It was what he’d planned, what he’d wanted. Maybe he would have finished Volker before he’d died, and maybe he would have died before accomplishing his mission, but he would be dead.But tonight, he was alive, and since it was too dark for them to try to travel he’d collected edible nuts and berries for a simple supper, and then they’d walked to a nearby stream to drink hands full of cool water. Fed, they’d settled down by the tree where he’d found Lyssa. They had both run from Arthes unprepared, with no food, no blankets, not even an empty tin cup. Thank goodness he always wore his dagger; he’d feel helpless without it. It wasn’t much, but if they were going to spend several days walking toward the sea, he was glad not to be traveling unarmed.Lyssa soon slept, exhausted by both physical and emotional strain. For a long while Blade lay awake, but eventually he fell into a restless sleep disturbed by dreams that seemed more real than not.Hagan was there, in his dream, and so was Volker.
