That was when Lohan felt, for the first time, the collective shift.
It was like a tide reversing direction. Ten minutes earlier, the entire plain had been taken over by an atmosphere of spectacle, of boredom, of curiosity, of people waiting for the show to start, and now, from that small focal point, from that group of a hundred people walking toward the command tent, something new began to spread, from mouth to mouth and from mind to mind.
Confidence.
It wasn't a naive confidence, or the belief that nothing could go wrong. It was something more solid and practical: their side had a weapon that they themselves didn't know they had, and the battle that seemed too dangerous began, suddenly, to seem possible.
The Players, who had been whispering about the monster's arrival time with poorly hidden nervousness, now looked east with steadier eyes.
Those who were sitting stood up.
Those who were talking loudly lowered their voices.
