HE TOOK THE ARROW BACK, held it between his thumbs and forefingers and twirled it slowly, with a terrifying thought nibbling at his brain. It couldn’t be. It was too fantastic. He wondered if the sun was finally getting him that he had thought of it at all.
He squatted down and dug at the ground with the makeshift arrow point. “Sipar, what do you actually know about the Cytha?”
“Nothing, mister. Scared of it is all.”
“We aren’t turning back. If there’s something that you know—something that would help us....”
It was as close as he could come to begging aid. It was further than he had meant to go. He should not have asked at all, he thought angrily.
“I do not know,” the native said.
Duncan cast the arrow to one side and rose to his feet. He cradled the rifle in his arm. “Let’s go.”
H
