The suns beat down on the rover, turning the inside of the vehicle into an oven—one set on broil. I wipe at the sweat stinging my eyes, but don't bother with the rest. I'll only be wet with sweat within five minutes again.

"Why are the internal temperature controls not working?" Errol asks. "Did we not pack in enough refuse for fuel? I know it is not a lack of sunlight for the panels," he adds raising a brow as he glances out at the sun-drenched landscape.

I can tell the question isn't because he is uncomfortable, though I don't doubt he is. No, he's been watching me wipe at my face for the last half hour, the blistering heat making me a sopping mess in no time flat.

"The fuel panels are using all the energy converted from the light and the trash to run the engine right now," I explain. "There's nothing left for the AC." And doesn't that just suck. I wipe at my eyes yet again, then pick up the water container and take a few big gulps. What I don't need right now is to become dehydrated, though I feel a whole lot better than I would have without that dose of epis. That plant really is a life saver.

"To the left," Errol says after a few more minutes. "There is a small spring not far off."

I nod, immediately adjusting our course. We've been stopping every so often at the water sources en-route to cool off. It's a necessity in this heat, at least for me. Stopping near the newest set of sparse trees, I stay in the rover as Errol leaves to do a quick recon of the area first. He insists on doing so at every oasis we've stopped at. I know it matters, even if all I want to do is jump directly into the water. I don't want to risk either of us simply because I'm impatient. So I wait until he reappears and nods at me before I exit the rover and head over to the crystal-clear spring. I will say this for Tajss: because all the water is filtered through sand and rock, it's always clean and sparkling. Not that murky water would have stopped me in this heat, but it is nice.

Not bothering with fully stripping like I did in the first couple of stops, I just take off my shoes and walk right into the water. There's no point in taking my clothes off—they'll either be wet with water or wet with sweat. At least they'll be cleaner this way. And it isn't like I'm going to catch a chill.

I sigh as the coolness of the water slowly cocoons me. If I could, I'd just stay here all day. But the real world awaits and so on. Damn it.

I take a deep breath and hold it, close my eyes, and fully submerge myself, using my fingers to scrub at my hair to get the sweat out. I smooth my hair back as I come up, scrubbing at myself with my hands under the water. It's the best I'm going to do for now. We still have a ways to go, and I don't want to waste too much time on these stops. As soon as I've accomplished the bare minimum and cooled off, I step out of the water, wringing out my hair to let it air dry. I wonder if—

A high-pitched shrieking sound has my head jerking up to scan the sky above. What the hell was that? I take a step back as I spot a backlit shape.

It's a huge birdlike creature, circling right above me. That can't be good. I have no idea what it is, but its predatory, sharp-featured face and huge claws don't make me think it's exactly friendly.

"Errol," I say in a low voice, my eyes staying on the threat. "What is that?"

With another shriek from its dark, curved beak, it dives, tucking its enormous wings against its sides and plummeting through the air, its razor-like claws extended and aimed right at me.

"Shit!"

I turn and run, though there isn't much cover to be found. I hear another shriek, this one even closer. There's no way I can outrun something on wings!

"Ooof!"

My breath rushes out of me in a harsh rush as a steel bar hits me in the stomach and then wraps around my waist. Errol's arm. I gasp, reaching down to grip his forearm as he leaps towards his weapon, set down some feet away in preparation for his own swim.

"Hold on!" he shouts, grabbing the weapon and leaping straight up into the air with me still in tow. Oh man. I feel my rations trying to come back up as the altitude changes fast, the constriction of Errol's arm still squeezing around my waist. I swallow hard and visualize keeping the food down. Not coming up. Nope. No no no. It works. Barely. Meanwhile, Errol isn't playing.

He flares out his own wings and swings his lochaber in a deadly arc, the bladed end hitting the bird dead on. It screams as the blade slices into its side, turning hard and dislodging the weapon to dive back at us, its sharp beak open wide, feet extended towards us.

Errol isn't fazed.

Flapping his wings to stay aloft, he stabs straight at the bird's underbelly before its claws can reach us, slicing down the length of it in a hard cut that guts the thing in midair. The bird stops, held a couple of yards away by the lochaber's own length. Errol yanks the blade out with a gush of blood. I wince at the sound. And then the bird's wings slowly crumple until it falls out of the sky right in front of us.

Errol brings us down much more gently, his arm relaxing around me as we touch down on the ground. I take in a much-needed deep breath, my heart still pounding.

"Are you well?" he asks, turning me around to give me an all-encompassing glance.

I nod, still trying to process everything. The attack was lightning fast, the actual fight short and decisive. It all happened in a blink.

"Come, let us continue on," he says, taking my hand as he scans the sky above. "It was my mistake not to look up as well as around, even though vtaks should not be out with the suns still shining so brightly."

I let him lead me back to the rover. Putting some metal between us and any threats sounds perfect right about now.

"Shouldn't we recover the meat?" I ask, looking over at the carcass. I've had it instilled in me here on Tajss to never waste a kill. It's wasteful when food isn't easy to come by. But Errol just shakes his head at my question rather than stopping.

"No. The meat of the vtak tastes too gamey," he explains calmly. Like he engages in these sorts of heroics every day. Right. Totally casual. All right then.

I glance back at the bird, the fact that I almost died—again—finally sinking in. What would I have done without Errol here? The answer to that is painfully clear. I look away from the bird, taking in Errol's clean profile. He's already saved me so many times. Grateful doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.

Even if he acts like it is a commonplace occurrence.