War and the Wind by Tyler Krings

Author:Tyler Krings [Kring, Tyler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tyler Krings

Night came before Jon was finished gathering enough floating debris to make a raft. He tore strips from her cloak and his trousers to bind the stray pieces together. Even if the day had been warm, she would not have noticed. She scooted closer to the small fire to fight the cool dampness of her skin. As her self-assigned job, she kept it going, setting aside a small pile of sticks Jon brought her to keep dry. The mouth of the cave opened into the river itself, and a large pool swirled at the entrance.

Jon surfaced from the pool after his last trip into the river; a soaked log as tall as he in his arms. He shook himself from the cold mountain water and lay his prize by the half-finished raft. Rubbing his hands, he gathered himself before the fire and shivered.

“That’s all we can do tonight,” he said.

“You’ve done quite a bit,” she replied. She took one the remaining strips of her cloak they had and began to rewrap her leg. The blood had clotted along her calf, the sharp pain barely fading. “Do you think it will hold?” she asked.

“I’ve done what I can, but no, it probably won’t hold. Hopefully it’s enough to get us out of the gorge at least.”

She nodded. She wrapped her leg as the he shown her, keeping it tight without cutting off the blood flow. She winced.

“Here.” Her future husband came to her and took the cloth from her hands.

“I can manage just fine, thanks,” she said.

“Quit,” he said sternly. “You could do it yourself, but this way will be a lot less painful.” Gently, he continued her work with ease and much faster than she was able. Eyeing the damage to her leg, she reflected on Jon’s remarks regarding bleeding things dying. Gods very rarely, if at all, found themselves in situations such as hers. How fragile these forms are. Had she been turned the wrong way, it could have been her head, and then where would she be? A single misstep from the Judges’ door. At least, that was how it stood for mortals. But what of her? If gods required judgment, she did not think she would find herself again in Anu. Fate’s anger was too dire and far too long lasting to forgive one such as her—not that she would ever ask for it. But then, had not Maerko suggested that Fate wished her to be his queen?

“Deep thoughts?” Jon asked as he finished with her leg and, satisfied it would hold, added a stick to the fire.

“Yes,” she answered truthfully.

“Care to share?”

She eyed the fire and took a breath. “Not really.”

Jon nodded and left her in a silence. She changed her mind. “I was thinking about my… mortality? My leg…and whatever else can happen.”

“We’ll make it. The river’s not that rough,” he said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant. Death is scary.” His face darkened, and he looked elsewhere.

“That’s putting it mildly,” she answered.

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