Adept (The Essence Gate War, Book 1) - By Michael Arnquist Page 0,54

he said. “He never uttered a word once the battle began, and I heard no hint of a struggle behind me. I did not see him slip away either, but I was engrossed in the battle. Where could he have gone, unseen?”

Amric frowned and shook his head as he continued to scan about in vain. “The darkness could have concealed much, and we can certainly claim distraction. At the same time, we can see most of the slope from here, and we are backed by the sheer face of this cliff.”

“We are in no condition to chase after him,” Valkarr muttered in a thick voice from where he still sat on the ground. “And we do not dare call for him, for fear of attracting more predators. There is nothing we can do for him until the morning’s light, and until we rest.”

He gave a wet cough as he finished speaking, and Halthak started, hastening forward with wide eyes.

“How stupid of me to prattle on while you sit there, exhausted and bleeding!” the healer said.

Halthak handed the gathered reins of the horses to Amric, and knelt by Valkarr. The Sil’ath, shoulders sagging, made no objection as the healer pressed a hand to the flesh of his arm and closed his eyes. After a moment, those eyes flared open and the look of concern upon the Half-Ork’s coarse features was unmistakable. Amric heard his friend’s ragged breathing, and realized with a chill that Valkarr had taken more grievous wounds under the veil of night than he himself had.

“Valkarr, listen to me,” Halthak said, his tone low and urgent. “Your injuries are severe, and must be treated. By your leave, I wish to heal you now, as I did this morning.”

Valkarr looked at him with black eyes that were dull and unfocused, and he slurred something in the Sil’ath tongue that not even Amric could understand. Halthak glanced aside at Amric, who nodded. The healer turned back to Valkarr and continued in a rapid whisper.

“This will make you very tired, warrior, and you may succumb to sleep before I am even finished. This is normal, as your body must give some of its energy to the healing process, and you have precious little to spare just now. Do you understand?”

Valkarr mumbled something else unintelligible, and gave a bubbling chuckle. Halthak bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. He gave a low gasp through clenched teeth, and Amric watched in fascination as a dense, scarlet latticework of stripes sprouted across his grey skin, even as they dwindled from the other’s scaly green hide. Valkarr stiffened at first, then relaxed, and when the last of his wounds faded from view his eyelids drooped and his chin fell to his chest. Halthak eased him to his back on the rocky hillside, already asleep. By the time he stood to face Amric, the many lacerations he had assumed had vanished as well.

“It is your turn,” Halthak said.

“Not just yet, healer,” Amric replied. “We are exposed on this hillside, and must take cover at the base of the crag before I would risk being too fatigued to move.”

Passing the reins back to Halthak, he knelt and slid his arms beneath Valkarr, and rose to his feet with a grunt of effort. The Sil’ath people were dense with muscle and always heavier than they appeared, and the loss of blood had sapped Amric’s strength. He climbed the hill with legs that burned and quivered, and he was intensely grateful to reach a large cleft in the side of the crag before they gave out beneath him.

The fissure was open to the sky far above, with a tumble of boulders at the back, and it was spacious enough to screen men and horses alike from the forest edge below. Amric laid his unconscious friend down at the back of the cleft, wiping clammy sweat from his brow as he looked around. There was still no sign of Bellimar, but this location was as well hidden and defensible as they were likely to find. They would remain here until morning. He sat with his back to a leaning boulder as Halthak came into sight with the horses in tow. The Half-Ork saw to the horses as Amric had taught him, and the warrior remained seated, resting in silent gratitude.

Halthak brought him a water skin and some salted beef.

“You should eat. Valkarr will be famished when he wakes.”

Amric accepted the rations and chewed slowly. His eyelids were growing