The eastern narrows of the Ashplain matched their name. The wide savanna narrowed between low mountains to the north and a dry river cliff to the south. The passage was about four kilometers wide and forced all eastward travel through a single corridor. Anyone trained in battlefield tactics would recognize it as an ideal ambush point.
They arrived at midday.
"Stop..." Owen said, stopping the group two hundred meters from the entrance.
He expanded his Mana Sense through the corridor in controlled sweeps. The narrows stretched roughly three kilometers. He detected rocks, animals, and the natural energy of the land.
He also detected fourteen beastfolk positioned along the northern ridge, spaced evenly about thirty meters apart. Most were high B-rank. Several were high A-rank. Stronger than the earlier ambush.
