The Long Road To... - 4. Rocky Road

Kjartanei woke me up early and then promptly went to sleep. I had a few more hours to wait so I filled my time watching, listening and carving a small totem from some fallen branches.

Before dawn, I woke them both and we began across the warm waters. As expected, it was hard going at times. I lost one of my satchels, but we made it across without any serious incidents and were safe on the opposite shore before mid-day. We made camp off the sand and stayed just long enough to let our clothes barely dry and eat.

Afterwards, being only moderately moist, but well fed, we packed up, dressed and headed along the shore.

The rest of the plan was simple, get Kjartanei safely through this territory to the relative safety, then we would split up. Kjartanei would continue to Swordblade. He could board a boat from there to get to the tundras. Thorn and I, on the other hand, would return to the base and catch transport to Arrowpoint and then another. I could not think of a safer way. There was no way to get Kjartanei in and out of Arrowpoint without getting him killed and it was the same way with us and Swordblade.

Up river, we camped for the night. This time, I took the middle shift which for me was the least comfortable. Sleep for a few hours, wake for a few, sleep again, then up for the day. Kjartanei did it the night before so it was only fair.

Once again Kjartanei woke me and laid down to sleep. I took my time and finished carving the totem, then sat for a while listening to the quiet night in the jungle. Kjartanei had picked this spot well. No animals in the area. No tracks to indicate a travel path for predators.

Near the end of my shift, I went over to Thorn, sat near him and stroked his arm gently. I was darker in color. Our arms contrasted next to each other. Thorn had the more magnificent richer tones. He was resting peacefully, and I just continued to run his fingers on his soft neck. Finally, my need to sleep won out and I gently woke him up for the day.

Thorn expressed a dreamy look that asked a question. I was too tired to answer other than patting him on the rump a couple of times and rolling over to sleep.

When the river sand finally ended, we continued through the edge of the jungle at the river’s bank and around a lake. We could occasionally see a worksite on the opposite shore though the trees. Careful to stay hidden, we made our way past to the farther river banks.

Very late and miles away, we settled down again. Tomorrow would be the final stretch for the three of us, together, for a long time. We would go over the rocks to the road. From there, we would split up, Kjartanei one way and us, the other. There was a camp just a few turns up the road for Kjartanei and he could catch the next caravan from there. We could hoof it much faster by road, not being worried about being caught in the company of an enemy.

Once the others had fallen asleep, I put final touches on the totem. After some thought, I carved some runes of friendship along the side.

~ ~ ~

In the morning, I shuffled over to Kjartanei and nudged him. He woke up startled.

“We ok?” Kjartanei asked quickly and quietly.

“It‘s morning,” I whispered. “For you,” I handed him the carving. “My people’s Totem.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Kjartanei said trying to get a good look at it.

“Later.“

“Thank you,.” He paused. “ You are my friend.” Kjartanei clumsily shook my hand.

We packed up and prepared to climb the rock face. Kjartanei was first with Thorn following and then me. It was much easier for Kjartanei, him being lighter. I had to move over to the side a little to get a better grip while Thorn stubbornly kept trying to keep up with him. I was only a couple yards up when I heard a bellow out of Thorn. I barely looked up in time to see Thorn fall past me and hit the ground, hard.

“Thorn! Are you alright? Is he alright?” Kjartanei yelled down. Thorn wasn’t moving. Instincts took over and I practically fell off, scrambling back down . Thorn had fallen hitting his head. There was blood. I called out Thorn’s name. He was breathing but did not respond. Suddenly, Kjartanei was next to me.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know! Hit his head.” I tried to keep calm, but began to slide inside as I continued to try to get a response and got nothing.

“Here, lets wrap his head to stop the bleeding,” Kjartanei said. “Do you have anything to cleanse the wound?”

“No. Lost in shallows.”

“What about his stuff?” Kjartanei began opening the bags thrown down and around Thorn. Nearly everything was unidentifiable or smashed.

“What are we going to do?”

Wounds to be sewn up, bones to set were one thing, but a head injury? Thorn had always taken care of my wounds, my hurts.

“You said, the camp was up road, right?” I nodded quickly keeping my eyes on Thorn.
“Ok, I’ll go. It is on the trade route, with any luck they will have supplies or something for his head. We need to clean and sew it up right?” Again, I nodded. We did our best to staunch up the blood and sew the torn flesh.

“Ok, keep him safe and warm until I get back.” He turned to start climbing. “Talon, it will be ok, I promise.” With that he scrambled up the rock face and before long was gone.

The next hours were excruciating. I could not get anything from Thorn at all. I pushed my hand into the soil around us and prayed to the Earth Father. Then only because I was alone, I cried. I was suddenly all by myself and my feelings got the best of me. He had been injured many times over the years, but had never got hurt like this before. I just wanted to hear his voice.

