Xren. I blocked it off, kept it at arm’s length as much as I could. No wonder I never made any lasting contributions to the tribe — if you want to improve the place you’re in, you have to see it first. I never saw it.
Until now. I see this planet fine now. And while it’s scary and dangerous, it is also pretty rewarding when you get things right. I think I got things pretty right with Marshie. Simply following my instincts and sensing that she was just another lonely girl. That saved me, and probably Caronerax, too.
Our route takes us straight up a hillside. On the top it drops off into a sheer cliff on the other side, and the view is great.
In the distance, I see something I recognize, due south.
“That’s Bune,” I say calmly and point. “See that white peak at the horizon?”
“The Inferior ship,” Caronerax says. “Where you will go so you can leave the planet.”
I look up at him. “Do those things bother you?”
He gives me a quick smile. “Nothing about you bothers me.”
“But this bothers me a great deal,” I state as I take his hand and lift it. The deep cuts from the steel wires are still seeping ichor and not healing. It’s quite alarming.
He considers his wrists and ankles. “Me, too.”
“Let’s sit here for a moment and rest. I’ll make more of the healing paste.”
He sits on the edge of the cliff and dangles his legs, looking down into the abyss. It’s a sheer fall of at least three hundred feet.
“Be careful,” I tell him as I spot a patch of the healing herb and go to pick the leaves. “Anyone can die from a fall like that. And even if you don’t, you’ll break every bone in your body and you will look ridiculous.”
“Can’t have that,” he agrees, but still leans over to look down. “There is someone else down there who’s met with the same fate.”
“Oh?” I get down on my hands and knees and carefully peek over the edge. “Where?”
“All the way at the bottom.”
It takes me a while before I can see what it is he means. But when I do, there’s immediately a new ball of coldness in my stomach. “It’s a spidermonkey!”
“Yes,” Caronerax confirms. “The number of arms does give it away somewhat.”
“How would a spidermonkey die from that fall? They can jump high into the air, and they land really easily, like they’re made of rubber.”
“That one didn’t die from the fall. He has two spears in him.”
I squint. “Your eyes must be better than mine. I can’t see them.”
“One in his back and one in his chest. He must have been surrounded. Those spears look like the ones those tribal fiends used.”
I grit my teeth. “Is it the same one we met some days ago?” I know the answer before I ask.
“So it appears,” Caronerax says. “The scroll is still in his hand. He’s been there a couple of days, I would judge.”
I lift my gaze and look over to Bune in the far distance, now almost obscured by low-hanging clouds. It’s impossible to tell if the escape ship has taken off from it or not.
“Dammit,” I exclaim, inching back from the edge and feeling energy leave me. “If the girls didn’t get my message, there’s a good chance they left without me, thinking I’m dead.”
I try to do some mental math, but my body has gone numb and my mind barely functions. “Six days, they said. They would leave after six days. How many days since the earthquake?”
“I only know how many nights,” Caronerax says. “Four.”
“How long will it take us to get to Bune?”
He looks over at the tiny white blob in the distance, soon about to be obscured by the clouds. “It’s further than it looks. The lower part is well beyond the horizon, and we have a high vantage point here.”
“I know.”
He considers it. “Walking, if there are no attacks and no swamps and no lake country where we must build a raft… maybe three days?”
That was my estimate, too. And I know it’s optimistic. Four or five days is more likely.
“Fuck.”
Well, there’s no time to lose. All I can do is to get there as fast as I can. Send some smoke signals, maybe. Hope they’ll send out Kyandros or Aragadon to investigate, ideally ridden by their wives. Or maybe Dar’ax and Heidi will tame another dactyl.
I make the healing paste and smear it on Caronerax’s chest wound, as