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“You do them no good by getting yourself captured or killed by trying to find out if they're even talking about your friends. We keep going up, we keep moving. Come on.”

Herrick only gave her a stiff nod before they continued to climb, faster now that more arrows were being shot in their direction. Maude’s hand landed on the top of the wall, and she pulled herself up before extending a hand down to Herrick. As soon as she managed to get him pulled up to stand on top of the wall, the thick tearing sound of an arrow slicing through flesh rang in her ears. Herrick cried out in pain before he almost stumbled over the edge, an arrow protruding from his thigh. Maude was still gripping his arm, and had she not been, he would’ve fallen.

“Fuck. Can you climb down like this?” Maude quickly ripped a piece of cloth off her cloak and tied it above his wound to stop the bleeding. None of it had the bright red look of arterial blood, at least, thank the gods. The arrow had gone clean through his leg. Maude noticed the arrowhead was sticking out of the back of his thigh, so she broke the sharp tip off, leaving the shaft in until she could properly bind it.

Herrick shook his head, beyond words as he breathed through clenched teeth. Maude assessed how far the drop would be and quickly decided that path was unlikely as she wouldn’t be able to catch him in time. The soldiers below her were nocking more arrows, so she quickly untied her mother’s shawl from around her and created a sling big enough for the two of them.

“Ok, I’ll carry us both, then. Get behind me, wrap your arms around my waist.” He followed her directions, and she wrapped the shawl around him under his armpits to fashion a sling that she then looped around her own body.

“This is going to be the hard part. I know you can't climb, but I need you to steady yourself when I lower us so that you don't fall and drag me with you,” she instructed. He nodded as she lowered them both, and she took a step down over the other edge. She felt him grab the edge of the wall as they both dropped. Using his arms and one good leg, he maneuvered himself down until he was mostly hanging from the sling being supported by Maude.

Slowly, so slowly, they began their descent. If they could touch the ground before the soldiers made it to the closest gate, she could get them out of range of the Kingdom of Flame’s riders. After what could’ve been an eternity, she felt Herrick’s feet on the ground and heard his protest of pain. He had kept conscious the entire way down, trying to take his weight off her when he could.

Now that they were both on solid ground, she had to make sure they got to Engate in one piece. Gunnar had mentioned that the town lies a few leagues southwest of the city. She looked to Herrick, whose face was alarmingly pale, and laid him down in the sand on top of his cloak. She yanked the shaft out of his leg without any warning before ripping his pant leg open to see the wound more clearly. He bit down on his fist to stopfrom screaming and giving away their position and glared down at her as she probed his leg. She looked up at him, rolling her eyes at his anger.

“You’ll thank me later.”

“Not likely,” he breathed out.

“Can you use yourgalderto wash out the wound? I can burn it so it doesn't bleed anymore, but I don’t want to do that if it will be dirty.”

Herrick nodded shallowly before she saw him move his fingers in a circular motion. A small cyclone of water broke free from the sand and moved toward his leg. With a flick of his hand, he sent the water rushing through his wound. Without missing a beat, Maude snapped her fingers and ignited a small flame over her fingers. Usually, under pressure like this, she struggled with hergalder,but her utter focus on healing him cleared away any doubt, and her control over her fire had never been better.

“Brace yourself,” Maude told him but gave him no time before she jammed her fingers into his open wound, cauterizing the bleeding.

The smell of burnt flesh filled her nostrils; she had to bite down on her gag. Herrick only bit into his fist again to stop himself from making a sound, drawing blood this time. When she withdrew her fingers, his bleeding had stopped, so she wrapped his legs in the clean cloth from her cloak. She stood once she was done and helped him into a sitting position.

“Can you put any pressure on that leg?” Maude asked him, scanning the sky for the position of the moon.

“A little, but it will be a slow walk,” Herrick replied quickly.

“Ok, I’ll have to support you on your right side until we can get somewhere to rest and come up with another plan.”

“No, we keep going until we reach Engate. I can take it; I’ve had worse.”

Maude looked him over and took in his pale face.

“If I feel like you arepushing it too far, we stop.”

“Of course, we wouldn’t want to do anything you wouldn’t allow,” Herrick responded flatly.

“I got us down that wall; I make the rules right now,” she snapped at him. “Now get up. Your leg is as clean as I can get it in the sand, and we are running out of time before they send riders out to find us. Once we are further into the desert, we can slow down a bit.”

“I know. I’ve done this before, remember?”

“Then get up, let’s get moving.”

“Gods, you are so pushy,” Herrick said, annoyance flashing in his eyes. He extended his hand to her.

“Yes,” she agreed. “Now, let’s go.”

She moved to grab his hand, but he stopped her.

“Wait.”

Herrick untangled the runes that hung from his neck and picked out the water rune. He tore it from his neck and handed it to Maude. She reflexively grabbed it but looked at him blankly, unsure of what he was doing.

“Put it on. They’ll know you are a friend when we arrive in Engate if you’re wearing it,” he said weakly.