The sun was hot and I felt a drop of sweat make its way down through the grime of days of built up dust that I hadn't so much as had a chance to wash off yet. I was doing well to still be alive, but I hated the smell of stale sweat that I reeked of.
Still it was better to be alive than a rotting corpse left out for the vultures to dine out on somewhere in a lonely gully. I didn't have any spare water to wash with anyway now that I did have some time to think about how bad I smelled.
Water at the moment was the most pressing problem I was faced with. The Hagathic Wastelands were just that, a wasteland without drinkable water. It was a good place to lose a posse of enemy riders in or die of thirst. Take your pick, but I didn't want any part of either option.
To the east about fifty miles off was the edge of the Attorgron forests. There was good water to be had there and it was closer than the other source of water I was heading for, but it came with its own problems. For one my pursuers would be expecting me to head off for water there, not to mention the cover that the forest could offer us as we made our way north, but running into the Attorgron people would be unavoidable at some point along the way.
To them I was a wanted man with a bounty on my head that made me more than worth the trouble it was to them to hunt me down and stick one of those poison darts they were so fond of into me. No thanks; I'd take my chances out in the open as opposed to dying from some poison burning my insides out.
Decidedly all my options were somewhat grim. When had it ever been any different? Not for a long time.
I glanced back through the shimmering heat waves over the way we had come. I didn't see anything amiss so I decided to stay where we were for a while longer. Both I and the boy needed the rest.
It would have been nice to get some sleep, but the thought of a Zoarinian lance point being rammed through my middle, while I slept kept my eyes open. I hadn't seen any signs of visible pursuit in two days, but I could feel them out there all the same. It was like an itch that wouldn't go away.
Rats! I smelled and now I could add itching to the list of maladies of neglect that I was suffering under. The chase was definitely starting to get to me in a bad way. Going without sleep for days and being responsible for a kid would do that to you.