like he wasn’t there. Not wanting to cause any unnecessary tension, Draco accepted the situation and simply got on with his task, just as the elf had advised him earlier. At the same time, he was enjoying his new surroundings. He was used to the city and well-maintained parks, and now he had a second chance to visit a proper forest. Although the first time hadn’t ended too well, he was in good spirits now.
They didn’t stop until nearly half an hour had passed, when Zane turned back and brought everyone to a halt. The trees were a little sparser here, and further on a clearing or a hill could be seen. The elf kept glancing over his shoulder, so it was easy to guess that they’d come across something.
‘What is it?’ Cedric stopped and leaned against a tree.
‘The forest is coming to an end.’ Zane shrugged, but under the commander’s urgent gaze, he continued his explanation. ‘Beyond the edge of the forest there’s open ground and a hill on which a fortified position has been built. I didn’t see anyone hanging about there, but if someone’s hiding, there’ll be no way of spotting them.’
‘Is it big?’
‘A bit.’ The elf paused to think for a moment. ‘About three hundred metres from the tree line, the ground starts to rise, and it continues for roughly the same distance. From halfway up the hill, there are trenches reinforced with wooden logs, and at the top, a low palisade with recesses for cannons. If someone’s sitting in the ramparts or the passageways, we won’t be able to spot them.’ He shook his head.
Cedric began to think hard, weighing up his options.
‘What if we try to go round it?’ he asked at last.
‘We’ll have to go an extra kilometre and a half or so, and we don’t know what the forest’s like on the other side. I reckon there are mostly conifers there, so it might be hard to hide.’
‘Didn’t you see any movement?’
‘No, but Noah stayed behind anyway to take a closer look
