Everything was spinning. Ren felt his abdomen clench involuntarily and he bent forward and retched. Coughing, he straightened back up, the motion making stars dance before his eyes. Anik's firm hand at the back of his neck forced his head down again. Slowly, his vision returned to normal.

It felt like several minutes passed before Ren could speak. “What happened?”

“Lowlanders are mad fucks, that's what,” Niklas spat.

Anik let go of Ren's neck and shot Niklas a look before answering. “They think one of us poisoned their leader.”

Ren frowned, wetting his dry lips. “But I got poisoned, too.”

“They don't care. Leine was going to gut you both alive. I barely managed to talk her out of it.”

“Yes, what a hero you are. They still tried to shoot us down,” Niklas hissed.

Ren wanted to tell them to stop arguing, but the effort of stumbling at full speed through the woods finally caught up to him. He felt himself slipping against the tree trunk, Anik's hands catching him before his head hit the ground.

When Ren woke again, it was getting dark. The first thing he noticed was that he actually felt human again. A human trampled by a dozen horses perhaps, but at least it no longer felt like the poison was boiling all his organs. The pain in his muscles was gone, except where he had gotten hurt in his fall from the horse. The nausea was gone too, although the dizziness still made him feel like he was lying on the deck of a ship.

His arms trembled slightly as he pushed himself upright. He could hear voices. Hard, angry voices. Rubbing his eyes, he looked in the direction of the sound, fearing for a moment that the refugees had found them. The forest was dark, only thin columns of fading daylight reaching down through the leaves.

“Why should I believe you? You're a thieving, murderous Lowlander. You're one of them, and you have no reason to keep Ren alive.” It was Niklas' voice.

Ren focused on his friend's figure in the darkness. The moonlight reflected the steel of a dagger and Ren gasped, pushing himself onto his feet and ignoring the way his legs trembled.

“That won't end well for you,” Anik said. He stood, posture relaxed, in front of Niklas with one hand outstretched towards the dagger.

“Are you threatening me?” Niklas' voice was laced with venom.

“Stop it,” Ren hissed, bracing his shoulder against the trunk of a large pine tree. Niklas whipped around to face him. Anik turned more slowly and dropped his hand, although his eyes were still on the dagger.

“Both of you, that's enough,” Ren said. “Niklas, put the knife away.”

“How are you feeling?” Niklas' voice trembled as he sheathed the dagger and crossed the distance between them, placing a gentle hand against Ren's forehead as if to check his temperature.