It took four days to reach General Tronzo and the Army of Sorea. The streams we used to get there were too small for the Edgerton Hooks to sail up, which is why we took the two outriggers. Gano served as our guide. Commodore Hubbard and his crew remained on board the Edgerton Hooks, which headed down river. Without me and the other Adan soldiers on board, they would be more than welcome in the port of Nadal, where they would either wait for us, or return home without us, depending upon what happened during my confrontation with Bedonna.
Eventually the terrain changed, going from jungle covered lowlands to forested hills. When the terrain and vegetation changed, so did the weather, going from hot days and steamy nights, to warm days and cool nights.
We passed a few small villages as we headed up stream, but no cities. According to Gano, most of the cities were in the eastern half of the country, far away from the Adan border. Not long after abandoning the outriggers, and heading off on foot, we reached the Dark Forest. A couple of days later, we encountered General Tronzo's men, who took us to the general himself.
"So?" General Tronzo said, when he saw me. "What's happening with your sister?"
He didn't waste any time in getting down to business, but he had probably seen what was happening on the edge of the forest and knew that time was short. I used my time in the outrigger to look deep into Adah and see what Bedonna was doing.
"Bedonna left the southern palace in Nadal yesterday," I said. "She arrived in Pipho a few minutes ago. Tomorrow, she'll head north along the Eastern Road. Tomorrow night, she'll rendezvous with her army, which you already know, camps on the edge of this forest. In two days, she'll be ready to make war on Sorea."
"Will you be ready to confront your sister two days from now?"