We had no other attacks during the remainder of the night, and when we arrived at what passed for daylight in this dead forest I found Nemmy had survived the passage of time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTougher than I look, I guess,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t know why you guys were all so worried, I just got the wind knocked out of me.\u201d\u00a0 He grinned lopsidedly when he said this, but his good nature didn\u2019t disguise the nature of his wounds.\u00a0 He was still bleeding, and his coughing resulted in a stained kerchief.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Horace and Kineta were still tending him, so I pulled Lotonna aside for a moment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen my share of wounded in the past, and cured my fair share of them when I had the ability.\u00a0 Some worse than him.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He looked slowly back to the small huddle of them.\u00a0 \u201cI know what you\u2019re going to say, and I have thought about it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we go back, we take him to town.\u00a0 We have no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not what I was going to suggest.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he\u2019ll die without shelter.\u00a0 I guarantee it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The minotaur brought his gaze back to me.\u00a0 \u201cYes, he will.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not what this is about.\u00a0 You all will go on, I will carry him back to Shady Hollow, then rejoin you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019d go for that even less than just letting him die here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He smiled, the large canines showing through.\u00a0 \u201cWhich of us is best off navigating this maze than I?\u00a0 Which of us belongs here as a resident more than I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was inclined to agree with those points, but they didn\u2019t necessarily make his entire premise correct.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll go for a simple \u2018you go back and then find us\u2019 approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall see.\u00a0 He weighs no more than a pup, and though my people walk hours after birth, our cows carry the young for a great deal of time when traveling.\u00a0 I can do no less.\u201d\u00a0 He motioned I should follow, and we walked back to rejoin the two humans tending the injured Halfwise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been listening,\u201d Kineta said without looking up.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Out of the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Kineta,\u201d Lotonna reached out his hand to her.\u00a0 \u201cWe can rig my pack with leg holes, he can ride there easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you won\u2019t go alone.\u00a0 One wrong step and both of you are lost.\u201d\u00a0 She cast her eyes up at him seriously.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll take Horace, we split up.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He stood up.\u00a0 \u201cExplain, please,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone can evade pursit, it is I and Azrael.\u00a0 Between us we are capable of avoiding most hazards, and I can always port us out.\u00a0 You, traveling alone, are vulnerable.\u00a0 Like it or not.\u00a0 You can mutually cover each other while making the trip back, and his abilities as a tracker will help you re-find us.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He contemplated these statements for a little wihle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd,\u201d she went on, \u201ceven if the villagers dealt with you fairly before, alone they might not be so inclined to treat you well, and by extension, Nemmy.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That clinched it for him.\u00a0 He nodded agreement.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u00a0 Then we do this your way.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She smiled, the first time I\u2019d seen her do in a long while.\u00a0 \u201cAs well you should.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lotonna grunted, and turned to get his pack from the ground.\u00a0 He upturned it, spilling everything on the ground.\u00a0 \u201cPlease take from that what you can carry, I will get a new pack in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I extracted a large sack from my Haversack. \u201cWhatever you don\u2019t take, we can put in here and you can take it back when we rejoin.\u201d\u00a0 I started shuffling his gear into the sack while he cut a hole in the bottom of either side of his backpack.\u00a0 I also produced a blanket which I handed him.\u00a0 \u201cFor padding,\u201d I added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He accepted it and did the best he could to fashion a cradle of sorts in the backpack, then put it on.\u00a0 He then sat on the ground and leaned forward.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo time like the present,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cJust like a little child\u2019s saddle.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cShut it, Az\u201d Nemmy mumbled from behind me.\u00a0 \u201cJust get me in the damned thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With Horace and I on either side, and Kineta making sure everything cleared and sat right, Nemmy slid into the makeshift carrier, legs hanging out each side.\u00a0 Lotonna stood, and Horace with him, shouldering his own pack.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really does look like an overgrown infant,\u201d Horace grinned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGrrr,\u201d the tiny man mumbled from his half-concealed position behind the minotaur.\u00a0 \u201cUp yours, sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lotonna chuffed a few times.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t make me laugh too hard, it may hurt the baby.\u201d\u00a0 As soon as he said this, a small hand reached out of the pack and clubbed him on the ear.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you ready?\u201d He asked Horace.\u00a0 The man nodded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll leave a trail as best we can,\u201d I offered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ll return to you as soon as we are sure he\u2019ll be cared for.