'You're a bastard, Jack. Have I told you that recently?'
'Shut up and keep walking.'
'Why the hell did I agree to come here?' said Ruby.
'You volunteered. Said you were bored. Wanted a little excitement.'
'This is very definitely not what I had in mind.'
'Ah, you never want to go anywhere fun.'
They clung to each other as the wind whipped sharply about them, pushing them this way and that like some playground bully. They screwed up their eyes against it till they could barely see, and it filled their noses and mouths with dust that irritated their throats. The ground beneath their feet rose and fell sharply for no obvious reason, hard and unyielding, so that each step sent painful vibrations shuddering through their exhausted bodies.
Random tried to get some impression of his surroundings. The shapes they passed were some kind of black basaltic rock, but their strange, enigmatic shapes had a subtly troubling quality. There was something almost organic about them, something strangely familiar, like shapes seen in dreams, full of significance. Random shook his head, trying to drive out the unsettling thoughts. It was just his imagination that the rocks looked like creatures who might awaken at any moment, and turn and pursue him with the slow malevolent patience of all creatures in nightmares. He looked back at the pinnace. It was almost lost in the darkening twilight, but he could see well enough to be astonished he and Ruby had survived at all. The ship had cracked open in several places, the thick armor plating split and buckled like paper. More than enough to kill any human passengers. Anyone merely human.
At least the engines hadn't blown up yet.
Random turned his head away and concentrated on the cliff face before him. It was definitely closer. Which was good, because he felt like shit. Every step jolted his broken ribs, and he was pretty sure he had serious internal injuries too. There was always blood in his mouth now, no matter how often he spat it out. Ruby was leaning on him more and more heavily, and had stopped complaining, which was always a bad sign. They had to find shelter soon, somewhere they could rest and hopefully heal. Even the more than human had their limits.
When they finally stumbled to a sudden halt at the base of the cliff, it seemed like a miracle. Random spotted a cave opening and pointed it out with a harsh croak that was all that was left of his voice. They hauled themselves up the jagged cliff face with a last burst of strength, buoyed by a possible end to their struggle. The cave opening was a good ten feet in diameter, its interior an impenetrable darkness. Random pulled a penlight from his sleeve, and played the thin yellow beam around the cave's entrance. The interior stretched away before him, farther than the light could penetrate. Still leaning on each other. Random and Ruby stumbled into the cave.
It went some way back, and they followed the tunnel until they reached the sealed end, and then collapsed on the hard rock floor, their backs against the comforting support of the end wall.
The air was still now, and perhaps fractionally warmer, though the never ending storm still howled outside, as though angry at being cheated of its victims. Random and Ruby sat together, shoulder to shoulder, their breathing and their heartbeats slowly returning to normal. Their various pains seemed comfortably far away for the moment, though neither had the strength to move another inch. Random turned off his penlight. Might need the power yet, and besides, there was really nothing he needed to see right now. He felt deathly tired. Since passing through the Madness Maze, he'd grown accustomed to his occasional wounds healing quickly, but it had been a long time since he'd been busted up this badly. He wondered if there was a limit after all to how much damage his body could repair. If so, this was a hell of a time to find out. He could hear Ruby beside him, breathing jerkily through her mouth. She didn't sound good.
'Ruby? You still with me?'
'Unfortunately, yes.' Her voice was strained and harsh. 'I feel like shit. How about you?'
'I'm getting there.' Random gritted his teeth against a sudden surge of pain from his broken ribs, and then had to cough, which hurt even more. A thick wad of blood and something else came into his mouth, and he spat it out. 'Damn. I have a horrible feeling there was a bit of lung in that.'
'You're just trying to cheer me up. I always knew I'd end up in Hell, but I never thought I'd get there while I was still alive. Maybe I didn't. Maybe we both died in the crash—'
'No,' said Random. 'If this was Hell, all my friends would be here. Sit. Rest. Get your strength back. When morning comes, we've got a two-mile hike ahead of us.'
'Oh, shut up. I'm not going anywhere. Any chance we could contact anyone through our comm implants?'
'Afraid not. The constant storms create a supersaturated electrical and magnetic field. Plays hell with all kinds of communications. We've no way to let anyone know we're alive. Can't even send up a flare. We're on our own.'
'Somehow I just knew you were going to say that. So, how are we supposed to find our way to Vidar in weather like this?'
'I can feel where it is,' said Random. 'So many people, I can feel their presence. Reach out with your mind. See if you can feel them too.'
'Damn,' said Ruby after a moment. 'You're right. It's like having a compass in my head. I didn't know we could do this.'
'Unlike you, I haven't been taking my abilities for granted,' said Random. 'I spent my spare time testing what I could do, trying to expand my limits.'
'I'll bet you were a teacher's pet at school. It's a pity you didn't work out how to speed up our healing abilities.'
'Be patient. They've got a lot of work to do. We'll heal, in time.'
'Hope you're right. Random. I've never felt this bad in my life. Even hurts to breathe. If I didn't know better… I'd swear I was dying…'
Her voice trailed away. Random couldn't even hear her breathing anymore. 'Ruby? Ruby? Can you hear me?'
'Don't shout! My head hurts enough without you yelling in my ear. Let me sleep. Maybe when I wake up, everything'll be fixed again.'
'No! I don't think we can trust our bodies to do this much work on their own. We have to do it ourselves. Go inside, concentrate, and control the healing process. Otherwise, we might just drift off and never wake up.'
'You're just full of words of comfort, aren't you? All right, I hurt too much to argue. How do you want to do this?'
'Try to find your healing power, the same way you found the compass. And once you've found it, work it for all it's worth.'
Ruby nodded and closed her eyes. Random closed his and focused his thoughts inward, searching for something he'd know when he found it. He pushed the pains of his broken body from his thoughts, refusing to let them distract him. He shut down all his senses, sinking deeper and deeper into his own mind. He refused to die here when there was still so much work to be done. And he was damned if he'd die such a useless, pointless, stupid death. His anger burned fiercely through him, and something stirred in the back brain, the undermind, that secret part of him he couldn't see, where his power lived. And a new fire ignited there, bursting out through all the rest of him, burning away all pains and weaknesses in its purifying flames. He was remade and reborn, and Random howled in sheer exhilaration at being so alive.
His eyes flew open as he crashed back, already forgetting that hidden part of himself he'd so briefly touched. He raised his hands before him and flexed them, and they were fine. He surged to his feet, grinning like a fool. All his injuries had healed, all his pains were gone, and he didn't even have a scar left to show for it. He realized Ruby was standing beside him, stamping her foot on the ground to test that her leg wasn't broken anymore. She looked at him and laughed incredulously, and then they hugged each other fiercely.
'Damn,' said Ruby when they finally did release each other. 'I feel good! I feel like I could take on a whole damned army!'
'No pain anywhere?' said Random. 'No weaknesses?'
'Hell, no! You?'
'I feel like I am twenty again. I feel like I could go one on one with a Grendel and dismantle it with my bare hands.' He broke off and looked at Ruby thoughtfully. 'And just a few moments ago we were both knocking on
