The upstream crossing began at the second hour past midnight.
Arka'garr led the 1st Warband into the water personally, because that was what warband masters did when the operation required warriors to do something that every instinct told them was wrong. Walking into a river in darkness, in armor, carrying weapons, with the current pulling at their legs and the cold reaching through every gap in their equipment, was the kind of action that required the visible presence of a leader whose willingness to share the risk eliminated the option of hesitation.
