“Oh, I don’t know.” Tired wild eyes looked up at her from the body of a soaking-wet creature. Brownish-red fur covered its body, and tiny pointed ears rose from a round face highlighted with white. A long, nimble tail was curled securely around her arm. “It’s an osa with forest coloring. I think I saw him on the bank right after we crossed. Do you think he followed us?”
“You rescued an osa while being thrown around in a river flood? You really are a healer, aren’t you?”
“Well… yes.” She laughed, unable to deny it. Slipping the creature half inside her jacket so it wouldn’t fall, she used her newly free arm to brace against the boulder in an attempt to help Rodric keep them from drifting.
Splashing sounds of something large defying the pathway of the water drew her attention downstream. Zora was stubbornly walking toward them, one slow step at a time, a murderous look in her eyes, if you could call a horse’s expression violent. Giving a vocal greeting, she shoved her face at Rodric, nearly pushing Celina down into the water as she nuzzled his neck.
“Hey, girl,” he greeted. “You’re not going to leave me for Sev after this, are you?”
Zora snorted and head-butted him, making Rodric grunt.
“In that case, help us out, would you?”
Lifting Celina up so that her feet were balanced on his leg, he gave her a heaving boost toward his horse. She hauled herself over Zora’s back and looked around.
The valley now looked like a small lake, water moving fast but not churning dangerously anymore. The water was still too high for them to get very far, reaching Zora’s shoulder. As she turned the other way, relief soared through her.
“Dahlia made it. She’s alive.” The mare was quite a ways in what looked like lower water, but she was standing.
Grabbing ahold of Zora, Rodric pulled himself up onto one of the boulders he’d been wedged between and collapsed into a sitting position with one knee up to support him.
He raised exhausted eyes to Celina, skimming over her for injuries before meeting her gaze. “Next time, we take the long way around.”
“I’m sorry, Rodric. I should have listened when you wanted to turn back.”This is my fault. We all could have died.Distress had her shaking again, and she hugged the osa tighter to her chest as she tried to reconcile what had happened.
He gripped her leg until she looked at him. “That’s not what I meant. We made the decision jointly, and we were both wrong. We need to find a middle ground between rushing and putting ourselves in danger.” He squeezed her calf affectionately. “We’re no use if we’re broken when we finally catch up to them.”
“You’re right.” He had a valid point. She’d been focused on speed and timing, but that wasn’t their only challenge. There would be others. Still, the next time she crossed a river would be too soon.
Chapter 13
Rodricshookhisheadas Celina settled her new furry patient in a saddle blanket near the fire. Once they had gotten to high ground, she had refused to let go of the osa, claiming she needed to make sure it survived through the night before releasing it. Something told him it wouldn’t be leaving with the dawn.
“Alright, the osa is fine, and you’ve tended to Dahlia. Will you please sit and let me bandage your wounds now?” he asked, exasperated.
It was a miracle that neither she nor her horse had suffered any broken bones. Thankfully only one of Dahlia’s surface wounds required stitching. Celina had coaxed the mare to lay down and then had put her under a magic induced sleep so they could safely clean, stitch, and apply healing cream to her. She was still sleeping deeply under Zora’s watchful eye.
“Yes, alright,” Celina consented.
Moving away from the animals, she sank to the ground near the fire. Thanks to the map, they’d been able to find a large rock overhang that was almost enclosed enough to call a full cave. He’d found enough dry wood before the rain began to build them a decent fire. A pained groan escaped as Celina tried to bend her legs to sit cross-legged and failed.
He pulled out bandages and brought over the antiseptic sap and healing cream they’d used on Dahlia. Though most of Celina’s scrapes were minor, there were two that needed serious attention. He examined the deep gash on her upper arm.
“This needs stitches, Celina.”
“No, it doesn’t. Just bandage it like you would a lesser wound.”
“I thought you weren’t that type of healer—you can’t mend things.” He rested her hand on his knee and began to do as she advised.
“True, but I can boost my body’s natural ability to heal, like I did for the animals. A day or so and it will close on its own. I used to do it for Connor all the time when he was in warrior training.”
She watched him work quietly as he finished bandaging her arm.
“Rodric…” Her voice was overly gentle as she looked at him through veiled lashes.
“Yes, Healer Celina?”
Her lips tugged into a smile briefly before concern descended again. His gut flipped in response to what he knew was coming.
