WATCHER of the DAMNED: ENTER the TRAVAIL

EXCERPT and ILLUSTRATION: WATCHER of the DAMNED: TRAIL of TRAVAIL

All around the riders, muddy rivulets of grey water trickled between
wider streams, webbed across the barren flats. The white caliche helped
dimly reflect starlight, creating a faintly visible path. To their south, a dark
gash faintly appeared against the pale soil—a gaping, steep-sided hole in
the earth, water line approximately fifteen feet below the slick edge.
Giving the lookout call, Dominic swept his right arm down and towards
the hazard; each rider behind him echoed the motion in turn to alert the
next rider down the line. Any horses or riders slipping in would surely
drown, unable to climb back out the steep bank.