Neither looked back.
Chapter 10
Two miles was all that Huluk could manage. The road deteriorated into a cart track and the forest encroached on both sides, making the going difficult. The big minotaur finally collapsed. He had been walking, supporting himself on Theros’s shoulder, but the pain was too much. He lost consciousness and slumped to the ground.
Theros checked the minotaur’s wound. It was bleeding still, as were several of the cuts on his arms and torso.
“Damn. He can’t go any farther, but we’ve got to get off this road. And we need food and water,” Theros muttered to himself.
He left the minotaur where he lay, and went to explore the forest. Fifty feet from the track, Theros heard the sound of running water. Another twenty-five feet along he found a small stream. He bent to taste the water. He had forgotten about his own wounds. He was weak and light-headed and very nearly blacked out.
Dipping his hand into the small stream, he tasted the water. It was pure. Theros drank deeply.
Slowly, he rose, trying not to repeat the near-blackout. He looked around and found a small knoll where a great oak tree had fallen. Its roots formed a shield from the road, and gave easy access to the water.
Theros went back to the minotaur officer. Huluk hadn’t moved. His breathing was still strong, but he was unconscious. Nothing Theros did would rouse him. Finally, Theros clasped the minotaur by his two arms and began to drag the unconscious Huluk into the woods.
Theros stepped on a loose rock. It turned beneath his foot, pitching him backward. As he lay, smarting from the fall and disheartened by the day’s awful events, a shadow fell across him, blocking out the setting sun. Theros found himself staring straight up at the towering form of a minotaur warrior.
The minotaur put his axe head under Theros’s chin, and using the weapon, forced him to stumble to his feet. “So, little slave. I see you have done well for yourself. I suppose you think the elves will reward you for killing this officer.”
“I didn’t kill him! I was trying to help him!” Theros protested.
“Shut up, you useless excuse for a human. There was no justice on the field of battle today, but there will be justice here. Pray for Sargas to take you, as death is your next destination. Justice is served, human!”
The minotaur drew back with his axe, and swung. To Theros’s astonishment, the axe halted in midair. Instead, the warrior stumbled.
“Ah, Nevek,” growled Huluk, holding onto the haft of the axe. “I was wondering what had happened to you.”
Huluk slumped back against a tree, barely able to keep upright.
“But-but, sir,” Nevek cried. “I thought you were dead!”
“For an up-and-coming officer, you are not terribly observant. Next time check to see if I am breathing.”
Nevek shook his head. “Officer?”
Huluk laughed softly. “You are the second-in-command of this fine army of ours.” The strain was too much. He slid down the tree to the forest floor.
Still suspicious, Nevek glanced at Theros. “Yes, sir. I see your point. But if I am an officer now, who is the army? This slave?”
Huluk looked up at Theros. “This slave taught me honor today, and he saved my life. It is wrong for a slave to teach a minotaur honor and so you should no longer be a slave. What is your name, human?”
“I am Theros, slave to-”
Huluk interrupted. “You are Theros, a free human currently in the employ of the mighty Third Army of the Minotaur Supreme Circle. Or should I say, you are the mighty Third Army of the Minotaur Supreme Circle.”
Theros was hesitant. “Do you mean it, sir? I am free?”
“You are free, Theros, and you are to be commended for your bravery and honor. Now, do I hear the sound of running water?”
Theros and Nevek hoisted the minotaur officer between the two of them, and Theros led them to his hiding spot. The sun was beginning to fall into the hills beyond the forest, casting long shadows.
They set Huluk down on the moss-covered side of the river. He started to peel off his armor and coverings, but the pain was too great. Nevek came over to help. The blood had encrusted around Huluk’s wound, and continued to seep out.
Together, the two minotaurs waded into the water. Nevek helped Huluk wash the minor wounds, then they did their best with the more serious wound. The slow-moving water grew red with the washing away of blood.
Theros remained on the river shore. He was searching for a way to start a fire. Without one this night, Huluk might die. Theros needed Huluk to go back to the coastal village to let authorities know that he, a senior officer in the military, had released Theros from servitude.
Theros couldn’t believe it. He was free. He thought he should be happy over this, was surprised to find out he wasn’t. What did freedom mean to the young man? It meant no one would take care of him anymore. No one would see to it that he was fed, clothed, had a bed at night. He was on his own. He shook his head.
There was work to be done. Nevek had brought two empty wineskins, a smoked hindquarter of pork meat, a hunting knife and a small tinderbox. The forest floor was littered with twigs and dried branches. Hran had taught Theros how to make a hearth that did not smoke much, and he used the lore to build his fire.
Dried leaves served as the kindling. Using the tinderbox, he started a small fire. Twigs, then small branches followed, until he had a little fire going. They had nothing to boil water in. There were wild onions and a few mushrooms around. They could have used the pork with the fungus and vegetables to make a small stew, but there was no pot.
Huluk and Nevek clambered out of the cool water and onto the shore. “How is the commander doing?” Theros asked.
Huluk collapsed beside the fire. He closed his eyes and he was shivering.
Nevek said in a low voice. “He is not well. There must be some infection. He may not live through the night.”
“Can’t we do something? Cauterize the wound or something?” Theros asked.
Nevek looked dubious. “I know that’s what we should do, but I have no idea how to do it. I do not have the experience.”
“When I was on board the ship, the second mate sometimes had to do it if there was a wounded warrior or injured slave,” Theros said. “All you do is heat a piece of metal until it is white-hot. Then you stick it in the wound. It burns the area around the wound, but kills the infection and closes the hole. I can get the fire hot enough and we can use your knife. I can’t do the surgery, though. I wouldn’t be able to hold him down when he starts to thrash. You could, though.”
Nevek’s eyes widened. “You want me to stick a searing hot knife into Huluk’s buttocks? He would kill me with his bare hands alone!”
“He’ll be dead if you don’t.”
Nevek nodded. It had to be done. The sky was turning a deep shade of red. The lower depths of the forest were becoming obscured in darkness. Night and its chill would soon be on them.
Theros dug a shallow pit with the hunting knife. He patted down the sides to make it smooth, then crawled to the stream’s edge to pick up small pebbles. He brought these back to line the bottom and sides of his pit. Then, he took two sticks and picked up the hottest burning embers, transferring them to the new firepit. Next, he built up the fire. Every so often, he would stop and blow on the fire, building its embers.
Theros showed Nevek how to keep the fire hot by blowing on it. He went back to the stream and cleaned the knife that he’d used to dig. It had to be used as the instrument of cauterization.
Nevek wrapped a wineskin strap over the knife’s handle. Theros inserted the knife into the fire. He kept the inner embers white-hot by blowing on them and shifting the coals, just as Hran had taught him.