had reformed a full quarter mile back on ground considerably worse than what they'd started with.
Julian was still standing on it. So was everyone else, which was the only genuinely good news in the whole picture.
"You look terrible," Julian said, when they reached him.
"You look worse," Kira said.
"That's fair."
