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With Shoneah in the lead, they made their way south, and though they did not find water, Shoneah did manage to catch a few small animals - a bird, a few squirrels - that helped to moderate their thirst, if only slightly. After each kill, she performed the same small ritual as she had done when she'd killed the dragon: taken the creature's heart in her hands, thanked it for its spirit and strength, and then ate it raw. Each time, she spoke in her native dialect, out of habit and because she didn't stop to think about whether or not Eron needed to understand her words when she said them.

When at last they reached the place where the deciduous trees began to appear, she was relieved. She could see by the colour of their leaves that they were well-watered, and it was a sure sign that water was nearby. Personally, aside from slaking her thirst, she was looking forward to washing, as she was very bloody from the creatures she had killed. She only hoped that her blouse would come clean eventually. Her leathers, she wasn't worried about: she knew they would wash clean; but her white blouse was another story.

"It seems we're on the right track," she murmured to Eron in relief, reaching up and plucking a smooth green leaf from a maple tree. "Moist, even in this heat."

Shoneah smiled back at Eron, wondering what he was thinking. He looked as though there were something on his mind.

"Do you need a rest?" she asked him, still fingering the leaf. "We've been going a while now, and these trees are good for shade at least."

She figured they had traveled probably five or six miles, which was quite far, especially considering they'd had nothing but blood to drink for the past day.

Shoneah nodded. She would have liked to rest a bit, but there was wisdom in continuing. The longer they went without water, the more adversely their bodies would be affected.

"Watch for frogs," she cautioned him, just as she had the night before.

And once again, she led him forward through the trees.

They pressed onwards, and at last, they were rewarded with the sound of running water ahead of them. It was quiet at first, but as they continued it grew louder, and the hope of soon having something real to drink gave Shoneah new strength.

"Nearly there," she smiled with relief. "It sounds like a fast-moving river, we should be careful not to fall in."

Both of them had been growing steadily weaker without anything to drink, and she wasn't certain that if they were caught in a current, they would be able to get themselves out of it safely.

The break in the trees came abruptly and without warning, so sudden that Shoneah had to grab onto a nearby tree to keep from slipping over the edge. Not only was there a gap between the trees, but also in the ground! It was at least twenty feet from where she and Eron were now standing and the other side of the gap.

"That was close," she murmured, leaning forward to peer down. It was a deep gorge, probably more than fifty feet straight down, and at the bottom of the gorge was a river, flowing, as she'd thought, very quickly and powerfully. The gap was wider at the bottom than at the top, and she could see rocky banks on either side of the river below them.

She sighed and leaned against the tree she'd grabbed. "I don't know how much longer I can do this," she muttered, looking tiredly at Eron. We need water. Badly. It's been more than a day since either of us have had any."

And it was showing on her. Though she was hot, she wasn't sweating, and her lips were chapped and beginning to crack. At least Eron could fly down and get what water he needed, but she couldn't, and there wasn't any way for them to get the water up there to her.

"If only we had a rope," she muttered.

Shoneah looked at Eron. "You might as well go down and take a good long drink," she told him. "One of us should be at full strength. And who knows? Maybe there will be something down there to help me get down. Or across, I don't know. If there's nothing, we're pretty much stuck with going back where we came from or going along the gorge."

That was probably the better option of the two. If they followed the gorge back along the river, they might come to a waterfall, which would allow her to drink and might offer Shoneah a chance to get to the other side.

While Eron was focused on drinking the water, several brown shadows emerged from the rock around him. They were tall, taller than Shoneah, though they were somewhat similar to her in appearance. Brown hair, brown skin, brown eyes, pointed ears, and dressed in brown leathers, they were nearly invisible until they were right next to Eron.

They waited in silence for him to notice them, taking their time to examine him while he drank. Their eyes were filled with both suspicion and wonder as they looked at his wings, his purple hair, his pale skin. A few of them stared with folded arms, while others put their hands on the handles of their weapons - bows, swords, and daggers - though none of them drew any weapons.

From above, Shoneah saw none of this. Overheated, exhausted, dehydrated, her vision was nowhere near its usual acuteness, and she could barely see Eron kneeling next to the river, let alone the elves who camouflaged so well into the ground.