Page 156 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

I was like that, drifting along until a glimmer of light roused me from my desperate struggle.

Something was happening up ahead. I remembered how to angle my body, how to force it into a breast crawl I could sustain, enough to head for the side of this rapidly streaming water.

There were fewer rocks now, the water smoother.

Then the rocks opened up around us, a rocky beach appearing to my left, the side I’d been swimming toward.

We were in a canyon, cliffs rising high around me on either side of the river.

I couldn’t care less. All I saw was the strip of beach, I had to make it.

Clawing myself out of the water and onto dry sand was an effort, but the sand was warm against my too-cool skin.

I was slipping into hypothermia, my thoughts going hazy.

Where was Fierce? Where were his animals? Had they made it?

There was a snuffling sound right as I thought it, and my sluggish brain surged into elation.

That had to be the hound. Tilting my tired head, I lifted it just enough to aim it toward the sound.

Oh, fuck no… That was not the hound, that was something else entirely.

It was huge, a bit like a cross between a boar and a crocodile, as it shuffled out of the water to my right and ambled my way.

A long snout with protruding tusks snuffling along the sand, it appeared blind, with only remnants of milky white eyes.

I scrambled back, trying to urge my frozen body to do something—anything—to get away from that thing.

I was so cold, though, so cold that I could barely move at all.

My eyes struggled to stay open, to focus on that creature.

It opened its maw and roared, scuttling toward me on stubby feet.

I thought for sure it was going to eat me—then came a flash of bright color, accompanied by a high-pitched chirp.

Fluffy leaped over me and straight onto that long snout, her slender tail curling up over her body like a scorpion’s and jabbing the crocboar in the eye with a long needle sticking out from the tip of her tail.

I wasn’t sure what exactly happened next—only that the creature collapsed without making another sound.

Then Fluffy was sitting on my chest, purring rapidly and rubbing her wet snout against mine.

She was shockingly warm against my chilled body.

I wanted to say thank you. I wanted to pet her, to check that she was fine.

All I managed was a sigh, my body giving up the fight with the cold.

*

Fierce

I didn’t know where Hina was when I climbed out of the water, as soon as the rapids had opened up to this canyon.

Frantically, I searched the rapid river streaming past me, but I couldn’t see her anywhere.

Snarl was climbing out a little further downstream, shaking his sleek black fur with a disgruntled look.

I had lost hold of the Riho, but they were avid swimmers.

She would know how to take care of herself, probably better in that water than any of us.

Likely, Hina had been washed farther downstream.

My body was tight as a bowstring as I started sprinting down the shore, my eyes scanning the rapidly churning water for any sign of her pale skin and black hair.

If she hadn’t made it… I couldn’t bear the thought—didn’t want to think about it—so I focused on finding her.

“Fierce’s Hina made it. She is strong,” Snarl reassured me, his long body stretched out as he streaked ahead of me across the sandy beach on this side of the now-much-more-placid river.

I hoped he was right, but when I spotted her prone form, fear clawed at my mind.

She was right next to some kind of creature, a predator, by the looks of it.

I dropped to my knees in a cloud of dust, only then spotting ‘Fluffy’ curled up on Hina’s chest. Her eyes were closed, and the Riho was purring louder than I’d ever heard before, her small body spread out as much as she could across Hina’s respiratory system.

“Good girl, good girl,” I told the Riho, while I desperately gathered Hina into my arms and curled my body around her.

I had nothing to warm her with but myself, the blanket in my bag was soaked.

“Fire?” Snarl asked me when I got to my feet with Hina in my arms. Fluffy was still curled against her chest, instinctively having supplied my female with exactly what she needed to hang on a little longer.

I spotted a large slab of rock a little ahead of us.

It had been in the sun for a few hours and was warm to the touch when I leaped on top.

Stripping her of all her clothes, I spread her out on the warm surface.

“Find wood or bones,” I said to Snarl. He leaped away to search for what I needed, while I rapidly shucked my own soaked clothing and rushed to spread out the soaked blanket nearby so it could dry.

Then I curled my body around hers and held her tight, trying to supply as much heat as I could.

At least my temperature ran higher than hers, and my body was strong, it was pumping out as much heat as it could.

Soon, she was shaking, shaking so hard that I had to hold her tightly so she couldn’t harm herself.

This was a good sign, though, and when Snarl returned with a pile of wood in his mouth, I traded places with him.

The Ferai beast crawled against her body, sharing heat, while I built a fire next to us, right on top of the rock.

As soon as that was done, Snarl and I sandwiched her between us, Fluffy curling around the top of Hina’s head.

She was starting to warm up—a little at a time—but I was hopeful that she’d make it.

Aside from some bumps and bruises, she didn’t otherwise appear harmed from the swim; we’d been incredibly lucky.

The hours it took for her to really wake up were far too long.

But when she stopped shaking and her cheeks turned rosy instead, I knew it would be soon.

Snarl shifted away. “I’m going to eat, want me to leave you some Fierce Hunter?

” I didn’t need to look to know that he was headed for the body of the freshly felled predator.

Soon, I could smell the blood in the air and hear the crack of bone as he ate.

My stomach rumbled angrily as the delicious scents hit my nose.

I was starving. Those ration bars hardly filled me at all.

With Hina feeling warm again to the touch—almost a little too warm—I went to check the blanket and the fire.

The blanket had dried in the sun near the fire, so I rolled Hina into it.

I stoked the fire a little higher with the pile of driftwood and bones that Snarl had found for us.

Only then did I allow myself to look at the flesh the Ferai beast was consuming.

“Warn me if anything changes,” I told Fluffy, who was still dutifully curled on Hina’s chest, purring gently.

The Riho blinked bright green eyes my way, as if in confirmation, though I still wasn’t sure how much she understood.

Satisfied my female was going to be all right and was safe where she was, I leaped off the rock and jogged to where Snarl was eating.

Using my ax, I hacked free a few chunks for myself and tore into the strips of red meat with relish, filling myself up with the soft flesh first before breaking free a bone and using my jaw to crack it and get at the soft bone marrow, the tastiest part.