For a moment, our eyes met. There was nothing in Veskor’s expression. No anger. No fear. No expectation.
Just exhaustion.
Then his knees gave out.
“VESKOR!” Perri wailed.
Nasi caught him before he hit the ground.
Everything went quiet except for the sound of our breathing and the distant crash of waves. Nasi looked at Veskor in his arms. Perri squirmed wanting to get to Veskor, but I tightened my hold.
“Scrappy thing,” Nasi said.
“Saved our asses,” Canavar admitted begrudgingly.
“I know,” I answered.
Nasi adjusted his hold on Veskor, lifting him more securely this time. Not like cargo, or a prisoner, or some problem to solve, but like one of ours.
“Let’s take a break and get something to eat,” I said. “After we patch up that wing, and make sure Veskor won’t bleed out.”
Perri perked up and stopped wiggling.
Thankfully, there was a stream nearby, allowing us to fill up our waterskins and clean Canavar and Veskor. Fresh mud was used to pack wounds, though I lost most of the bottom of my breeches to make bandages.
“You look silly.” Perri giggled, pointing at the torn bits of fabric dangling from just below my knees.
“I will bear it the best I can,” I said seriously. “How about you help me find some sticks for a fire?”
Perri clapped her hands and went to work immediately, going through the small brush to find kindling.
I focused on clearing a spot for a fire behind a nice boulder,where we could have a decent lookout with our backs up against stone. With Canavar’s help we propped Veskor up against the rock. He was out cold, but at least clean and bandaged. Canavar flopped down next to me, face stony.
“Sufficient?” I asked, gesturing to his wing. After packing the wound with mud, I bound it to his shoulder to keep him from moving it.
“We’re going to be slow as fuck now,” he complained, digging into the ground with a claw.
“Perhaps that is best,” I said quietly, so as to not alert Perri. “Veskor was not doing well. Both of you need to rest.”
He bristled, but didn’t contradict me.
“He … did well. He is a good fighter,” he admitted begrudgingly. “It would be fun to spar with him once we are both well.”
I snorted. “Convince your mate not to eviscerate him, and you’ll get your chance.”
His gaze turned thoughtful as Perri ran back to us, arms full of twigs.
“Well done, little one,” I praised her. “Let’s arrange them in a circle.”
Nasi returned shortly with a few rabbits, and patiently walked Perri through how to skin them. The little witch was fascinated and horrified all at once.
“Now an even more important skill …” I told her. “How to make fire!”
She laughed like I’d told a joke. “Silly Ronan. Fire is easy.”
Her little face screwed up and she pointed at the little bunch of kindling, which promptly gave off a small ‘whumph’ and then erupted in a burst of small flames.
“Ah,” I said, deflating a bit. “Well, I suppose that’s useful.”
