Page 118 of Moon Chosen

“How?” Nik asked.

Mari cut her eyes at the litter she’d put beside him. “Well, I’m going to strap you to that, and then Sora and I are going to carry and, possibly, drag you down there.”

“Sounds like it’s going to hurt,” Nik said.

“Oh, it’s going to hurt for sure. A lot,” Sora said gleefully.

“You’ll be fine once the tea starts working. Let me know when you feel numb.”

“Why?” Nik asked.

Mari frowned at him, wondering if she’d underestimated the severity of his head injury. “Because I don’t want to jostle you around until the painkiller starts working.”

“No, I mean why are you saving me instead of killing me?”

“That was my vote,” Sora said.

Mari sent her ashut uplook, and then faced Nik. “I’m not a killer.”

“Don’t have to be a killer. You could leave me here to die.”

“Let’s just say Rigel wouldn’t like it if you died, and right now that’s good enough reason to at least attempt to save you,” Mari said. Then she motioned for Sora to follow her to the litter. She started to go through the hemp ropes, and rummaged through the satchel to find a biting stick. Sora followed her, peering over her shoulder. “First, we’re going to slide him onto the litter.” Mari spoke softly for Sora’s ears alone. “Then we need to tie him to it—securely. He can’t fall out when we lift him down the waterfall.”

“Why don’t we just put him in the litter and float him to the waterfall. Actually, we could float himoverthe waterfall. If he lives it’ll be the Goddess’s will. If he doesn’t,” she shrugged, “then it’s not Her will that he lives and he dies.”

“No to the floating, but only because I don’t think he can tolerate the cold of the water again. And I’m not going to talk about sending him over the waterfall because it would definitely kill him, which I don’t think is a sign from the Goddess. I think She’s too busy to worry about one half-dead Companion and a couple almost Moon Women.” Mari rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It would be more helpful if you actuallyhelped.”

“All right. I’m sorry. I was just teasing. Mostly. Tell me what to do.”

Mari glanced back at Nik. “How are you feeling now?”

He looked at her, his moss green eyes looking unfocused and glassy. “Ssssleepy.”

“Good. Sora and I are going to get you on this litter. We’re going to tie you down so you don’t fall off. We’ll be as gentle and quick as possible, but, well…”

“Let’ssss hope I passss out?” Nik slurred.

“I’m counting on it,” Mari muttered. She moved the litter so that it butted up to Nik’s body, then she motioned for Sora to take his legs. “On three lift and slide him over. One, two, three!” Nik closed his eyes and moaned, but Mari was quick about it and set to using the woven ropes to tie him securely to the litter.

When he was tied as tightly as she and Sora could manage, Mari knelt beside him. “Nik?”

His eyes fluttered and then slitted open. “Are we there yet?” He spoke as if his tongue was too big for his mouth.

“No. Uh, not yet. But we will be pretty soon. I need you to bite down on this. It’s willow bark, so besides not letting you bite through your tongue it’ll help with the pain. I also need to wrap this around your eyes.” Mari pulled a strip of bandaging from her pocket.

“Why cover my eyes?”

“Because I’ll heal you, but I won’t let you see where I live. Do you understand?”

Nik nodded weakly. “You’re really sssssmart—not like an overgrown child at all.”

Mari frowned at him.

“That’s a weird thing to say,” Sora said, peeking over her shoulder at Nik.

He started to answer, but Mari shut him up by putting the stick to his mouth. Obediently, he opened and then bit down on it. Then she quickly tied the cloth around his head and over his eyes.

“All set, Nik?”