The Twilight Dragon

Chapter 6

Donya seemed to move excruciatingly slowly as we headed into the village to buy supplies. We had no cart or horse so all of our belongings had to be as light as possible. Under my careful instruction, she purchased dried meats, some tools, a bed roll, a map of the region, and a small knife for herself. I had all the tools I needed, since I had learned to live off the land for many years already.

I didn't tell Donya this, but I was certain that she would head home after a day of walking in the harsh sun. A woman like her had likely never even gone a day without bathing, or having nice clothes to wear. With the thought that I would be rid of her soon, we chatted as we walked back to my tree house, where I packed my bag.

"The wheel tracks head into the next village, if we follow this route it'll take us there." I pointed to the well-worn path that led through the wiry forest.

Donya nodded, shifting the weight of her new leather backpack on her shoulders.

"Are you sure the brothel is ok with you leaving for an uncertain amount of time?" I found it hard to believe that they would let her do that.

Donya chuckled. "I bring them business, no one would purchase their watered-down ale or cheaply made cigars if not for the fact that they wanted to partake of the finer experiences upstairs."

"Ah good point, the ale is quite awful there." I agreed, which made Donya laugh harder. "The village doesn't offer very good liquor."

We talked about work for a while, just casually making conversation, until eventually the heat of the noon sun beat down on us so hard that both of us were driven to silence. The thin trees offered minimal shade, and I wiped the sweat from my nose furiously every time it dripped down, eventually using a strip of cloth to make a headband. I looked over at Donya after a while to see that she had done the same. It would be a few hours until we could reach the next village, and we walked a long time without any conversation.

"Time for a break." I said after about two hours. Part of me was amazed that Donya had not given up already, but the day was still young. We sat under a large tree to drink from our jugs. My throat was parched from the hot air, and I drank thirstily. I munched on a small bit of rabbit jerky to pause my hunger and then got to my feet. Donya and I had decided early on that we would only travel by daylight, as night time would be too slow and we would also be at risk for bandits.

****

As much as I wanted to keep going, after a few more hours in the heat we were both exhausted.

"Let's stop for today, we can get up early and walk when it's cooler." I panted, and Donya quickly agreed. I started setting up camp for the night, gathering sticks to make a crude shelter.

"What can I do, Lianne?" Donya asked. Lost in my own mind, I was briefly startled by her speaking. I was not used to being around others like this. "Gather long sticks with leaves like these." I told her, and she nodded and headed into the forest. "Don't go too far." I warned, I didn't want her to get lost.

"Don't worry, Lianne." She said. I watched her retreating form for a moment before I turned my attention back to the task at hand. I gathered large rocks for a fire pit, and then a small pile of kindling to the start the fire as well as increasingly larger sticks to add to the fire later. I returned back to the resting spot.

"Whoa."

Donya had gathered a massive amount of sticks with leaves.

"Is this enough, Lianne?" Donya asked as she dusted off her hands.

"More than enough. " I said with a laugh. I showed her how to braid the sticks to make a crude shelter. It would protect us from the morning dew and any light rain at night, though I wasn't expecting any considering the heat of the afternoon. Donya got to work and I started on the shelter. With two people the work went a lot quicker and soon we were settling down and making ourselves comfortable by spreading out mats to sit on. We ate some more of the rabbit jerky and drank some water.