The rag doll constructs pressed themselves over Stran’s wounds, and their fabric bodies were saturated in blood. Zera unpacked the bandages and wound kit. Kreya joined her.
“Hold him still,” Zera said. “I’ll sew.”
“We have to clean the wound first,” Kreya said.
“I know that!” Zera snapped. “You command our missions, but the mission is over, in case you didn’t notice.”
Seeing Stran had shattered her cool façade. Now Kreya was seeing the tension that Zera hid beneath it.She doesn’t think he’ll make it,Kreya thought. A cold fear spread through her.
“Marso, can you fetch water from the river without freaking out?” Zera asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Marso said. Unsteadily, he got to his feet and wobbled between the trees. He stumbled over a downed log and crawled into the underbrush.
Kreya started a fire, a small one, clawing out a hole for it in between the roots of a tree. She used matted dried vines for kindling and struck a spark on a fire-starting rod. Blowing into the smoke, she grew the flame until it was a small fire.
Zera held a needle in the flame, sterilizing it.
Marso returned with water in his canteen, and they set it to boil. “Stone fish in the river,” he reported. “Didn’t die.”
“Good, Marso,” Kreya told him. “You did good.”
He beamed at her, looking at once like a child who had seen little of the world and like a ghost who had seen too much.
Turning from him, Kreya examined Jentt’s wounds as the water for Stran boiled. He had two arrow wounds, but thankfully, neither had pierced anywhere serious. Missed an artery in the thigh. Missed anything vital in his shoulder. He’d limp for a while, and he’d ache probably forever.But he’ll live.
This time.
She wasn’t as sure about Stran.
His breathing was thin and rough, and his skin bore a glossy sheen.
Once the water was boiled, they used it to clean his wound, dabbing the water on and then pouring it after it was just cool enough to not burn him. His flesh turned bright red anyway, and he screamed until one of the rag dolls stuffed its one un-bloodstained arm into his mouth.
“How many stamina talismans do you have left?” Kreya asked. “Can they keep him alive long enough for us to get out of here? Long enough for us to get him help?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. If we only use them for him, there might be enough.” Zera sewed the wound quickly and precisely, as only someone who’d spent her life in careful and precise work could do. Stran bit down on the construct’s arm, his eyes wide in pain, desperate to scream. Using a strength talisman, Kreya held him down so he wouldn’t thrash.
When they’d finished, he’d passed out.
“Can’t tell if he’s bleeding internally,” Zera said. “Even ifwe had all the stamina talismans in the world, I don’t know if—” She cut herself off, unable to finish the sentence, and Kreya knew what she wasn’t saying. Even after all they’d done, even after escaping the plains, he might not make it.
Kreya glanced up at the trees. A ruby-colored bird flew between the branches, and she heard a monkey cry. How long until the monsters of the valley noticed them?
Turning their attention to Jentt, they dressed his wounds. The arrows had stanched the flow, but once they were yanked out, his wounds needed to be sewn shut as well. He bit a hunk of wood to keep from screaming and alerting the valley predators.
Finishing, Kreya collapsed backward and realized that the forest had gone quiet. The only sound was the rush and tumble of the nearby river.
“They’re coming,” Marso whispered.
Kreya didn’t know if he meant Eklor’s monsters, the border guards, or river creatures, and she didn’t care. Fleeing was their only option, regardless of who chased them. She knew it wasn’t smart to move either Stran or Jentt, but she also knew they had no choice. “How far to the wagon?” she asked Jentt.
“Not far,” he replied, and pointed, his arm shaking with the effort.
She had lost her sense of where they were, but she trusted him. “Strength, Zera?”
Zera tossed her a talisman. “It’s just a minor boost—we used up all the good ones,” she warned. “So move fast.” She used one herself. Lifting Stran, she started in the direction in which Jentt had pointed. Kreya carried Jentt. Marso stumbled along with them.
Around them, Kreya saw the rustle of branches and thefamiliar shadow of a croco-raptor. She swore under her breath. If she saw one, the others would be closer.
