Page 52 of The Warrior's Oath
Without another word he turned and jogged away, his sleep thoroughly wiped from his body, whatever restful state he had been in gone entirely. Nyota watched him disappear into the woods upstream from the little grotto they had sheltered in.
“What the hell?”
Her own state of cozy happiness was fading as well, but nowhere near as abruptly as the tattooed alien’s had. She lay there a long moment, listening to the gentle flow of the water nearby, wondering what in the world had just happened.
Korvin had his ways, sure, but recently there had been telling moments of warmth as opposed to the way he had treated her when they first met. He was hot and cold with her where before he’d only been on the chilly side. Something was up, but she had no idea what it might be.
Nyota sat a long time in the little grotto, watching as the sun slowly rose higher, raising the temperature and clearing the remnants of mist clinging to the water. It was nearly an hour before Korvin silently appeared at the shoreline.
He stood there a moment, watching, then walked back to join her. He seemed less unsettled than earlier, and frankly she felt a lot better for it. He was her protector, but if he was distracted, she couldn’t help but worry he might be hindered in that regard.
“I have reconnoitered and plotted a route,” he finally said.
“You were gone a long time.”
“I required higher ground. The map shows much, but not all. We are deep in hostile territory now and require a more detailed assessment of our situation.”
“Which you got?”
“I scaled a nearby hill and climbed the tallest tree atop it.”
“And?”
“And the path is clear. The first landing site on our path is just shy of a day from here.”
“I thought it was much closer.”
“It is. Or, it should be. But due to the angle from which its images were acquired, the map did not reveal something of importance. Our route must change.”
“Raxxians?” she asked, paling at the thought.
“No. This obstacle is natural in origin. Geological. A deep gorge traverses the land ahead of us. It is hidden from sight from above unless one is almost directly atop it. The trees growing nearby create something of an optical illusion, making it seem the ground is level.”
“But it’s not.”
“Correct. Water has formed a break in the terrain.”
“Can we cross it?”
“That is our delay. We will have to divert, traveling to a narrower section to make our attempt at crossing.”
“Attempt? You’re not sure?”
He looked at her a long moment. “I could risk the more difficult section. But you?”
“I get it. I’m just not big and strong enough.”
“Do not be upset by it. This is simple physiology. You are not built for this, nor have you trained for it. But we will make the traverse. It will just require a bit of work.”
His gaze lingered on her a moment longer then he gathered up his pack and began walking. Nyota hurriedly scooped up her own gear and followed.
It was a relatively short walk, at least compared to the prior day’s outing, and they reached the gorge in no time. Nyota saw at once why they had to go around.
“Damn. That’s deep.”
“And the stone walls are wet and slick with moss. A challenging climb for any who should fall into it.”
She listened to the rushing water down below. “If you don’t break your neck or drown first.”
