Chapter 13
A New Shoot
Eren sat against the stone to catch his breath. The wound he had just stitched still throbbed. He could only see out of his right eye. Below the shoulder, his left arm still would not work.
But they had to move. Wait much longer and the dark would make it worse.
He looked up at Nova. The boy crouched beside the freight crate, fingers working over a knot again and again—neither tight nor loose. His gaze kept drifting to the left half of Eren's face, where the bandage edge was darkened with dried blood.
"Let's go. You lead, I'll follow."
Nova's head snapped up. He opened his mouth, voice tight. "Leave now? You were just—"
"Now."
Nova swallowed the rest. He dipped his head and hmmed. He led the rabbit over, a half beat slower than usual, and could not help glancing back. "Then—then stay close. If something's wrong, say so."
Eren did not answer. He only lifted his chin.
As Eren had taught him: find the sun first, then retrace the way in—south through the ruins, through the collapsed wall section, and after another stretch the hamlet would come into view.
Nova walked slower than usual, listening for movement behind them.
Eren pushed off the ground with his right hand. When he rose, his left side dropped hard. He clenched his jaw and made no sound. Nova heard the shift and turned on instinct to reach for him. Eren was already upright and waved him off.
The road was all broken stone. Shadows from ruined walls and earthen slopes closed in patch by patch. Nova walked ahead, checking over his shoulder at Eren's face and footing, afraid the next moment he would go down.
Eren kept his attention on both flanks, watching for bandits or beasts—nothing he could take lightly.
But his body really could not keep pace. His foot slipped on a loose stone. He swayed. With no way to swing his left arm for balance, he caught himself on his right leg alone.
Nova heard and looked back, said nothing, and held out the waterskin.
Eren steadied, took a swallow, and handed it back. "Walk."
Nova hung the skin again and slowed his steps further.
They went on like that. By the time they reached the hamlet edge the sun was already low. Someone in a field straightened and looked their way.
The delivery point was a mud-walled house on the east side of the hamlet, a half-faded strip of cloth hanging by the door. Nova set the crate down on the threshold—salt and cloth still stacked inside. A tall thin man came out. Before the man could check the goods, Eren spoke. "Excuse me—lend us a little wine, and a length of clean cloth."
The man looked at the bandage around Eren's left eye but asked nothing. He went inside and came back with a small bowl of wine and a freshly cut strip of coarse white cloth. Eren sat under the eaves. Nova unwrapped the old bandage; dried blood and dust had caked along the edges.
Nova tore off a corner of the clean cloth, dipped it in wine, and wiped a circle around the wound. The alcohol hit and Eren's muscles tightened once.
When the skin was clean, Nova dusted on the medicine powder he carried and re-wrapped it, pulling the cloth tight.
The man had been watching the whole time. Then he crouched to check the freight—pinched the cloth for thickness, touched his tongue to a grain of salt, and nodded. He counted out the balance and passed it to Nova, who handed it straight to Eren.
The man glanced at Eren again, face still uneasy, then turned to Nova with a smile. "You handle yourself well for a kid."
Nova scratched his head and smiled without answering, only edging closer to Eren. Eren tucked the Crystone coins into his pouch and nodded. "Delivery's done. We're leaving."
"You're hurt. If you're not in a rush, rest a while."
"We're fine. We're pushing on." Eren jerked his head toward the door. Nova understood and picked up the empty crate first.
"Not stay the night? It's nearly dark."
"No. Thanks."
The man did not press. He waved them off. Outside the house Eren had already done the math. The delay on the way out had cost them most of a day; at his strength now he would not make Railton tonight. He did not want to ask for lodging in the hamlet—a spot on the outskirts would do.
Near the hamlet edge stood a half-collapsed shed. Two walls still stood; the roof had a gap wide enough to see sky. Rotten wood and broken brick littered the ground. Eren circled it once—out of the wind, and he could still see back toward the houses. He nodded. Nova set to work: kicked debris aside, shook out a hide rug from the pack, and went out to gather an armful of dry branches.
"Here?"
Eren hmmed. Nova got the fire going. Once it caught, he set the waterskin and the last half of hardtack within Eren's reach and sat on the windward side himself.
Wind ran hard at night. The shed broke most of it. Eren leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He heard Nova shift quietly across from him.
"I'll keep watch tonight. You sleep."
Eren did not open his eyes. He remembered the first night they had met, overnight in a hollow in an old wall—Nova had offered to stand watch then too, and Eren had never believed it. He had barely slept.
The fire crackled. Nova's breathing was close by. Eren's eyelids grew heavy.
He woke halfway through the night. Nova was still sitting there, back to him, staring out past the shed opening.
Eren said nothing and closed his eyes again.
The next morning Eren had recovered some strength. He tested his left hand—made a fist, lifted the arm, fingers closing.
He unwrapped the bandage and checked the wound. His left eye still would not see clearly. The cut looked a little inflamed, but not bad.
After fresh medicine they set out again.
A stretch past the hamlet the road narrowed. A dirt slope rose on one side, littered with loose stone and half a rusted iron frame. Shadow from a broken wall pressed across.
Nova walked ahead with the rabbit on the lead. Eren followed behind.
Mid-step, several stones on the slope broke loose. A section of iron frame came with them, clattering straight at the two of them.
Eren's left arm came up on instinct. His back and left arm went white-hot. Heat shot from shoulder to forearm—and the heavy iron frame was shoved aside, slamming to the ground a few meters off. Dust rose. Both froze.
Nova came to his side. "Again?"
Eren did not answer. Slowly he opened and closed his fingers, then turned his face to the light and squinted. The heat was fading. Nothing crawled under the skin, nothing like the uncontrollable buildup before the last outbreak. He breathed out. "...No. Fine this time."
The surgery seemed to have done something.
Nova's curiosity got the better of his fright. "So... can you do it again?"
Eren walked over. Nova followed, kicked the iron frame—it did not budge—and looked up at Eren.
Eren gripped the frame with his left hand and pulled. It left the ground, lifted to knee height, hung there two seconds, and dropped heavily. Nova's mouth opened. No words came.
There was no excitement on Eren's face. Last time, right before the shoot erupted, he had had this same strange strength—and nearly died out in the badlands.
"Let's go. Back in town we'll ask Old Qin what this means."
Nova nodded and did not press to see more.
They reached Railton close to midday. Eren took Nova to return the rented chest-high pack rabbit first—the rental place sat by the market, a bald man crouched by the cages feeding hay. Nova handed over the lead, stroked the rabbit's ears once, then again.
"Can we keep one?"
Eren paid the fee and clapped Nova's shoulder. "We've got nowhere to keep it."
Nova followed him out, looking back every few steps.
Old Qin's shop was on the west side of town—a small front, parts and rusted iron piled inside. Old Qin was taking something apart. Footsteps made him look up. Seeing the bandage on Eren's left eye, he stopped mid-wrench.
"Sit."
Eren laid everything out for Old Qin.
Old Qin set the wrench down, took Eren's left hand and squeezed, lifted the bandage to check the stitches at the corner of the eye, and shook his head.
"You really know how to run yourself ragged. I couldn't tell you if that's good or bad." He covered the bandage again. "If you want answers, you need someone who knows the trade. I told you before—out west, in revolutionary territory, there's a scientist working on Crystone research. You should go ask there."
"With what you've got going on, don't drag your feet. Take it seriously."
Eren had already weighed it. He remembered what Old Qin had said last time; there was nothing else on the table. He nodded, thanked him, and left with Nova.
"West—are we going?"
Nova kept his head down, brows drawn.
"I am. You can stay in the village. Auntie Li can watch you."
"Together."