Flux

even, they were plainly visible. The wool was slightly pilled overall, no doubt from efforts to clean away the salt and dried blood. But the sweater felt soft and it smelled pleasant, like lemon and flowers, and it was his.
    Miner managed a credible bow to Yuening and although it was quite warm, slipped the sweater over his head.
    “You look very stylish,” Ennek laughed. “Think of how you’d turn heads back in Praesidium.”
    Miner snorted.
    People stopped working in the fields to watch them pass. Miner recognized a few of them from dinner the night before; those people waved at them and Ennek called out greetings. But it wasn’t long before they’d walked by the last of the cultivated parts and entered a woods. As they did, the path began to rise, not steeply enough to be uncomfortable but they were definitely gaining altitude. Sometimes Miner would hear a familiar birdcall and he’d look up to see the Bhujanga sitting on a branch nearby.
    “We haven’t decided on a destination,” Ennek said after a time. “We can go north to Donghe, if we want. It’s the nearer of the two big cities. There’s a major port there and I’m certain we could find work of some kind. Or maybe you’d rather continue inland. We could go for thousands of miles that way. I’ve seen a few maps but I’m really not sure what we’d encounter. It would certainly be an adventure. And surely we’d find someone who could remove your collar.”
    He waited for Miner to respond. When Miner didn’t, Ennek stopped walking and grabbed at Miner’s hand. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
    Very quietly, Miner replied, “We have to go to Jiangbei.”
    Ennek’s dark eyebrows rose very high. “Where?”
    “Do you remember I told you about the gull? The one that spoke to me?”
    “Of course.”
    “It wasn’t a fever dream, En. It was a wizard, the air wizard they told you about. She sensed your presence and sent the bird to see for her. She could speak through it as well.”
    Ennek frowned. “You talked with a wizard?”
    “You were unconscious and I could hardly ignore her, could I? And she offered to help us, to save you. It must have been she who sent Hai-Shui and the rest to us.”
    “I never did ask how they’d found us. I just assumed they’d come across us by accident.”
    “It was no accident. We were nearly an hour’s walk away. If the wizard hadn’t sent them, you…you would have died.” Miner’s voice almost broke on that last word.
    But Ennek’s expression had darkened. “What did you do, Miner?”
    “I…I made a promise.”
    After a long pause, Ennek asked, “What did you promise?”
    Miner glanced upwards, where the black bird was watching intently. “I told her we’d come to her in Jiangbei and you’d do her a favor.”
    “What favor?”
    “She didn’t…she didn’t say.”
    Ennek turned pale. “Gods, Miner! What if she wants me to do something…something like what Thelius did to us? Or what I did to that ship?”
    “I had no choice! You were going to die!”
    “I’d rather be a rotting corpse than turn into Thelius.”
    “Well, I don’t want you to be a rotting corpse! You’re all I have!” Miner realized he was shouting and he lowered his voice to repeat, “You’re all I have.”
    But Ennek shook his head angrily and stomped up the path, leaving Miner just standing there.
    For several miles they traveled in silence. Miner trailing several feet behind because whenever he tried to walk abreast of Ennek, Ennek would snarl at him and speed up. Miner had longer legs but it had been centuries since he’d walked very far, and he simply couldn’t keep up.
    The sun was almost directly overhead when they came to a small valley with a bubbling little stream running its length. Miner caught up as Ennek knelt on the bank, scooping handfuls of water to his mouth. Miner silently joined him. The water was very cold and refreshing.
    After their thirst was quenched they collapsed onto the soft grass. They pulled some food out of their bags and began to eat. Miner considered starting a fire to heat water for tea, but then rejected the idea. The stream had been enough for the time being. Ennek didn’t even look at him as they ate, and only grunted when Miner handed him a handful of nuts he found in his bag.
    “We’ll go to Donghe,” Ennek announced when the food was gone.
    Miner pointed at the ever-present Bhujanga. “She watches us.”
    Ennek glared and threw a small stone at it. The bird