Nyx Evenfall's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

Nyx walked the low ground until noon. Then the math turned bad. The map put the second water hole far off. Nyx counted the canteens. Two, both half empty. The heading was right, but the distance was wrong. Cross the open flats now and the water would run out miles short. Running dry in the desert meant one thing. Nyx stopped and stared at the shimmer ahead, doing the sum again, hoping for a different answer. There wasn't one. A claw scraped stone behind the rocks. Nyx spun. The striped thing that had cut Sera slid into the open, low on its belly. Orange fur, black bars, teeth bared. It fixed its yellow eyes on Nyx and coiled to spring. Nyx grabbed a rock and threw it. The animal flinched but held. Then a voice called out, flat and sure. "Don't run. Running is what it wants." Marina Waverly stepped down from the rocks. Nyx knew her from the sword dispute two days back, the woman who saw a thing and moved on it fast. She held a length of pipe like she'd already decided how to use it. "On three, we both yell," she said. "Loud things confuse it. I saw that in Tampa once, a dog and a fence." She didn't wait for agreement. "Three." They shouted together and rushed the animal. It broke and fled into the heat. Marina lowered the pipe and looked Nyx over, unhurried. "You're headed for the far water hole," she said. Not a question. "On two half canteens. You won't make it." "I know," Nyx said. "I've been doing the math all day." Marina pointed the pipe past a low ridge. "There's a hidden spring in the rocks. Small. Rooftop shack built over it, weathered wood, easy to miss." She almost smiled. "I found it looking for a place to swim. It's not much, but it's water." Nyx followed her over the ridge. A squat wooden structure leaned against the stone, patched with gray metal plates, a narrow door bolted shut. Marina worked the bolt and shoved it open. Cool air and the smell of wet rock rolled out. A shallow pool sat in the shade inside. Nyx dropped both canteens in and drank straight from the water. It was warm and flat and it was enough. The trap in the math broke open. From here the far water hole was one hard push, not a death march. Nyx filled the canteens to the caps and stood. "The wheeled house turned south-southwest," Nyx said. "You know these rocks. Which line reaches the next hole shortest?" Marina traced a path with the pipe, along a dry channel that cut behind the ridge. "That one. Half a day if you don't stop." Nyx marked it on the map. The distance that had meant death now meant a walk. Nyx capped the canteens, shouldered the pack, and started down the dry channel while the water was still cold in them.