by Cheryl Dyson
******
Toryn felt groggy when they continued on at some ridiculous hour before dawn. Redwing decided the river had to be crossed and Verana agreed, so they forded it on the horses. Toryn hissed and muttered at the coldness of the water as it climbed up over his thighs to his waist. The horses began to swim, forcing them to dismount and swim also, which gave Toryn the opportunity to remember how much he hated water. He plucked at his sodden clothes once they made it across and looked around. The alternative side of the river did not seem much different than the original side. They mounted and continued on. Their clothing was just about dry when it began to rain.
"This is just great," Toryn snarled.
Verana smiled. "Now this," she stated, "is Terris."
"How do your people stand it?" he asked.
She held up a corner of her pale blue robe. Droplets of water that touched it did not soak in, but ran down in clear streams. "Waterproof."
The observation did not improve Toryn’s mood. "Wonderful. I don’t suppose you have any more of those lying around?"
"Sorry."
Toryn pulled at the green shirt Redwing had given him long ago. It was drenched. Redwing did not seem to fare much better, even though his leather vest shed some water. His wool cloak probably soaked up more rain than it discarded. Davin looked worse than any of them in his once-white shirt and faded brown trousers. Thank Adona the weather was warm or they all would have suffered from exposure.
"We need to find a town or a village," Redwing said, riding close to Toryn and Verana. "Soon we will all be wearing rags. Are there any settlements hereabouts?"
"I don’t know. I usually do not wander far from the merchant trail. There are villages scattered about, but unless we discover a road, we may never find them," Verana answered.
The rain continued as they trudged on under the partial shelter of large trees. The land grew more difficult to traverse and their progress slowed. The terrain went from slightly boggy to true swampland. Verana took the lead, as she was more familiar the mechanics of swamp-crossing. She led them from one slightly dry hillock to another and seldom did any of the horses sink more than knee deep in the mud and water.
Toryn’s horse shied at a water bird and plunged sideways, dropping almost instantly into a deceptive puddle of brackish water that was deeper than Toryn’s saddle. The mare thrashed wildly, terrified. Toryn dismounted and swam through the sludge to more solid land. Once on his feet, he grabbed the horse’s reins and helped the shivering mare out of the pond. He cursed quietly and dumped water out of his boots before he mounted again. He glared at Redwing, but the Falaran merely grinned and said nothing.
They rode for another day and the rain continued, sometimes a misty drizzle, at other times a raging downpour that brought moldering branches down in their path and made the ground twice as treacherous. The horses became more surefooted as they traversed the slippery ground and the travelers became surlier, a side effect of the constant rain and gloom. Toryn found Redwing to be a major irritant and the two of them bickered almost constantly. Their newfound camaraderie rapidly disintegrated with their tempers and Toryn grew more and more annoyed with every move Redwing made.
"You know, if you had not dragged me all the way from Redol, you stupid Falaran, I would be warm and dry in front of my brother’s fire," Toryn complained.
"No, your bones would have been lying next to my old fire, picked clean by wolves. It was only my misguided sense of pity that let you live in the first place."
"Pity? Your misguided sense of insanity, you mean! Any normal enemy would have killed me and have done. But no, apparently Falarans drag their enemies across country, through avalanches and places infested with crazed horse-lovers, only to torture them with constant rain and mud and muck. Some pity!"
"You prefer I had killed you?" Redwing gritted dangerously.
"It would be better than putting up with your louse-infested company for this long!" Toryn snapped.
"Then put up with it no longer!" Redwing yelled. He launched himself at Toryn, who grabbed for his horse’s mane, but it was too late. Redwing’s weight knocked them both to the ground. Toryn shoved him off, but not before Redwing's fist connected with the side of his jaw. Toryn got to his feet and aimed a kick squarely at Redwing’s smirking face, but the Falaran blocked it with a hastily raised forearm. He grabbed at Toryn’s boot, but it was covered in muck and slipped out of his fingers. The motion overbalanced Toryn and his other foot skid out from under him. He sat down hard in the mud and Redwing was suddenly atop him, with his fingers clawing for Toryn’s throat. Toryn twisted his legs in Redwing’s and flung him off, sparing a moment of thanks for the hours he’d spent wrestling with his brother.
He crawled to his feet again and Redwing did the same, but before they could inflict any more damage, Davin grabbed each of them by the nape of the neck and shook them. He was stronger than he looked, Toryn noted.
"Let go of me!" Toryn yelled. He kicked at Redwing once more and connected with the Falaran’s knee. "I’ll kill you for sure this time!"
"Try it, you whimpering Redolian twit!" Redwing snarled, clawing the air in front of Toryn’s face.
Verana dismounted. "I should have known this would happen. Hold onto them for a moment, would you, Davin?"
Toryn calmed his rage and stood stock still until Davin loosened his grip, and then he launched himself at Redwing. He inflicted a solid punch to Redwing’s midsection, but the Falaran dealt him a solid kick to the upper thigh at the same time. Davin separated them again, but not before Toryn grabbed a satisfying hunk of Redwing’s blond hair. He laughed and dangled the strands in the air while Redwing cursed every facet of Toryn’s upbringing. Toryn taunted him until Verana and Davin forced some horrendous concoction of herbs and water down his throat. He watched gleefully as Redwing received the same treatment, hoping the Falaran would choke on it.
After a moment, the anger began to clear from his mind and he stared at Redwing, uncertain why he had felt such a smoldering need to kill. Redwing looked as stunned and sick as Toryn felt.
"Swamp fever," Verana explained. "It will pass now."
"I think I prefer the disease to the cure," Toryn choked, gulping water from his water skin to force the taste out of his mouth.
He and Redwing did not speak for the rest of the day. The matter was dropped completely and thereafter, whenever they began to argue Verana would bring out her herbs and both of them would lose all taste for confrontation.