Ren sighed. He wasn't sure he was completely comfortable leaving the two of them together unsupervised. Niklas had drawn a blade on Anik twice now, and Ren wasn't sure Anik would tolerate a third. Still, Niklas was right. The poison had greedily eaten away Ren's strength. He felt like he could fall asleep now and hibernate for a month.

“Wait,” Anik said, holding out the tin to Ren. “Drink this.”

Taking the tin from Anik, careful not to burn himself, Ren looked into it. The liquid had a yellow-green hue from the leaves Anik had added to the hot water. The smell was sharp. “What is it?”

“It's good for you. You'll need your strength back fast, especially if we have to run from people trying to kill us again.”

Ren raised the tin to his lips but Niklas reached out and clasped a hand around his wrist, tugging the tin from Ren's fingers. “No, don't drink it. You don't know what's in it.”

“You really think I'd poison him when I could just stab my sword through his gut and be done with it?” Anik asked dryly as Niklas demonstratively emptied the contents of the tin onto the ground.

“For all I know, you already tried to poison him once. Maybe you're so twisted that you want to see him die a slow death,” Niklas hissed.

Ren sighed and rubbed his brow with two fingers. “Niklas, calm down. Please try not to kill each other while I sleep. I mean it,” Ren said, letting his gaze linger on both of them before he got up from the fallen log to fetch his blankets.

* * *

Ren felt like he had only been asleep for a few hours before he was shaken awake. Groaning, he sat up, blinking sleep from his eyes.

“There's a wagon approaching.” Niklas was kneeling in front of him. It was completely dark, only faint embers remaining in the fire, which had been stomped out rather than burned out, judging by the dirt tracks that surrounded it.

Next to them, Anik tossed his blankets aside and sat up straight. He looked wide awake.

Dancing torchlight was the first thing Ren saw as the wagon approached. At first, it seemed to come straight for them, but then the dirt path curved around their makeshift camp. This close, Ren could see that the wagon was pulled by two horses, driven by one man, and carrying passengers.

Ren glanced at Anik, trying to figure out what his course of action would be. When Anik stood, reaching for his sword, Ren did the same. He doubted he could fight anyone in his current condition, but sometimes the threat of multiple swords was enough to deter attackers. Niklas kept close to Ren, watching him carefully like he was afraid he was going to collapse.