\u201d\u00a0 Horace said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two of them then ducked away, leaving sight quickly in the direction we came from.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I started gathering up everything from Lotonna\u2019s pack,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAlone at last,\u201d I said, half-joking, while I slid thesackfull of gear into the satchel.\u00a0 \u201cHave you forgiven me yet?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose,\u201d she replied.\u00a0 \u201cBut Az, your asking me to stay behind, that hurts me.\u00a0 Even if we weren\u2019t so close, we\u2019re still friends, and friends help each other.\u00a0 We expect to.\u00a0 When you told me you didn\u2019t want my help, it felt like you were saying you didn\u2019t want me<\/em> around.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou saw what happened last night, that thing could have killed us all.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to see you hurt like Nemmy, Kineta.\u201d\u00a0 I paused to look up at her.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do if something like that happened to you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, you\u2019d kill whatever was doing it to me, you dullard.\u201d\u00a0 She threw a stick at me \u2013 gently.\u00a0 I caught it and dropped it beside me.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think I\u2019d feel like if you went on alone and never came back, huh?\u00a0 Ever think of that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had to admit that the thought hadn\u2019t crossed my mind, and said as much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh gods, you men are so flippingly stupid sometimes,\u201d she burst out in frustration.\u00a0 \u201cAlways worried about everyone else because of how you\u2019d<\/em> feel, but you never really consider the feelings of others around you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not entirely fair,\u201d I pointed out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI know, it\u2019s my way.\u00a0 Now finish that and let\u2019s get moving.\u201d\u00a0 She had been getting Nemmy\u2019s stuff together.\u00a0 I did as she told me, sliding the last of Lotonna\u2019s gear into the Haversack.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I stood up, and kicked dirt over the embers of the fire.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We set out, hopefully in the right direction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n It was two days before we found the river.\u00a0 A swollen, pustulent flow of brown and yellow water, with something<\/em> large and mobile shifting beneath the diseased currents.\u00a0\u00a0 I loaned my boots to Kineta for a moment, and with a running start she crossed the width of the channel without harm, flitting a good twenty feet over the scabbed surface.\u00a0 Once she was safely across, I stepped through a rift to appear beside her.\u00a0 She gave me a dour look while she handed me back the boots.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou could at least make it look difficult, you know.\u201d\u00a0 She thrust the boots at me, forcing the breath from my lungs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow else would I keep a reputation as the greatest magician there ever was, dearie?\u201d I gave her a deeply exaggerated grin and a half-bow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really curious\u2026\u201d she said, picking up a stick from the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNononoWait!\u201d I tried to stop her, but too late, she\u2019d thrown the stick out over the river already.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I watched with horror \u2013 and I have to admit a certain level of curiosity \u2013 as the thing spun end around, twirling through the air before settling slowly to splash on the surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The river exploded.\u00a0 Something truly massive \u2013 perhaps as large as Rithzalgor was tall \u2013 churned the water into a sewage-laden froth, throwing gobbets of stagnant water and scabrous foam sailing across the landscape.\u00a0 I ducked a particularly large glob and grabbed Kineta\u2019s hand to run.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But not before I saw the thing rise up out of the river before us.\u00a0 If you were to cut the toes off a giant foot and mount eyes in their sockets, that was the head that snaked up out of the disgusting porridge.\u00a0 It hung from a neck jointed so wrongly that it made me feel sick just to look at it swaying there.\u00a0 Beneath the head, another pair of tentacles rose, each sporting what I had to assume was a mouth, a serrated \u201cv\u201d lined with ridgelike teeth and dripping with brown goo.\u00a0 It made a noise like a dying elephant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It began to move towards us, far more rapidly than I would have liked, tens of other unadorned tentacles whipping at the surface of the water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cRunohRunohpleaseJustRUN!\u201d\u00a0 I pulled Kineta\u2019s arm practically from it\u2019s socket I moved so fast.\u00a0 My boots still in my other hand, I felt the hard, dead wood of the trees beneath my feet cutting into the flesh.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A little pain now versus dead shortly later?\u00a0 I know which end of that equation I\u2019m standing on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta, to her credit, didn\u2019t look back once.\u00a0 Her only response to my urging was: \u201cOh my, yes!\u201d\u00a0 She ran as quickly as I did \u2013 her slippers at least offered some protection from the rough wood beneath us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After perhaps five minutes of running, my lungs were burning from the exertion and my feet were flaring in pain.\u00a0 I signaled to Kineta that we should stop.\u00a0 We slowed down, and drew up, and both of us listened.\u00a0 Nothing arose over the sound of our ragged breathing.\u00a0 Then again, I\u2019ve never been the best at listening for things.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh goodness, your feet!\u201d\u00a0 She exclaimed after a moment.\u00a0 I looked down, and saw beneath my feet the ground was stained, red and glistening.