“My wounds are mending nicely,” she laughed, catching him in her arms. He eagerly returned the hug, then drew back, feeling awkward and out of sorts.
Her lips quirked toward a smile, and she gave him a questioning look. Thankfully, Lakaan spoke up, sparing Leitos the effort of trying to voice his jumbled thoughts.
“I had nearly given up hope that you escaped Zuladah,” Lakaan said, grunting as he gained his feet. “Where have you been?”
“First we eat,” Zera said, holding up a string loaded with a half dozen scrawny, gray-brown hares. She threw her arm around Leitos, pulled him close, and whispered, “Let your heart be at ease, I am well.”
Leitos smiled. “I am glad you’re back … that is we-Lakaan and I-are glad you are safe.” He shut his mouth before he started babbling.
“I am happy you’re happy,” she said, and playfully elbowed his ribs. In that moment, all returned to normal, and a weight seemed to fall off Leitos’s shoulders. “Now it is time to eat. I am starving!”
As they set camp, night settled heavy and dark. After feeding and watering the burros, Leitos and the others fed themselves. In the flickering firelight, Zera licked the grease off her fingers from the last roasted hare with the same greedy zeal as Lakaan.
Leitos was more reserved, picking the stringy meat off the bone. He could not keep his eyes off Zera, nor could he shake his awe of her. He had not known that he had built up any expectations of what he would find when she returned to them, but he had. The woman sitting cross-legged across the fire from him did not resemble, in any way, who he had believed he would see.
With little water to spare for washing, her face was as grimy as his and Lakaan’s. She wore the dirt better than either of them. And where Lakaan’s girth had dwindled, and the already scant flesh covering Leitos’s arms had thinned, Zera appeared as if she had never gone a day in her life without food. Perhaps she had not-she was a Hunter, after all. There was also no sign she had been gravely injured, as she moved without a hint of pain.
“Getting out of the city was not so difficult,” she said now, continuing the story she had begun while they prepared their camp. “It was not the first time I have had to climb a city wall.”
“What of your wounds-” Leitos began, falling silent when Zera held up a hand.
“Were not so grievous as I first believed,” she said, flashing him a mollifying grin. “I’ll carry a scar, have no doubt, but it will serve as a reminder of the foolishness for trusting the likes of Suphtra.”
“Even I believed he was loyal,” Lakaan mumbled.
“He was,” Zera said, “if only to himself. I cannot fault him for that. But when he made the choice to turn on me, he sealed his own fate.”
“Did anyone follow you beyond Zuladah?” Leitos asked.
“I hope so,” Zera said. “I left a trail that headed straight to the harbor. With so many fishermen coming and going, it will be assumed that I escaped on fisherman’s skiff.”
“What about Sandros and Pathil?” Leitos asked, having decided that they must not have been as grievously injured as he first believed. As to thinking that they had begun to change form, he knew well enough that terror had a way of twisting the mind. When he fled the mines, such fright had made him see a slavemaster that had not been there.
“No doubt, they are cursing me even now,” Zera said proudly. “Although, they must know by now that I never intended to hand you over to the Alon’mahk’lar. I suppose my days as a Hunter are finished.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Lakaan grumbled, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. He rose and shuffled beyond the firelight and fell into his blankets. “If trouble comes,” he called, “keep it to yourself.”
“If there is trouble,” Zera whispered to Leitos, “it will have come and gone before we can wake him.”
“Do you think there is any danger coming?” Leitos asked, looking to the east. Far away, he thought he could hear a voice on the wind moaning through the canyons.
“Of course,” Zera said. “These lands-all lands-are full of menace … especially for humankind. Keep on your guard, but do not worry yourself into a panic over what might be.”
“I tried to come back for you,” Leitos said hesitantly, “at the stable.”
Zera gave him a reassuring grin. “I know you did, and I thank you.” With mock sternness, she added, “But I told you to go on without me. Trust that when I give you an order, it is for the best-for both of us.”
Leitos nodded. Silence fell between them, underlain by the soft crackle of burning twigs. A jackal yipped, another answered. A star streaked across the sky, a brief and violent flaring, then was gone.
“Will you sleep with me?” Zera asked quietly. Leitos almost swallowed his tongue. “This close to the mountains,” she went on, unaware of his shock, “it is cold at night. We can share our warmth.”
“Good idea,” Leitos said after clearing his throat.
He looked to the mountains in question, thankful for the distraction. There had been no question in his mind how they had derived their name, what with all the smoke, but in the night, it became all the more obvious. Deep red, meandering veins crept down the mountains’ flanks. “What manner of fire is that?” he asked.
Zera looked from him to the west. “It’s molten rock,” she said absently. “It bubbles up from deep vents that, some say, reach to the very bowels of the Thousand Hells.” She chuckled as if that belief was the height of absurdity.
Neither stirred for a long time. Zera sat lost in thought, while Leitos did everything he could to avoid thinking. The fire died slowly, until only faint embers glowed under layers of ash.
“We should sleep,” Zera said, rising. “Tomorrow will be a long day. Once we are in the mountains, the days will only get longer and more difficult.”
She held out her hand to Leitos. He took it and stood. After that, he felt lost in a daze. She rolled out their blankets, making a pallet that seemed far too narrow for two people. He was still staring at their makeshift bed, and Zera resting on it, when she shot him a questioning look. “What are you waiting for?”
The moisture fled his tongue, and his limbs lost all feeling, but he managed to join her. Laying on his back, with no less than a foot between them, he twitched when she nestled near and spread a blanket over them.
“It’s so cold,” Zera said, her voice already drowsy, muffled by their shared blanket. “Give me your arm.”
Leitos rolled to his side and did as she asked, fearing that his heart would leap from his chest. She pressed against him with a contented sigh, and then twined her fingers through his. By her breathing, she fell asleep almost at once, and he began to relax into her comforting warmth. He lay there a long time, the scent of her-leather and clean sweat and the faintest hint of some flower’s fragrance-filling his nose.
Chapter 23
It was still dark when Leitos came awake, his skin coated in cold sweat. The fire had been built up, its light mingling with the glow of a gibbous moon. Where is Zera? Strange howls crawled out of the canyons, crept over camp. There were words buried within those utterances, suggestions-
“Gods!” Lakaan bellowed. He sat up, his bulbous head turning this way and that.
“It seems that trouble has found us,” Zera said, standing near the restive burros.
Galvanized by another howl, Leitos sprang to his feet, flinging aside his blanket.
… still the heart … savor the meat … devour the soul … sweet perishing … sweet death … be still be quiet … yes yes … lie down … yes yes yes … slumber … die.…
“We must flee!” Lakaan babbled. He stood up, blundered one way, then another, spinning in mindless circles. “Run!” he shrieked. “We must run or die!”
“Calm yourself,” Zera snapped, her voice like a whip. Lakaan halted at once, panting, eyes wild. “We will run,” she growled, “but not in a blind panic. Do you understand?”