Rannok woke the next morning with the pounding of hammers inside his skull. He couldn't actually recall when he'd fallen asleep, since he'd scarcely managed to relax in between the next storm rolling in. By the end of the night they no longer caused him to smell blood and see death, but tension still ran down his spine and every new crack of lightning still made him flinch.

At some point, Sasha had nodded off. He envied how soundly she slept, though he'd elected not to wake her, even when the weight of her head made his arm go numb and pressed his wing to the wall behind them so tightly it started to cramp. But now the sun was streaming in through the cave mouth, and the horse had wandered outside to nibble on the few shoots of grass that stuck out between browning leaves.

He shook her shoulder. Sasha groaned and opened her eyes. They were rimmed with dark rings, like maybe she hadn't slept quite as soundly as he thought. She removed her head from his shoulder and Rannok massaged the feeling back into his arm. 

"We should get moving."

Rannok nodded at the crow, who sat by the entrance, regarding them with its beady yellow eye. He stood, stretching his wing out to relieve the stiffness that had settled there. It creaked a bit in protest as he pulled it around his body and unfurled some of the feathers with his fingers. They were still wet and matted--it would be a bit until he was able to fly again. When he let go, Sasha stared at him, face pulled into a frown. He raised one of his eyebrows at her.

"Your back's all scarred up," she said.

"The wings come through the skin when we get them." He walked to the front of the cave and peeled his shirt off the rock he'd laid it on. Moisture stuck the material to the stone, and he swore under his breath before pulling it on over his head. The fabric was so cold it made his skin rise in goosebumps.

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes," he answered.

"I didn't know," she said. He didn't comment on the amount of things Sasha seemed not to know. He stepped outside and grabbed the horse's reins with shaky hands. It snorted at him and backed up a few feet, toward the tree. He let out a short gasp. The animal's eyes softened in recognition and it went back to eating grass. Rannok could feel the tension drain from his lungs as the animal stepped away again.

Sasha grabbed the horse's reins from him, then used her good foot to mount. She kicked the horse in the side and goaded it into a walk. Rannok followed behind them, hoping against all hope that no one would still be out on the trail.

"They would have given up when the rain started," the bird said, echoing his thoughts. Sasha pulled the map out of her pocket, frowning at it. The edges of it were waterlogged. Rannok wondered how much of the inscriptions the rain had left for her to read.

"We should follow the road to the side for a little bit, so no one picks up our trail," she said. "Erean probably took the mountain pass down the other side. It'll be slick, and it's windy."

Rannok's shoulders sank at the thought of more trouble. He'd never regretted anything like he regretted leaving Agatine. Not the fireworks. Not lying to Wren about her mother. At least if he hadn't left, she'd be there. He wouldn't be stuck alone in a cave while a thunderstorm raged outside with only a comparable stranger for company. It made his eyes burn to think about.

"Regrets make for solemn men," the bird said, which only made him feel worse. It settled on his shoulder, then pecked at his ear with its slick beak. It was a small comfort in the midst of how alone he felt. He hung back behind Sasha and the horse, just far enough that he could still see them, and shout if there was trouble.

He missed the hot sun's rays and the way the fishing ports smelled in the morning. He missed the shops and markets with all their people. He missed the way they stared at him. And he missed eating noodles with Wren under the lamplight. He missed things he never thought he'd miss, and the ones he did think he'd miss, he missed more than he thought.

"Maybe if I stayed, I wouldn't be like this," he said. The crow clicked its beak together a few times and rested its feathery head against his neck. He scratched its skull in the place it met the bird's spine. 

"I do not believe it works that way," the bird said. 

But at least then, someone would care that he was in pain for reasons past them being trapped in a cave together. There would be someone to talk to about how much it hurt. About how the nightmares woke him at night and kept him from sleeping. How loud noises put him on edge, and the presence of horses made him cringe. 

"No one is stopping you from talking."

The tips of Rannok's ears burned, though he couldn't place why. He already felt bad enough about his lack of ability to keep it together, and he didn't know what he would do if darkness rolled over the mountains and the sky started shaking again, with no cave to protect him. 

"She listened."

"Because she was stuck with me," Rannok said. While he was shaking from fear and crying because he couldn't help himself. They left the woods and proceeded back onto the road. The mountain pass snaked up the side of the hill. It was barely wide enough for the horse, and slick with loose rocks and mud. Rannok shuddered, but followed her up anyway.

Sasha turned back on her horse to see if he was alright. He gave her a thumbs up and picked his way around a large boulder, careful to keep his feet on the path. Something raw and instinctive kept him away from the gaping maw that was the edge of the valley path. It plummeted hundreds of feet down onto the valley floor.

"Be careful, it's sl--"

Rannok scarcely heard the words out of her mouth before his foot slipped. The sound of sasha screaming his name barely registered in his ears. The crow left his shoulder in a flurry of feathers, and his back slammed into the rocks. The wind left his lungs as he tumbled off the side of the ravine and into freefall. Panic gripped him as he scrambled for something to grab onto.

"Fly, you idiot!" The crow sailed past him and down toward the valley.

Rannok opened his wings. A strong gust of wind swung him back into the valley wall. He pushed off it with his hands and flapped a few times to get airborne, relaxing as the wind filled the feathers and held him aloft. At least they were dry enough to fly on.

"Are you okay?"

Sasha's shouting carried on the wind. He looked up from where he was gliding. He'd fallen several hundred feet. He winced at the thought of what that looked like.

"Fine! I'll meet you at the bottom."

He thought he heard her shout 'okay' at him and started down. Gusts of wind fought his wings as he careened back and forth, falling as gracefully as a salamander in a windstorm. He kicked his feet off clay-baked cliffs and caught his hands on stray vines that poked out of the mountainside. His heartbeat thudded in his ears as he finally crashed through the canopy of trees and to the valley floor below.

"Nice of you to be joining me."

Rannok bolted to his feet and brushed the dirt from his clothing. His voice caught in his throat. He wheeled around, half-expecting to see Sasha's father, or the man with the dog. Erean beamed at him, nestled in a nest of leaves he'd gathered. His clothes were soaked, and the horse stood ground-tied a few feet away. He winced and smiled up at Rannok.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine, fine," Erean said. "Just a little stiff."

Rannok had never been so happy to see another human being.