I was able to calm myself somewhat by seeing that his breathing was regular. The cloth wrapped around his head was not continuing to pour blood either. I covered him up and held him close to me to prevent shock and reassure myself. I did not want to let him go, not now, not ever.

I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard movement on the rocks. Kjartanei was coming down quickly. I had never been so happy to see someone other than Thorn in my entire life.

Kjartanei started quickly without greeting. “I found a doctor, supplies, couple things…” “We need to look to see if the skull is injured. If the bone is ok, then we can sew him up again. If the bone is broken, his brain could be injured and could be swelling.”

We gently unwrapped his head and cut the stitches. It looked ghastly. I had seen my share of head injuries, but none on Thorn. Having determined that the bone seemed ok, we applied some solution to his head and wound. Next step was sewing it up again and we accomplished that part without a problem. After re-wrapping his head and lying him back down, Kjartanei reached into his backpack.

“Here,” he said pushing a bundle of food at me. “I got this too, you probably have not eaten all day.”

“Not hungry.”

“I know you aren’t, but you should eat something. The doctor said that now all we can do is wait. If he does not wake up by sundown, it may need something else. He is not moving on until tomorrow, so, I can return to get him. And don’t worry, I did not tell exactly where or who we are. I told him that I was with a hunting group off road.”

“Thank you,” I said then fumbled into my remaining satchel and pulled out some coins and tried to give it to Kjartanei.

“No, really it is fine, I took care of it,” he whispered.

“Thank you.”

We sat in silence for a long time. I kept a hand on the earth and one on Thorn.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, Thorn groaned. We both looked down at him. Thorn’s eyes opened slowly, he looked dazed and unfocused.

“What happened?” he asked weakly.

“You fell and hit your head,” said Kjartanei gently. “You need to rest.” He looked up at me and then back down to Thorn. He got up and walked off toward the river without saying another word.

“Talon?”

I choked his name. “Thorn?”

“Hold my hand?”

~ ~ ~

The next day, Thorn stayed awake for a longer period of time. We got him fed, comfortable, and sheltered. Kjartanei said that the doctor had said that what was important was rest and we should stay put stay as long as it took. I was grateful for the company.

A day later and there was more progress. We looked at his head while he was asleep and the wound looked clean. The stuff we had put on him must have worked. We continued to keep watch. We were happy to sit in silence watching the trees and the water down the path or take short runs to scavenge for food. Thorn was aware much of the day. He said he felt himself and ready to move on but we knew better than to listen. I walked with him down to rinse in the river. His footing seemed sure and his mind seemed sound, but he was tired. Progress would be slow, better to rest here in relative safety for now.

In the evening, I fell asleep listening to the quiet whispering of the two of them plotting adventures. I woke to the smell of fish frying on the fire. Kjartanei was still asleep next to me and Thorn was at the fire smiling broadly. I crawled closer to the fire.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You were resting peacefully. Both of you were. So I let you sleep.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Actually, real good.”

Kjartanei joined us a little while later.

“So here it is,” Kjartanei said, “The plan is the same, except, we will go over a ways, down to a more gradual slope. Not too far, there is a spot less that a half day away. Tomorrow?”

“Hell yes! I am sick of you two treating me like a baby!” Thorn laughed brightly.

~ ~ ~

The climb on the new slope Kjartanei had found was much easier but still rough. We took it carefully. Kjartanei led the way up slowly, followed by Thorn with me directly behind.

Once safely at the top we said our goodbye’s. Thorn gave Kjartanei a huge hug and made him promise to be safe, which he returned and promised. Kjartanei suddenly grabbed onto me crushing for all he was worth at the same time whispering in my ear. “I will miss you my friend.”

We watched Kjartanei safely turn the bend in the path before we turned and walked away. We only needed to camp once. After that night, and a skirmish with the local wildlife, we arrived and hopped the next transport to Arrowpoint.

The city was alive and crowded. It was much larger than Parrot Bay and was much safer. Owing to the fact that there were no enemies around, the only fights were over the usual: drink, money or women. Rarely did any altercations end in death, and due to the high presence of physicians, any actual injuries were well taken care of.

We had one of the many doctors look at Thorn’s head. He said we had done a good job with the field dressing and asked what we had used. I told him I had no idea other than what a traveling salesman sold. The doctor just shook his head. Thorn had a small metal skull cap covered with a coat of fur fashioned for himself to protect his head. That was what he said it was for. I knew it really was because he wanted his head covered up so the scar would not be seen.

The last night before boarding the ship, we sat around the fire looking for peace. I could only think of the peace I could find in Thorns eyes and later in his arms.

In any case, we finally made it to the cold lands of the tundra.