Natalia sat, pointing at the base of the Y. "Chop off the bottom, right about here. The top you should trim so it fits under your armpit. It'll be awkward to use but much better than your bow."
Trimming it to size was easy enough, but the crook of the crutch took much more work. Luckily, Athgar had his knife with him. Years of crafting bows had given him an excellent feel for wood, and after a few adjustments, he had a finished product. Setting it under his arm, he took a few tentative steps.
"Not too bad," he said. "It lends a lot more support than I would have thought."
"Ready to resume our trek?" she asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
They started moving eastward, making good time over the relatively flat terrain. By late afternoon the sun had disappeared behind dark clouds, a sure sign that a storm was brewing.
Natalia cursed. "Just our luck, we'll be caught in a downpour. How can the weather change so quickly?"
"It's the mountains, they mess about with the weather. We need to seek shelter."
"There's a cluster of trees up ahead. Will that do?"
"It'll have to," said Athgar. "Come on, let's hurry before the rain closes in."
They reached the boughs just as it started spitting.
"Look for a fallen branch," suggested Athgar, "about twice my height in length."
"Here's one," she called out.
He moved closer, examining her find. "Good. Now we need to prop it against the trunk of a tree. While I do that, you find as many branches as you can, then we'll lean them up against the side like ribs."
Athgar dragged the fallen branch to a likely target, then set about raising its end, placing it against a large maple. By this time, Natalia was ready with the first group of sticks, piling them at the base and returning to the forest floor to look for more.
Larger drops of rain began to fall, but the overhead branches gave them some cover. Occasionally the water would make its way through, much to Athgar's annoyance. With the ribs finally in place, they began gathering vegetation; a collection of pine boughs, ferns, and moss. To this, they added fallen leaves, the better to insulate against the cold of the coming storm.
Their small cover complete, they crawled inside, pulling a spare branch behind to cover the opening. Athgar conjured a small flame to light the interior, careful to avoid letting the fire touch anything combustible.
"This is quite cozy," said Natalia.
"It'll do for now, though I wouldn't expect it to last forever."
"One night is all we need, then we must be on our way."
"You think the army has marched?"
"No," she said. "We still have a day or two by my reckoning. Remember, the father general called for the army to march in two days, and that was only yesterday."
"So they'll march tomorrow?"
"Maybe even the day after if this storm is bad enough. A large storm can play havoc with the route of march, turning it into a quagmire if it's wet enough."
Athgar smiled. "So the rain could actually be an ally?"
"I suppose that's true. I hadn't thought of it that way."
"Hopefully Kargen was successful in uniting the tribes. I'd hate to think about fighting off the Church without the Orcs."
"You should be more worried about the Therengians," said Natalia. "King Eadred tried to kill us. He won't be happy to see our return."
"One more thing we have to worry about," said Athgar. "I swear the list grows longer every day. Is there no end to it?"
"We shall get through this together, my love. You will see."
"And what do we do in the meantime while we wait for the storm to pass?"
"Sleep," said Natalia. "Now, come over here and keep the cold from me."
"Shall I use my spell of warmth?"
She grinned. "I can think of a more old-fashioned method that would be just as effective."
Long into the night, the storm raged. Athgar and Natalia remained in their shelter, listening to the peal of thunder as it echoed off the distant mountains.
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, their shelter began to leak. They countered this by using Athgar's tunic to act as a makeshift cover while they huddled together in the cold air of the night.
By sunrise, the storm had finally abated. Athgar pushed the branches from the opening and crawled out, the damp leaves of the forest floor sticking to him. Gathering some firewood, he then used his magic to call forth fire, too tired to attempt it the traditional way.
Natalia crawled out, looking exhausted. She tossed him the soaked tunic, which he arranged near the fire, the better to dry it out.
"Hungry?" he asked.
"Starving, but what have we to eat?"
"There's all sorts of things in these parts. It shouldn't be too difficult to find something."
"But you can't hunt, you're injured."
"There's more to surviving in the woods than hunting," said Athgar.
"Like what?"
"Plants. Take that bush over there, it's edible."
She looked in the direction indicated, surprise on her face as she stared at the small yellow petals. "So we just eat the flowers?"
"Gods, no, but the roots are quite tasty."
She wandered over, looking down on the small, leafy plant. "Do I dig down?"
"No, just grab the branches and pull. It should come up fairly easily."
Natalia grasped the stem of the plant, pulling with all her might. The plant gave way easily, sending dirt flying everywhere as she fell backwards. Spitting out some dirt, she looked down at the exposed roots in her hands. Attached were small white bulbs that somehow seemed familiar.
"Have you never seen a turnip before?" asked Athgar.
"Of course. We ate them all the time back in the Volstrum, but I've never seen the plant they come from."
"The yellow flower is quite distinctive," he continued. "And we can eat them raw if we have to, though I much prefer to cook them, given a choice. There's some more to your left."
"I'll gather what I can while you cook this lot. We