\u00a0 The pain was there, but not as dire as it surely looked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t hurt that much,\u201d I said, sitting down on a root and looking at the bottoms of my feet.\u00a0 My right had a deep gash across the heel, but the left was where the real damage was.\u00a0 The front half looked like hamburger, at least four large splinters and who knows how many smaller ones embedded in the raw flesh.\u00a0 \u201cThen again, I have a high pain tolerance,\u201d I finished.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe have to tend those.\u00a0 Now.\u201d\u00a0 She snapped her fingers and pointed as if such royal gestures were purely second nature to her. \u201cStay seated.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I withdrew my first-aid kit from my pack while she extracted a few things of her own.\u00a0 I poured some raw alcohol over both, and took a long, thin knife out to start digging out the splinters.\u00a0 She came at me with a large jug of some white powder.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cRoll over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHoney, that might be your way, but it isn\u2019t mine,\u201d I said with a laugh.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCute, now let\u2019s be serious.\u00a0 Roll over, can\u2019t put this on the bottoms of your feet if they\u2019re facing down.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDid you use this stuff on Nemmy?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, and it probably saved his life.\u00a0 Now roll and shut up for a few.\u00a0 Maybe find something to bite down on,\u201d\u00a0 this last as an afterthought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBite down on?\u00a0 What are you talking abOWWW CRAP THAT HURT!\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019d grabbed my right foot by the ankle and sprinkled some of the powder on the gash there.\u00a0 I could feel it sizzling, acidic, eating the flesh away.\u00a0 When I looked, though, my foot was still there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAz, spine up a bit.\u00a0 You people used to rule the world, you know?\u201d\u00a0 She grinned at my discomfort.\u00a0 Vicious woman.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cRecognizing the value of pain is the first step to defeating it,\u201d I responded.\u00a0 She grabbed the other foot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGood, because this is going to hurt a lot more,\u201d and with that, she dug out a splinter about the size of my arm.\u00a0 In spite of the pain, I bit back my commentary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI have to say, Az, you know how to show a girl a nice time. What was that thing back there?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know, but if the trees hold giant demonic spiders, and there\u2019s something moving under a river that ugly, it\u2019s probably both unhealthy and strong.\u201d\u00a0 I thought about it for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t even begin to know what to call that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know if it was a mutant form of something else, or what.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If she agreed, I couldn\u2019t tell.\u00a0 I just beat my head sideways against the tree roots I was leaning on while she did her best to amputate my foot.\u00a0 Eventually she finished, and wrapped it up ina clean cloth bandage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTry that, can you get a boot on it?\u201d\u00a0 She was watching me carefully.\u00a0 I stood gingerly on my complaining feet.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t appreciate that at all, and it let me know in no uncertain terms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI can probably get my boots on them, but walking is not going to be fun.\u201d\u00a0 I thought about it for a while.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I can rift my way around, we\u2019re not moving fast through these trees anyway.\u00a0 That\u2019ll reduce the steps I have to take.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was fishing around in her side-satchel.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, hold on.\u00a0 Got it.\u201d\u00a0 She pulled out a small flask.\u00a0 \u201cTake a little swig off that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She passed it to me.\u00a0 I took a smell of it and almost passed out.\u00a0 \u201cHoly\u2026what\u2019s in that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDidn\u2019t tell you to sniff it, told you to drink some.\u201d\u00a0 She eyed me crossly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I did as she ordered.\u00a0 It tasted like the dirt from a coffin, mixed with horse urine.\u00a0 Neither of which I\u2019ve tasted, I should add.\u00a0 But if I did, I imagine that\u2019d be it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As it went down, my guts felt as though they were on fire\u2026for about two seconds.\u00a0 Then they went numb.\u00a0 Then my fingers went numb, and my tongue, and finally the pain in my feet fell away, receding into some inner distance so that I could tell they hurt, but the pain was so far away that I could ignore it without too much trouble.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course, if something ripped off my tail at the root I probably wouldn\u2019t know it, either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWaz in dat shtuff?\u201d\u00a0 I marveled at my sudden lack of language skills.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLittle of this, little of that,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cAre you coherent?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDong mum,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHmm.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Well, let\u2019s go.\u201d\u00a0 She stashed the flask.\u00a0 \u201cYou better rift along the way, take fewer steps like you said.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t leave me alone, or I\u2019ll incinerate you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Turns out that I was right.\u00a0 I actually covered more ground faster by rifting, covering ten, then twenty feet at a shot.\u00a0 I even eventually stretched my placements right and was reliably getting thirty feet at a hit, which I was somewhat proud of.\u00a0 Kineta kept up well, scrambling over the tree roots and between boles without any trouble.