On the sixth day
they prepare to leave.
While the Slain sleeps,
Odymn and Wen-le-gone
consider what they will carry.
Odymn empties the Slain's pack.
They select the ground sheet,
a blanket,
the Slain's rope,
the medical supplies,
the dried kotildi meat.
The map.
Other items are wrapped,
tucked into a nearby cairn
where the Slain keeps
his belongings.
Odymn fingers
the teal-blue cloth
of her tunic
dark with the blood of the Slain.
Deep inside the pack
she discovers
a secret pocket sewn,
unknown item within.
Something the Slain
keeps safe.
Odymn leaves it there,
to keep his trust.
She and Wen-le-gone
argue over the link-shelter.
Certain protection
from kotildi, slear-snakes
and marl.
But too small for three.
Awkward to carry.
At last they abandon it,
bury it beneath leaves,
deep in the Sintha Wood.
YOU ARE READING
Meniscus: One Point Five - Forty Missing Days
Science FictionAfter the Slain is shot, Odymn and an Argenop elder work together to try and return him to good health. As they journey towards the Themble, survival is a challenge. Odymn must add to her foraging skills and survive an attack by the vicious kotildi...
