Immediately, we mounted the horses once more and headed out across the plain. As there was little time to lose, we passed out of the village behind the apothecary and went cross country over the rocks and through warm pools.
Above Jode loomed behind Northwind as we passed an old fort whose tiny windows peered into the darkness. The Wall rose to our right and geysers and vents spewed and hissed to our left. Steam rose from the pools, spreading the soupy scent of sulfur through the air. The sounds of the night had stilled, and the precipice of morning lay waiting.
As we reached the far side of the plain, I saw a massive shape sprawled in one of the pools. Here the water was nearly too hot to withstand.
"Hm. Henny are you eating mammoth jerky again?" Derkeethus called.
"No. I don't have any on me."
"Then what is that smell. It smells delicious."
Approaching the shape, I saw it was a fallen mammoth, slowly cooking in the steamy water. A deep, breathy grunt emerged near the creature, and Eater-of-Burrs swept sideways with a nervous snort, thinking it was still alive.
Standing near the water, a giant stood gazing at the mammoth with an expression of perplexed sadness. I approached slowly, keeping my gaze trained on the mammoth and avoiding looking the giant in the eye. The giant regarded me for a moment, then resumed looking at its fallen charge with a sigh. Reaching out, my fingers trembling, my feet ready to dart away, I gently patted its knee. It looked at me with its slablike eyebrows raised slightly, as if they were very heavy to lift. Looking back up at it, I smiled.
Then I turned, and in walking back to my horse, I touched the mammoth's carved tusk, saying goodbye in Bosmeri.
As I caught up with Derkeethus, I turned to see the giant swat at an approaching bear with its club. It raised a cloud of dust in the dim starlight and vanished from view. I supposed it would take some time for the giant to move on. Up ahead, Derkeethus tore into a strip of meat.
"You should try some of this, really. It's great!" he mumbled through his mouthful.
"Derk. You didn't. Please, tell me you didn't swipe meat off that carcass." I wasn't sure if I should laugh or scold him, so I settled for a little of both. "That was its kill, you know."
"That giant didn't see a thing. It won't know the difference." My friend handed me a piece, and I chewed it absently, listening to the sounds of the woodlands we were edging into.
In the shadows, the soft padding of paws on dead leaves kept pace with us. Occasionally I heard a snuffle or the sigh of a breath through teeth. I snatched the remaining bit of mammoth meat from Derkeethus and flung them away from us as far as I could. It landed some distance away with a low crash.
"I wasn't done with that," he grumbled.
The padding sounds dissipated as they tracked the sound of the landing.
Hurrying, I nudged Nael ahead and we trotted up a slope coated in heather. Near the top a cascade of boulders supported by the roots of ancient pines concealed most of a camp. In between the trunks of the trees, I spotted the corner of a canvas tent, and I heard the distant sounds of men tending equipment and fires. A breeze flitted about us as we wove our way among the stones.
At last, after much plodding, we reached the Imperial camp of Eastmarch. Nael and Burrs greeted the other horses as Derkeethus and I dismounted. We walked into the camp proper to find a few soldiers awake and a low fire burning.
In the east, dawn was breaking and a lark broke the silence of the early morning.
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