Chapter 2Though the stranger stirred when Arie crouched at his side, his eyes remained shut, his reflexes unresponsive to Arie’s prodding. The riov rods were doing their job, but the effects were unbalanced, the smoke still too thick to leave the stranger on the bank. He didn’t have time to check if the man was hurt. He wouldn’t survive if Arie didn’t get him out.
Because the man was dead weight, it took some wrangling to get low enough to sling him over Arie’s shoulder. Arie grunted under the heft. The stranger was taller than him, and bulkier to boot, forcing Arie to concentrate on not dropping him as he trundled his way to the surface. His heels ground against the loose stone to find footing, but he held back from celebrating once he came into the open air. He had a lot of work to do o
