I joined the group of warriors hefting up the heavy posts. They would need to be placed back one at a time, given their weight and the ferocity of Drukkar’s winds.
I met Vodan’s eyes across the clearing and I bellowed, “Get the steel braces from the reserves!”
He inclined his head and ordered a group of warriors to follow him as we lifted and fought to reposition one of the posts. By the time Vodan returned, we had it in place so the other group could hammer the heavy steel braces into the remaining post at its side and secure another brace behind the post to give it strength against the winds.
We worked methodically through the freezing rain, our muscles shaking from the cold and the strain.
After the second post was secured, I looked behind me at the horde and saw groups at the affectedvolikis, struggling to keep the hides tied down.
For a moment, my stomach dropped because I spied Nelle among them. Despite my orders for her to stay inside, she was gripping one of the ropes in her small hands, leaning back as she fought to keep it from lifting. Two warriors and another female were securing the samevoliki, and even from that distance, I saw her strain and fight to keep the rope in her grip.
A growl rose in my chest when I saw the end of the rope whip across her cheek, her face jerking to the side…but she never let go.
“Vorakkar,” Vodan shouted through the rain. When I looked at him, I saw they were ready with the third brace and I forced myself to look away from Nelle, refocusing my attention on the task at hand. The sooner we repaired the fence and stabilized it, the sooner we would all be out of immediate danger.
It took us a chunk of the night to repair the damage. I ordered every last fence post to be braced so none of the others were in danger of falling, depleting our stores of spare steel. I would need more delivered fromDothikor from one of the outposts after the cold season.
Throughout it all, I saw Nelle a handful of times when I turned to look for her. Always, she was helping the horde, helping with thevolikis, though I saw the strain it put on her.
When the half moon was beginning to sink in the sky, once I was satisfied that the fence would last through a dozen cold seasons, once I was certain that no more homes were in danger from the winds, I went to look for Nelle.
When I found her, she was next to a young warrior named Odrii and a barrel fire, which barely flickered with flame. The warrior wore a worried expression on his face, which made my pace quicken.
“What is it,thissie?” I rasped when I reached her.
In the low light of the fire, I cursed when I saw she was pale and shivering violently. When I touched her cheek, it felt colder than the rain. It was then I noticed that she was soaked through to the bone. Even my furs around her shoulders did little to keep her warm.
“Vok,” I growled. Turning to the warrior, I bit out, “Bring hot water to myvolikiimmediately.”
“Lysi,Vorakkar,” the warrior replied and rushed off.
I scooped Nelle up, ignoring the stares of the horde members I passed, and raced to myvoliki. Once we were inside, I drew her over to the fire, which still burned, and threw on more fuel, growing it until it roared and flickered in its gold basin. In the light, I saw her skin looked a little blue, her veins more noticeable under her translucent flesh.
She hadn’t spoken and that was enough to make me worry.
“I told you to stay inside,thissie,” I murmured, ripping my furs from her shoulders. Her clothes were dripping on the rugs and though my own were soaked through, Dakkari could withstand colder temperatures. Humans, apparently, could not.
A violent shiver racked her body just as the young warrior ducked his way inside the tent, followed by another, each carrying bucketfuls of steaming hot water from the common bathingvoliki.
Once they filled the bath to the brim, replacing the cold water from earlier, they left, though Odrii threw a worried glance at Nelle on his way out.
Quickly, I stripped her of her clothes, throwing them near the fire, and steam curled off them.
“What is this?” I rasped down to her, still worried that she hadn’t spoken. “You will not fight me when I undress you,kalles?”
When she was naked, I scooped her up again and she hissed when my wet clothes touched her bare flesh.
“I am sorry,thissie,” I murmured to her, slipping her into the hot bath.
A startled cry escaped her and I gritted my teeth, knowing the hot water was probably painful against her freezing flesh.
“It will pass,” I tried to soothe, kneeling next to the bath. “It will pass,kalles.”
Her eyes were dilated when they met mine. I dipped my hands into the water, warming them so they wouldn’t startle her, and I ordered, “Dunk your head under.”
She was still shivering, but did as I said. I helped her resurface as she sputtered.
I rose and went over to one of my chests, pulling fermented wine from my stores. I brought it over to her in a goblet and had her sip it.
