Oswin Tunnelway's Arc

Chapter 4 of 10

The road stretched ahead toward the next checkpoint, and Oswin counted his steps to keep from counting the hours left in his salve jar. Foxface walked at the front of the group now, her pace steady, and Caius stayed near the back where he could watch everyone. Oswin found himself in the middle, exactly where someone would place a problem they were monitoring. They stopped for water at midday, and Oswin set his backpack against a fallen log. He was reaching for his canteen when he noticed Foxface crouched beside his bag, her hand frozen on the front pocket. The note. She'd opened it looking for something else — maybe a map, maybe supplies — and now she held the folded paper between her fingers like it might burn her. Oswin's chest went tight. He could see her reading, see the moment her expression changed from confusion to understanding. When she looked up at him, there was no anger in her face. Just a quiet horror that made his stomach drop. She stood slowly, folding the note exactly as it had been, and tucked it back into the pocket. "Caius," she said, not a question. "You wrote this for Caius." Oswin nodded once. She handed him the backpack without another word, but everything had shifted. She knew now — not just that he was hiding an injury, but what kind of injury required absolution written in advance. The scratch wasn't a blister or a wound that might slow him down. It was the kind of secret that ended with someone having to make an impossible choice. Foxface walked back to the front of the group, and this time when she looked over her shoulder, Oswin saw her checking not whether he was keeping up, but whether he was still himself. Caius appeared beside him after a few minutes, silent as always, and Oswin expected questions or confrontation. Instead, Caius reached into Oswin's bag and pulled out the medical kit, then opened it to reveal the salve jar. He studied it for a long moment — noting how much was left, how much Oswin had been using — then closed the kit and put it back. "Three days," Caius said quietly. "Maybe four if you're careful." Oswin didn't deny it. There was no point now that Foxface knew what the note meant and Caius had measured what remained. "The ruins are five days away," Oswin said. Caius nodded, his jaw tight. "Then we move faster." He walked ahead without waiting for a response, and Oswin watched as Caius spoke to Foxface, their voices too low to hear. But he saw the moment Foxface's shoulders straightened, saw her nod and adjust her pack. The group's pace changed after that — not frantic, but purposeful. They were racing now, all of them, against the diminishing supply in Oswin's bag and the worsening infection beneath his bandage. Oswin had tried to carry this secret alone, but Foxface had found the note and Caius had counted the days, and now the whole group was running toward the ruins with him. He touched the front pocket where the note waited, then kept moving. The decision was no longer his to make.