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After an amount of time that I didn\u2019t really track well \u2013 courtesy of Kineta\u2019s little anesthetic \u2013 the light began dimming, and we set up camp.\u00a0 This time I picked a spot between two trees, one fallen against the other.\u00a0 If for no other reason than to reduce the number of directions we could be attacked from, it gave me comfort to have a makeshift roof over our heads.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was a little surprised to find the night pass uneventfully for us.\u00a0 Well, uneventfully meaning we weren\u2019t interrupted from the outside.\u00a0 I was interrupted about six hours into the evening by the wearing-off of the numb-juice, and I really had little appreciation for sleep after that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The following morning, Kineta dosed me up again, and we set out, more slowly this time.\u00a0 She was almost out of bandages, as was I, and we wanted to avoid possibly forcing me to need another.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About mid-day, Horace and Lotonna caught up with us.\u00a0 I was quite surprised they were so fast, and expressed it.\u00a0 Both were panting heavily, and wet with perspiration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna looked guiltily at us.\u00a0 \u201cI got hungry.\u00a0 Ate Nemmy.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed at my dubious expression.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace laughed as well.\u00a0 \u201cNo, we ran.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kineta looked startled.\u00a0 \u201cYou ran?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWe already knew the way, and didn\u2019t want you two getting too far ahead of us, so we ran.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Horace sat himself down for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cAnd now that we\u2019ve caught up with you, if you don\u2019t mind we\u2019d like to rest.\u00a0 For about a week.\u00a0 What the hell is wrong with your feet, by the way?\u201d\u00a0 He motioned at my bulging boots.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We told him.\u00a0 Well, Kineta told him, because all I could manage to get out to start with was \u201cWe god dafed adda bibbah,\u201d and he went straight to Kineta after that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Resting sounded fine to me, and Kineta being the only fresh one among us decided better to park it rather than listen to the three of us bitch about the journey.\u00a0 So we got settled, and waited things out while Horace and Lotonna and I got a little more shut-eye.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I woke up, it was night, and I was probably a few hours away from Kineta\u2019s happy juice to wear off.\u00a0 Lotonna was shaking me gently. \u201cYour turn, Azrael.\u00a0 Watch time.\u201d\u00a0 I nodded and drank some water, wincing at the bitterness of it.\u00a0 Something wasn\u2019t quite right about the way the water tasted, but I couldn\u2019t say what.\u00a0 Might well have been the remnants of the horse-pee potion Kineta was foisting off on me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I scanned around in the darkness, and saw nothing had really changed.\u00a0 In spite of the chill, we had no fire \u2013 we\u2019d all agreed it was a bit too risky given the critter it had called down on us last time.\u00a0 Well, we were assuming there was some relationship between our fire and the attack, and there was no point in taking unnecessary risks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The trees hadn\u2019t changed since I went to sleep.\u00a0 The darkness was \u2013 well, it was dark.\u00a0 Lotonna had used a small stone he kept with an enchantment of light on it to see, which he wrapped up as soon as he sat down and leaned back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While I sat there, looking around, I had a really strange feeling \u2013 not like being watched, per se, but like being sought after<\/em>.\u00a0 It lasted about an hour, I suppose, like an itch under my left ear.\u00a0 I kept finding myself scratching there absent-mindedly with the tip of my tail, trying to come to grips with whatever strangeness was pulling at me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before long light began to seep back into the forest, and my view of the trees showed them not as a total blackness but instead as a set of deep, charcoal grays.\u00a0 As I was about to rise, the itch turned into a pressure, as if someone were leaning in and pressing their hand to my ear.\u00a0 A moment later, a voice spoke in my head:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFellbane now in Al\u2019Veydra.\u00a0 There\u2019s trouble here.\u00a0 Come fastest.\u00a0 You are needed now.\u00a0 Feywild gone insane, bleeding through.\u00a0 Respond now to this message.\u00a0 J\u2019Tiel.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I recognized the sending for what it was, and replied vocally to the spell.\u00a0 \u201cOn my way from Deadweld.\u00a0 Timing uncertain.\u00a0 Days or weeks.\u00a0 See you soon.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lotonna apparently wasn\u2019t asleep, and heard me.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was that you said?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNews.\u00a0 We\u2019re going the wrong way.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n We made best time back to Shady Hollow, fortunately remaining unmolested during the trip.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help feel we were leaving something behind, something terrible, but given what was ahead, one extra hurdle to leap before then was a welcome change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once in the Hollow though, a new challenge arose \u2013 Nemmy was still off his feet.\u00a0 In the end, it was decided that Lion\u2019s Lunge<\/em> would follow me to Al\u2019Veydra when he was mobile, and that I would go on ahead via a portal gate that Kineta would prepare for me.\u00a0 We said our farewells, and I made sure she had components and a good copy of the sigil set.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But when I arrived, Al\u2019Veydra was not the same as it had been.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We had no other attacks during the remainder of the night, and when we arrived at what passed for daylight in this dead forest I found Nemmy had survived the passage of time. \u201cTougher than I look, I guess,\u201d … Continue reading