Page 53 of The Warrior's Oath
“Yes, there is that to consider as well,” he acknowledged. “Come. Upstream appears to be our best option.”
Korvin had packed light for their trek and as a result had not brought any implements for crossing a gaping chasm in the ground. There was no need, the aerial images had not shown any such obstacles from the angle of their vantage point.
But now they were facing precisely that sort of hindrance and Nyota wondered how he planned on making it across. Sure, for all she knew his superpowered runes could allow him to leap across in a single bound. But hers, she was quite sure, could not.
Korvin’s matte-bladed knife was put to work as they trekked, slashing down the slender dangling roots from a tree that seemed to pull its water from the moist air. The roots appeared to eventually grow to support the tree itself as well once they reached the ground. It reminded Nyota of what she’d seen on some nature show back home, only these roots were much thinner, almost like string bundled together.
Korvin knotted each to a stick he tucked into the strap of his pack. When he had gathered several, he then began tightly braiding them.
“Tell me you’re not planning on us swinging across a gorge withthat,” Nyota said.
“Of course not.”
“Good.”
“I must add several more layers before this will be thick enough to properly grasp for our crossing.”
Nyota did not like the sound of that. Not one bit.
“I’m sorry, but that seems like a really bad idea.”
He glanced at her but kept walking and braiding. “We have no rope. As such, I am making one.”
“Out of tiny little—”
“Try to break this,” he said, cutting her off a piece no longer than her arm.
Nyota wrapped the ends around her hands and pulled. The root dug into her hands but held fast a long moment before finally snapping from the strain.
“The Zuduku’s roots have long been used for fashioning all manner of implements, rope being among the most common. I have done this on many occasions when the need arose. Just a few of these strands, when braided, can support an adult’s weight. I am merely crafting a rope that will be thick enough for you to grasp more easily. Rest assured, it will not break.”
She processed what he was saying, and it made sense, but the idea of swinging across certain death like some alien Tarzan was not her idea of a great plan.
“What if my hands slip?”
“The runes should be giving you greater grip strength by now.”
“Fine. But what if? That’s a long way down.”
“The fall would likely be fatal, yes,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“Not helping.”
“Apologies. I merely stated a fact. But I can see you are concerned by this relatively simple task.”
“For you, maybe. Me, I’m not used to this sort of thing. Back home I try to keep my feet on the ground, not flying through the air above it.”
“Do not fret. You will be fine.”
Korvin turned his attention back to the lengthening rope in his hands, his long fingers nimbly braiding more of the root fibers into it, adding girth as well as length. It was something he continued for several hours as they walked, cutting more of the hanging roots as they encountered the Zuduku tree, never taking more than a few at a time.
“We do not wish to cause harm to the tree,” he explained. “Nor do we wish to make our passage obvious. A few taken from the layer underneath will not raise suspicion, but a larger quantity would reveal our presence to any knowing where to look.”
It made perfect sense. It also didn’t put Nyota’s mind at ease one bit. All she could think about as the coil of rope draped over Korvin’s broad shoulders grew longer was thewhat if. What if her handsdidslip? What if she fell? Lying at the bottom of a gorge, her body broken on the rocks, was not how she envisioned her life ending.
She ruminated on her fate a long while as they trekked, and her fear only grew deeper.
“This is a good spot,” Korvin said well into the afternoon, stopping at a somewhat narrower gap in the ground.
