From Across the Clouded Range by H. Nathan Wilcox

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  “Could anything else go wrong today?” Dasen yelled to the heavens as Tethina’s eyes fell shut.

  She had been walking strangely for some time, but he had been too absorbed in his indignation to care. Certainly, he regretted the things he had said, but she was so Order-cursed impossible. He never knew where he stood or what she thought, and he was so tired that he just couldn’t play the cursed game any longer. So he had exploded and said all the wrong things. And she had responded by hitting him with every branch she could find until he wondered if he still had any skin on his hands or face.

  Then this. Curse her! Now what am I supposed to do? He half expected she had collapsed on purpose, that it was all a ploy to show him how dependent he was. Following that thought, he shook her shoulders and yelled, “Come on, Tethina. This isn’t funny. It’s almost dark, we need to get to the shelter.”

  Nothing. She was limp. Her shoulders sagged in his hands, her head hung to the ground. “Okay,” he continued. “So I’m sorry. I need you. I can’t do this without you. I didn’t mean it. I was just so mad, and I . . . well, I . . . I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean it. Now, please, wake up and get us to the shelter.”

  Still nothing. Dasen looked at her long and hard. Her face was pale despite the burns, but her cheeks were bright red. Her eyes were shut, her mouth limp, her chest barely moved. He felt her cheek, it was hot, burning. By the Order, she was really sick. He was on his own.

  He sighed and examined their surroundings. The forest was dense and growing darker by the minute as the last shadows of twilight compounded into night. The trees and bushes all looked the same, and he could not see more than twenty feet in any direction through the tree trunks that surrounded them.

  Doubt filled him. He could barely support his own weight, how would he ever carry her? What would happen if she didn’t recover? He would be lost. Without food or water he would be better off in the hands of the bandits. He wanted to sit down right there and die. He was so tired that he would have almost welcomed that solace.

  Still, she had pointed to the west. She had said that it was not far. There might be food and water in the shelter. Dasen looked at the darkening sky and said another prayer, asking this time for guidance.

  He bent down and scooped up Tethina. She was not as heavy as he had expected, but he still had trouble with his bum knee and nearly fell from the exertion. Stabilizing himself, he held her cradled in his arms and took the first uneasy step in the direction she had pointed.