Being even more careful now, Blade continued downward. He guessed it took him another half hour to reach the valley floor. But after that it was only a few minutes' brisk jogging to reach the first clump of trees. He pulled a branch loose and used some of the leaves to wipe the caked dust and grit from his body, while he chewed on other leaves to get some moisture from them. That might help keep him alive for an extra day or two, but he knew he had to find water soon. He decided to wait until evening, and then move down the valley by night in search of water. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but sleep.

Blade had a mental alarm clock that he could set more or less at will. When it woke him, the blazing sun was well down in the sky. The few wisps of cloud in the west were turning into long streamers of red and gold flame as the sun sank through them. Under the trees the shadows were deeper and longer, and there was a chill creeping into the air. It was time to move on. Blade reached up and broke off a heavier branch to give himself a better staff. With this swinging in his right hand, he headed for the riverbed. It offered the easiest walking, and there might be water lurking in the soil below it.

Blade was halfway to the river when screams sounded through the twilight. First a snarling yowl, with something feline in it. Then an unmistakably human scream of surprise, terror, and agony. And finally the shrill, panic-stricken neighing of a horse, followed by a flurry of hooves. The hoofbeats were approaching rapidly. Blade flattened himself behind a tree and stared off in the direction of the noises. He thought he heard a low rumbling snarl off somewhere in the trees.