Tent World

Chapter Sixteen--Messema

Roy slept poorly on the ledge next to the falls. His bonds cut into his flesh, and the cold chilled him. A krak watched him from a few feet away, and the other crouched next to DeRag.

Split and Qok got up at dawn. Split kicked at the coals from the previous night's campfire and groaned. He cut shavings onto the smoking coals and blew until they burst into flame.

Qok left the camp and returned a half hour later with the horses. He tied them to a tree next to Roy.

"I suppose you're thirsty," Split said. He took the skin and crossed the flat rock to a small creek and knelt as he filled it.

Qok nudged DeRag with his foot and said, "You don't look so good."

"I feel terrible," DeRag said and moaned. He rolled onto his back, holding his stomach.

"If you're not ready to ride when we leave," Qok said, "I'm going to roll you off the cliff. You're a weight around our neck as you are."

"Yeah, yeah," DeRag said.

"It's your own fault. If you'd kept your knife in its scabbard, you wouldn't have found it in your stomach."

Split returned with a wet skin sloshing with water and placed it next to Roy. He leaned over him and cut the thongs that tied his hands.

"Thank you," Roy said.

"Don't thank me," Split said. "I don't want you damaged when I hand you over to the Septar."

Roy rubbed his painful wrists. His hands were blue and tingled from poor circulation, but as he worked them, the natural color returned.

Split searched his saddlebags and returned with a handful of jerky.

"Eat this when you get hungry," he said. He stuffed a few strips into Roy's shirt pocket. "Eat slowly. That's all there is."

Split and Qok cut chunks of meat off the roasted krak and ate quietly as they sat at the edge of the rock overlooking the pool at the bottom of the falls. When they finished, they wrapped the remainder of the carcass in a cloth and suspended it between two trees.

Roy ate a strip of the jerky, savoring its salty-sweet flavor. It left him thirsty and craving more. To satisfy his thirst, he drank from the skin until it was empty, and though his stomach growled, he resisted eating more of his food supply.

After slipping into his silver armor, Split tied Roy's hands and then checked on DeRag.

"The falls is your post," Split said. "We saw them last at this point, so it seems reasonable to maintain a watch here." He mounted his horse. "If you fail, you'll be reported." Reining his horse, he trotted down the river, his silver shield tied to a saddlebag. Qok headed up the river, and a krak went with each.

DeRag sat at his post throughout the day. Sometimes his head rested on his chest, and at other times he seemed alert. He was still sitting at the edge of the cliff when Split returned at dusk. A campfire crackled by the time Qok returned. As he entered the camp, he dropped a couple of rabbits to the ground.

"Only two?" Split asked. "Well, it's krak again for you tonight, DeRag."

As the rabbits cooked on a spit above the fire, Split and Qok talked in hushed tones. Roy couldn't hear most of their conversation, but he gathered they were discussing what they should do next.