Next he unbraided his hair and floated spread-eagle on his back, letting the current wash away the blood and the grime. Then he scrubbed his hair with sand, gingerly avoiding the still painful bruise.
His skin was puckered and blue by the time he finished rinsing his few bits of leather clothing, knowing that they would dry stiff and unbending.
Naked, his dripping clothes tucked under his arm, he returned to the spruce and crawled inside. He hung his clothes over several of the lower branches, restarted the fire, and added small bits of dry wood, enough to take the chill out of the air, but not enough to cause smoke which could be seen through the trees.
Tam stood shakily and nosed his way out from under the tree, his pink bandaged tail looking very odd in the cold light of the morning. As Tam drank at the stream Mika dragged the princess under the shelter of the spruce and took stock of their situation.
It seemed reasonable to expect that some of the drivers and nomads had escaped the predations of the gnoll army. It also seemed logical to assume that the entire area was probably crawling with a large assortment of gnolls, hyenas, trolls, hyenadons, and nomads and drivers, all trying to either escape or kill each other.
With any luck at all, most of them would leave the area soon, running and pursuing each other westward. Mika was concerned about Hornsbuck and Marek and Klaren and a few of the others, but not enough to join the fray. It made sense to stay right where he was, under the tree, until all danger had passed and he and Tam were in better shape.
The more Mika thought about it, the more unusual it seemed that such an army of creatures would appear in the middle of the desolate plains. It was obvious they must have had some connection with the magic-user. Who in Hades was that man, and when would he turn up again?
Tam crawled back under the tree, collapsed next to the fire, and began licking himself, his every movement a visible effort.
Mika took his second boot, now washed by the stream, and scooped some water up. Mixing in a large amount of the dried vegetables and meat, he set it to simmer over the fire.
It began to rain before the stew was done, big fat drops of water that splatted against the ground. But under the tree it was warm and dry. No rain squeezed through the densely matted branches. He was feeling safe for the first time in days.
Tam wasn't too interested in eating the stew, so Mika ate alone. He offered some to the princess out of politeness, but of course, she didn't want any either.
Dinner finished, Mika rinsed out his boot and hung it up to dry. His breechclout was dry, so he put it on, then busied himself with combing the tangles out of his hair. His head still ached so he left his hair dangling loosely about his shoulders. Then he rubbed some of the herbal ointment into his blisters and over a number of other cuts and scratches that covered his body.
The unguent was soothing, spreading an icy cool across the skin, and Mika felt good, knowing that he owned the recipe for the mixture and had the knowledge necessary for making it. Once again, he felt grateful to his father for persevering in the face of his disinterest and said a quiet prayer of thanks.
His quiet ruminations were set aside abruptly, for at that moment, the roan neighed and Mika felt more than heard the tread of heavy feet nearby.
Gripping his sword, he crouched low, ready should anyone or anything attempt to invade his area.
Tam raised himself up and growled once, his ears stiffly erect. Then, his posture eased, his ears lowered and his injured tail thumped softly on the ground. Mika knew that whoever was nearby was no enemy.
Pushing the branches aside cautiously, Mika looked out and saw Hornsbuck and RedTail crashing through the underbrush, both sodden and miserable looking. They had not spotted him. For a moment Mika was tempted to let them pass by, but they looked so wretched that he relented.
"Hornsbuck!" he called in a low tone. Hornsbuck whirled, drawing his sword in a harsh clang of steel.
"Mika!" he said in wonderment, then a scowl creased his face and he frowned at Mika suspiciously.
"What be you doing here, hiding under this big tree like a rabbit?"
"Come out of the rain, Hornsbuck. We can talk in here. Come on!" he urged as rain pelted down his face.
Mika pulled his head in and added several sticks to the fire. He was glad to see that Hornsbuck was still alive, but he was in no mood for the man's militaristic drivel. Personally, Mika saw no sense in wandering around a wet forest thick with gnolls when it was possible to be dry and safe.
"Where are you?" Hornsbuck roared in a loud whisper as he plowed straight into the dense foliage, showering those inside with moisture and causing the fire to hiss and sputter.
"Hornsbuck! Down!" Mika commanded, tugging on the man's soggy breechclout, forcing him to his knees.
"Eh? Oh!" said Hornsbuck as he parted the branches and looked down into the warm dry interior of the tree. "Tree, eh?" he said with great insight. "Pretty smart. Dry too. Smelled the smoke. Couldn't see it, but smelled it. Knew someone was around. Have you seen any gnolls?"
"Come inside, Hornsbuck," Mika said impatiently as wind gusted through the open branches, spread wide by Hornsbuck's broad bulk. RedTail needed no further urging. He entered, touched noses with TamTur, and was immediately busy sniffing Tam's wounds.
"Glad there's a fire," grunted Hornsbuck as he squeezed through and walked in to where Mika sat at the base of the trunk.
He sank to a seated position in front of the small blaze and sat there steaming like some giant semi-tamed bear, his great bulk seeming to fill the interior, making the space small with his huge presence.
"Where's Recknass?" he asked suddenly, peering around him as though he might somehow have overlooked the giant.
"Dead," said Mika, and he quickly told Horns-buck all that had transpired since they had parted. Hornsbuck looked puzzled.
"Why would they have killed each other?" pondered Hornsbuck. "Did you have anything to do with it?"
"Me? I've told you everything," Mika said indignantly. "In fact, I expect it was one of them who hit me on the head. And now I'm stuck nursemaiding the princess all day!"
"Oh, so that's why you're not out hunting gnolls. Wondered about that," muttered Hornsbuck. "But I can see as how you'd have to stay here with her. I hate gnolls!" And he spat a stream of brown tobacco juice toward the princess as though to add emphasis to his hatred.
"Uh, Hornsbuck, not in here," Mika said with distaste.
"Women," sighed Hornsbuck. "They're a problem even when they ain't yapping." And he leaned over and wiped the ugly brown stain that was spreading across what remained of the princess's dress with his ham-sized fist. He only made it worse.
"Well, maybe she won't notice," he said, wiping his hand on the front of his tunic. "Maybe she won't ever wake up!" he added, the idea obviously much to his liking. "Then we could just leave her here and be on our way."
"Neither Enor nor the Guild would approve," said Mika. "And besides, Tam is injured and needs to rest."
"You're right," said Hornsbuck. "What's a nomad without his wolf? But Tam should be up and about in a day or so, nothing to really fuss about, just a few hyena bites. It's just that I get crazy sitting around doing nothing. Don't suppose you've got anything to eat? I'm starved. Damn gnolls got my horse and all my provisions, too."
Mika poured a generous portion of the dried mixture into his boot, added water, and set it over the fire once more. If Hornsbuck saw anything strange about cooking in the boot, he said nothing about it while gobbling the hot concoction.
"Not half bad, this," he said, gesturing at the stew with his food-smeared fingers. "Be better with beans, though." Then, spraying food in all directions, he told his tale.