How long had his soul been out wandering? Days? A moon?
He took a deep breath, and the room swirled around him. “What a … headache.”
His skull throbbed agonizingly. Gently, he tried to push up on one elbow to reach for his blurry pack, but the effort sent his soul tumbling, thought after thought, memory after memory. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone move. He blinked and fell back to his sweat-soaked hide. Closing his eyes, he struggled to control the cascading images.
“Are you finally awake?” Keresa asked.
“You don’t … sound happy about it.”
He pried an eye open; even that hurt. A blue spot wavered in the direction of her voice.
“I am happy. Now I can stop wasting my strength cursing you.”
“Glad to … to finally be of some use. How long … how long has it been?”
“Since the battle? This is our fifth night here.”
Keresa cautiously stepped over sleeping warriors to reach him. He closed his eyes and listened to her quiet movements.
“Where … are we?”
“In a rotted hole beneath Headswift Village.”
He opened his eyes and saw the blue spot hovering above him. He squinted and thought he could make out the shape of her face. Her eyes looked more red than brown.
“You look terrible,” he commented.
“Probably because I’ve been slaving to keep our warriors from killing each other while worrying myself sick about you.”
He smiled. “Is there … water?”
She made noise, and he heard water splashing into a cup. Keresa sat beside him, slid an arm beneath his shoulders, and gently lifted him. Then he felt the cup touch his lips. He drank greedily. Liquid spilled from the corners of his mouth and ran coolly over his chest. He finished it and let his head fall back against her arm.
“Better?” she asked.
He nodded, but as she pulled her arm from beneath his shoulders, his mind tumbled again, confused memories flying close, then soaring away.
“Wh-where am I?”
Suddenly, he couldn’t remember. He shook his head, struggling to recall. In the background he heard the shrill whine of the Ice Giants … didn’t he?
“Kakala, are you all right?”
“Hako?” Hope burst his heart. He reached out for her.
“No, War Chief. It’s Keresa.”
Images of lightning-filled skies pulsed behind his closed eyes. He could smell the vile odors of blood and torn intestines. Hako looked at him in utter terror.
“Hako, I told you to run! Run!”
Darts cracked on the rocks all around them. Someone screamed … .
“War Chief. Do you remember that Windwolf captured us at Headswift Village?”
“Windwolf?” His mind struggled to sort images of many battles. “He … he what?”
“There was a battle. We lost. He took us hostage.”
Not Hako. Hako’s dead. Dead for too many summers.
He shuddered, twining fingers in his damp hide. The battle at Headswift Village … Windwolf bashing him with his war club … Trap, ambush … Keresa’s hard voice demanding, “Kakala? Kakala, hold onto me! We have to get out of here!”
“I remember … Keresa.”
“Good. Lie still. A Healer will be coming to check on you. He’s been here twice.”
“Healer? What Healer?”
“A man from Headswift Village. I don’t know his name.”
He threw her a questioning look. “Search him … before he touches me, all right?”
“Forget it. Windwolf assured me he wanted to finish you off himself.”
He felt like laughing, but figured it would kill him. “How are our warriors?”
She exhaled hard. “Not well. In order to get a Healer to come and see you, I had to order them to turn over their weapons. No one is happy about it.”
“But they … did it?”
“Of course. I threatened to kill each man who hesitated.”
“Keresa? What do the warriors … think … I … ?”
Even in his haze and pain, he’d been worried to death about that. Surely the ones who’d lost friends would be blaming him, praying he’d die. When he was able to take control again, would they obey his commands?
“Some have misgivings. But most of them are with you. I’m with you.”
“I … I know that.”
With hushed violence Keresa said, “The world out there has gone mad, Kakala. There are tens of refugees crawling all over Headswift Village, and more appear every hand of time. Windwolf’s forces are growing rapidly.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “Have we … heard …”
“We’ve heard nothing. Windwolf must have ordered the warriors who guard us to keep their mouths closed. At first I heard many interesting things, but since then, nothing.”