Jaax peered over her shoulder, his scaly brow furrowed.
“What happened to all the cheese?”
“Finished it off this afternoon for lunch,” she answered.
“And I haven’t spotted nor smelled a deer since we crested the pass,” her guardian noted, almost as an afterthought.
Jahrra narrowed her eyes. Oh, how convenient it must be to only have to eat once or twice a week. And then, just to torment her, Jahrra’s stomach growled. As if her disappointment at the lack of food hadn’t been made apparent enough.
“What seems to be the matter?” Ellyesce asked, rejoining them.
He looked pale and haggard again, and Jahrra was starting to wonder how far he could push himself with his magic.
“We are out of provisions,” Jaax answered tightly.
“And this section of the mountains seems to be short on prey,” Jahrra added with chagrin.
Ellyesce seemed to deflate. “I cannot keep performing checks on the Red Flange if I have no way to refuel.”
“Refuel?” Jahrra asked.
Ellyesce nodded, his mouth grim. “Normally, I wouldn’t complain about missing a meal, but if I don’t maintain my magic with sustenance, it fails me.”
“So you’re saying your magic runs on food?”
“What he’s saying,” Jaax interjected, “is that if he doesn’t keep himself healthy, we will have no way to tell where the Tyrant’s men are.”
Jahrra felt the blood drain from her face. She recovered quickly, lifting her arms and shoving the loaves of bread against Ellyesce’s chest.
“I’m not hungry. You eat these.”
Ellyesce took the loaves gently, but tried to press one back into Jahrra’s hand.
“You must eat, too,” he rasped.
Jahrra shook her head vigorously. “But you need it for your magic. You already look like you’ve been pushing yourself too far. Even if you stopped checking on the soldiers, you need to replenish yourself.”
Dervit had been watching and listening to the entire exchange, not wanting to interrupt. Now, however, he felt that he should.
“I have an idea!” he exclaimed.
Three pairs of eyes turned on him, and he almost lost his nerve.
“We, we crossed a stream about a quarter of a mile back down the road. I noticed an area where the water gathered into a deep pool.”
He paused to take a breath but took too long for Jaax’s liking.
“And your point?” the dragon pressed.
“My point,” he said with some bravado, “is that mountain trout like to rest in these pools. It’s also a place where insects and amphibians lay their eggs and trout love to eat these eggs.”
“Are you suggesting we go fishing?” Jahrra asked.
Dervit nodded.
“We don’t have the proper equipment, and I cannot lend my aid this time,” Ellyesce said wearily.
The elf pinched the bridge of his nose and took long, steady breaths. Jahrra was starting to think he’d used the last of his magical reserves during his most recent scouting mission. She bit her lip and turned her attention back on Dervit.
“We don’t need equipment,” he blurted, then held up one hand and wiggled his fingers.
“You’re not suggesting you can catch them with your bare hands,” Jaax growled.
“Yes, I can,” he insisted. “I’m really fast and my claws are sharp enough to grab them.”
“No one is that fast,” the dragon countered.
Jahrra had been patiently enduring her guardian’s foul mood for the past few days, but she’d had enough.
“I don’t see you offering to help,” she stated, glaring at her guardian.
He narrowed his silver green eyes on her, the full weight of his authority behind them. “It would be a waste of time and energy for me to try.”
Jahrra took a breath to fire back, but just managed to stop herself. This was ridiculous. They were having a pointless argument and growing angry about it because they were all hungry.
“Look,” she said, letting out her breath slowly and closing her eyes, “what’s the harm in letting Dervit try?”
“Fine,” the dragon conceded, “but let’s be quick about it.”
They left Ellyesce at the campsite to rest and kindle a fire. Fortunately, the soldiers were still a day behind them, and they were close enough to Cahrdyarein that a campfire might be mistaken for activity associated with the city.
By the time they reached the stream with the deep pool, dusk had begun settling in all the nooks and crannies of the mountain valley.
“Will you be able to see?” Jahrra asked.
Dervit gave her a mischievous grin. “Eyes of a fox,” he chirped, pointing to his very elf-like eyes.
Jahrra just had to trust that although his face more closely resembled hers than a fox’s, he was telling the truth.
“I’ll need you to catch them as I throw them from the water,” he said, his demeanor quickly switching from mirth to business.
Dervit crossed the channel of water, hopping from one stone to the next, his tail swinging to keep his balance and the claws of his feet digging into the slippery moss for a better hold. Once on the other side, he meandered through a few tangles of thorn bushes before reaching the edge of the pool. He leaned over the water and grew very still, only his ears and tail twitching.
Just when Jahrra was about to ask if he could see anything, his arm darted out with incredible speed and disappeared under the water. Before she even knew what was happening, a fat, silver trout was flapping around on the ground before her.
“Quick!” she hissed at Jaax. “Kill it!”
Getting over his own surprise rather quickly, Jaax used one of the talons on his right foot to kill the fish before it suffocated. Jahrra, in the meantime, had pulled out the string she’d brought along, wrapping one end around the gills of the dead fish.
Just as she finished her task, Dervit had delivered another fish, and then another.
“You are great at this! Why didn’t you offer this as a way to contribute to your community?”
He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. “Every limbit can fish. It isn’t considered a talent among my kind.”
“It sure looks like a talent to me,” she insisted, trying to keep track of all the flopping, scaly bodies surrounding her.
Jaax was having a hard time keeping up as well.
“Looks like you could use a lesson in quickness yourself,” she teased, watching her guardian try, and fail, to kill all the fish being thrown his way.
The dragon only thinned his gaze at her, but she recognized the glint of humor at the edges of his eyes.
Eventually, Jaax managed to attend to all the fish until not a single one was left gasping for breath. Jahrra strung them all on her string, finding that she would have to carry a few of the fish by hand. Altogether, Dervit had caught eighteen of them, an even number, she noted with a wry grin. Plenty for her, Ellyesce and their new, very resourceful friend. There might even be a few left over for Jaax to enjoy.
“Well done, young limbit,” Jaax said to Dervit as he rejoined them on the other side of the stream.
He was soaking wet and looked exhausted, but he smiled anyway.
Jaax turned to lead the way back, and Jahrra fell into step with Dervit, the string of fish thrown over her shoulder.
“Looks like you proved yourself once again,” she murmured, her voice tinged with pride.
Dervit shook some of the water from his fur and gave her a courtly bow. Jahrra laughed at his antics.
“Thank you,” he said. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
Jahrra couldn’t agree more. She pulled the fish from her shoulder and stretched the lot of them out in front of her, straining a little against their weight. “Wait until Ellyesce sees this. He won’t believe it.”