Flux

muttered to himself, but they turned the way the Bhujanga had indicated. It took to the air and circled them three times before flapping swiftly back toward Jiangbei.
    And then they walked.
    The terrain wasn’t very interesting—mostly green, rolling hills. Once they dropped into another steep valley, and this one was dry as a bone and filled with jagged stones and strange, sharp plants. Miner was relieved to climb out of it. Another time they found themselves among lush vegetation, and the air was thick and humid. The path there was difficult to discern as it was overgrown with ferns and carpets of low plants with flat red flowers. There was much rustling in the trees’ canopy and within the underbrush, but they didn’t spy anything aside from tiny flitting birds colored like jewels and, once, a snake that slithered past their feet and made them both jump. Somewhere in the middle of this jungle it began to rain, and although the leaves offered them some protection, the drops that fell were fat and soon both of them were completely soaked. Ennek caught Miner shivering a little and insisted he pull on his sweater.
    The trees thinned out shortly before nightfall and the clouds lifted as well, so they were able to make their camp under a star-filled sky.
    The journey became very tedious after that, just one foot falling in front of the other until Miner felt as if they surely must have traversed the globe several times. At what must have been the border between Akilina’s territory and the kingdom to the north, the pathway abruptly widened and became a true road. Miner thought that at one time it must have been like that the entire way, perhaps all the way to the enemy kingdom to the south, but the wizard had made its passage through her lands too narrow for anything but a few men on foot.
    The land right near the border was as sparsely populated as Akilina’s territory. Eventually, though, they came across a few tiny villages where the inhabitants stared at them as if they were completely alien. None of them answered when Ennek called out greetings.
    He had hoped to persuade someone to allow them to sleep indoors that night, but nobody seemed friendly enough. Miner and Ennek spent the night in a small woods, just a stone’s throw from fields of grain. The roosters crowed them awake in the morning.
    The next day was more of the same, only the hamlets were a bit larger. One of them was located at a crossroads and might even have qualified as a small town, with wagons and darting children and a market set up with covered stalls. They both eyed the food in the market hungrily and their stomachs growled over the meat one merchant was grilling over an open flame, but of course they had no money with which to buy anything, and they walked on. That night, though, Ennek was able to charm a middle-aged couple with his bright smile and colorful use of their language, and the couple allowed them to sleep in a little shed alongside their house. The shed smelled of chickens but was filled with straw, which was heaven to sleep on compared to the hard ground.
    Now the road became quite crowded with pedestrians and wagons, and there were many smaller roads branching off. People still gave Miner and Ennek startled stares, but then moved on quickly as if they were used to seeing strange things. Unfortunately, it was much harder to find food, at least food that was free for the taking. When the sun hit its zenith and they still had not had anything to eat all day, Ennek stopped at a site with bustling activity. A man was watching a half-dozen others move large rocks around in small wheelbarrows and then lift the stones to create what looked to be the walls of a house. Ennek spoke with the man using many hand gestures, while Miner stood nearby, trying to look useful, strong, and needy all at once. Perhaps it worked because the man gave them each a long look and then nodded.
    Ennek and Miner set their bags to the side, partially hidden by some weathered boards, and began carting stones as well. It was hot work and Miner’s wrist was still just a little sore. Soon Ennek followed the other workers’ lead and took off his shirt. Nobody seemed to take much notice of his scar, and Miner had to try hard not to get distracted by the way Ennek’s strong muscles rippled and flexed as he worked.
    But Miner was uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to lifting things and he had to labor with his scarf still around his neck. He didn’t dare remove