I think both Cam and Shilah were aware of this, but they helped keep up the pretence, smiling through the dread.
‘That’s quite a few freedom songs,’ Shilah said with a raise of her eyebrow. ‘To sing that many they must not have stopped since the Great Drought.’
I adjusted the Coldmaker again, the machine heavy and the metal edge continuing to dig into my hip. I had a feeling I’d be walking with a permanent crook if we ever made it through the March.
‘I imagine that’s true,’ I said softly.
I rubbed the sore spot on the back of my head, looking out over so much dead land and consulting the compass Mama Jana had been savvy enough to put in our supplies. We were still headed due North, but the barren sands and rocks weren’t showing any signs of letting up. As far as I could tell, this was a fool’s journey. We would surely perish, and the Coldmaker was going to be lost out in the middle of nowhere, along with any hope for the Jadan people.
‘This is brutal,’ Cam said, wiggling his toes underneath his sandals. ‘It’s like I stepped on a pile of needles, and the Sun is trying to lick my bones.’
‘Welcome to life as a Jadan runaway,’ Shilah said, unfazed and standing tall on the flattened stretch of earth. ‘Enough of this suffering and maybe you will start understanding us.’
I had to admit it was a smart idea to have the Coldmarch positioned here, since no taskmasters would ever be caught out in this nightmarish terrain for no reason. The ground near Paphos had started as compact and easy, but the March had taken us across thick dunes, unstable rock faces, and the vertical climbs of the Drylands, all in the name of secrecy. I had yet to see any bleached bones sticking up from the sands, but I doubted all of the brave Jadans who’d attempted this journey had made it through.
The only benefit of this treacherous terrain was that the land here was not even, meaning frequent patches of cool shadow in which to rest. But all the shade in the World Cried wouldn’t matter if we ran out of water.
‘I bet they’ll have groan salve at this next stop,’ I told Cam. ‘Mama Jana said this Split is a Pedlar, and Pedlars have everything. You’ll barely feel the burns tomorrow.’
Cam nodded, taking a breath before standing up again. ‘I’ll call it penance.’
‘Maybe you Nobles just aren’t worthy of the March,’ Shilah said.
‘Shilah,’ I said, shooting her a stern look. ‘Stop. Cam is family, and he saved us both. Don’t forget that.’
She looked poised to argue, but bit her bottom lip, and eventually nodded.
‘And correct me if I’m wrong,’ I continued, the timing perfect. ‘But doesn’t that look like the tip of a three-humped valley in the distance?’
Cam gave me a thankful look, his glasses still in his hand. ‘You’ll have to describe it to me. Things are a bit fuzzy at the moment.’
‘Three humps in the rocks and sand,’ I said, smiling for what felt like the first time since we’d started walking. ‘Just like the alder writing said.’
‘Shall we celebrate with Cold water all round?’ Cam asked, his whole demeanour changing in an instant, looking practically giddy. ‘We earned it.’
Before Shilah or I could answer, Cam gave a frantic nod, answering himself.
‘Why, yes, Camlish, what a delightful offer. Thank you!’ He rubbed his hands together eagerly. ‘You’re most welcome, Camlish. You’ve always had the finest taste in celebrations.’
‘Fine, but not all of it,’ Shilah warned gently, rolling her eyes. ‘It’s been ten years since the Coldmarch shut down. We don’t even know if there’s anyone down in that valley.’
I reached into the Coldmaker bag, fishing for the side pocket where I kept the Abbs. ‘Maybe not, but if this Split is still around, then it’s another person we can share—’
My wrist exploded with pain.
I snatched my hand out of the bag. The sting was too overwhelming for me to even form a shout. My throat immediately closed up. Even though my tongue was silent, I could feel my arm howling.
‘Spout,’ Cam said, frowning. ‘You okay? You cut yourself?’
I was unable to answer. The shock was still registering, pain increasing with every rapid pump of my heart. My wrist looked normal at first, but after an instant, two puncture marks began to make themselves known, my dark skin rising and bubbling from the venom.
I dropped the Coldmaker far harder than I should have, the machine giving an angry clank. The canvas lips of the bag fell open, and a baby Sobek lizard skittered from the bag. It looked up at me unafraid, its tiny red eyes glistening in the Sun. The scales around its neck puffed up, as if readying itself for another bite, although I already knew a second one couldn’t do me further harm.
I was as good as dead.
‘Oh,’ Cam spurted. ‘Oh no. That’s really small.’
I snatched my wrist up to my lips and began sucking out the venom, my heart thundering and my head clouding with fear. Run-ins with Sobeks were common, and I’d been bitten before, but always by an adult lizard. The grown ones knew only to release a bit of venom in a single bite – meaning a night of vomiting and cramps for the victim – which was bad enough.
This was far worse.
Young lizards always emptied their entire poison sacs at once, not yet knowing how to control their portions.
Sobek lizards are a nuisance.
Their babies are assassins.
My tongue began to fizz with pain at the edges.
Shilah was quick, pinning down the creature with her sandal and cutting off the back half of its tail. Normally she was reverent of all living things, so I knew hurting a Sobek would not have been an easy thing for her to do.
Cam’s face scrunched in frightened confusion as the lizard skittered away, unharmed by the loss of its tail.
‘For the medicine,’ Shilah said, her face severe. ‘They say it’s always best if you mix in some of the creature itself.’
I tried to say that it was true, that Abb had imparted that same bit of wisdom, but words were no longer possible.
Cam’s face went mad, tearing at his headscarf. ‘What do we do? How do we make medicine?’
Shilah didn’t answer, pocketing the tail and rushing to my side.
‘Alternate with me,’ she said, bringing my wrist to her lips and somehow keeping calm. ‘Five spits each. I’m right here. This isn’t going to stop us.’
I nodded, feeling the Sun’s rays pulsing with menace. The baby lizard must have crawled into the bag while we were passing through the caves, as they usually didn’t stray far from water supplies.
But why hadn’t I noticed it until now?
Perhaps this was my penance: punishment for trying to change things.
Shilah wrapped her lips around the punctures. She sucked hard, and the pressure was excruciating, like a shard of glass being driven out of my wrist. She pulled deep five times, spitting after each, rubbing her tongue on her sleeve.
I took a deep breath and went to take my turn, but the pain was too much, the wound burning like hot iron, and I flinched away.
‘Let me do it,’ Cam said, coming over and taking my wrist. He took one deep pull of the poison and then started coughing violently. ‘It’s like burning coals!’
‘Move,’ Shilah said, pushing him aside. She looked me right in the eyes as she grabbed my wrist. ‘You’re going to be