The Baron of Frost had been on the western bank when the trap closed.
He had crossed with General Snowe's advance elements, his grounded status forcing him to travel with the infantry rather than patrolling from above. His griffon Stormclaw remained with the cavalry paddock, the great beast's wing wound still too fresh for combat flight. The Baron had spent the river crossing helping coordinate the ford ...directing wagons, managing traffic, doing the unglamorous work of logistics that kept an army moving.
Then the horns had sounded. Then the eastern bank had erupted into violence. Then Snowe had given the order to continue west, abandoning four thousand soldiers and Countess Winters to the orcish onslaught.
