will grill all the rest of it, pack it in leaves, and fashion some kind of carrying pouch from the fur. That one fur can also be used as a kind of duvet for sleeping under at night.
I munch on the meat, enjoying the rays of the sun on my face. Things are looking up, just the tiniest bit. My shoulders weren’t that badly hurt by the dactyl, I have real food, the dragon isn’t nearly as bad as I feared, and he’s a lot more friendly. Although ‘friendly’ isn’t the word. He’s slightly less brutal and demanding than in the beginning.
I’m still far from the village, and the girls could be taking off any time now, leaving me alone on Xren. That particular ball of tension in my stomach is still there, etching away at whatever little calm I feel. One part of me wants to get up and run south at full speed, swim across any water there is, and not rest until I’m there.
Of course, that wouldn’t work at all. I have no idea how far I am from the village. It could be hundreds of miles. There could be oceans between me and it. It could be on a different continent.
I squint up at the sun. As far as I can tell, it’s not noticeably lower or higher in the sky than back at the village. That could mean I’m not as far from it as I was afraid of. I mean, the sun must be much lower in Canada than in Florida at two o’clock in the afternoon. That stands to reason. So if there is no difference, the distance can’t be that huge—
I drop my piece of meat as Caronerax spins on his heel and marches towards me. His movements are so sudden and his presence so overwhelming that the combination keeps jolting me.
“Time is being wasted,” he seethes and looks down at me. “And there is water everywhere, trapping us.”
I pick the sliver of meat back up, dust it off, and bite into it again.
“So,” I chew, “we should make a boat or a raft to help us cross the lakes. Especially if we come to a really big one. Could save time.”
“Perhaps. A ‘raft’ is a flat bundle of trees, yes?”
I pick a pine needle out of my mouth. “Pretty much. Tied together and floating. One of my friends made one once. In a different lake than this, though.”
Caronerax looks over at the edge of the forest. “How many trees?”
“Depends on the size and how well they float on water. It may not be necessary, though. Only if this is an island. Do you think it is?”
His eyes bore into me. “Did I tell you what would happen if you asked more questions?”
I instinctively cross one arm across my chest. “You did. Sorry! I forgot the rule.”
“I will not forget that you forgot. This is an island. Water on all sides! It’s ridiculous. As if someone made it specifically to slow me down.”
I shrug. “Well, it wasn’t me.”
He kicks at a boulder. “That was already known.”
And now he’s being petulant. It’s charming, but I should probably find something for him to do. “If you can somehow pull down a couple of trees, then we can build a raft right now. Sailing on one might be faster than walking. If this lake is really big, that is. The trees should be light and not too thick. Five or seven of them should do it. Without the branches, just the trunks.”
“More manual labor,” he grunts, giving me a suspicious look. “From dragon to slave in one shot from an evil weapon. One might think there was a plan behind it.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “If I could plan like that, I don’t think I would be stuck on this island, practically naked, and nearly dead from cold.”
“Perhaps.” Once more he walks off, disappearing into the woods.
And once more, I feel less safe.
Until there are sharp breaking noises from where he went and the treetops sway back and forth. He must be laying the trees down with his bare hands.
After a short while filled with hard cracks and the sound of trees falling, he comes back to the beach dragging two trees, heavy crowns sweeping the ground. They’re leafy trees, which is probably a good thing. The pines look kind of heavy and don’t seem like they would float that well.
He dumps the trees on the ground and goes right back in after more.
Ten minutes