Red stared at the thick, murky water that lay before the trio.

"We doomed!" Merin said. She was holding up the pangolin and acting as if the creature had spoken instead of her. Red was still on the fence about keeping the animal, but Merin was overly attached to it already.

She was fondling its scales as she eyed the water with apprehension. She then slipped the thing back into the homemade sling she made for it.

She barely knew enough Habrinon to ramble, but the woman managed to express a lot with her expressions. Red looked away from her face.

Merin was right. She was doomed. He wasn't sure if the pangolin could cross the water. It was likely one of the cursed creatures, so it could naturally move past their border to infect the neighboring lands. The only one who could undoubtedly cross was himself.

"We'll camp here," Red said before dropping their bags. He took his shovel and ran off. He needed to do some thinking.

There was a way he could help Merin cross, but it came at a cost.

If he was willing to pay that, would Merin be willing? They were going to have to take some time to broach that. He would have to brace himself because he would also be able to confront his brothers soon.

Merin watched Red trot off like a man with a plan. It was one of many times she'd been left behind to fiddle with her thumbs while he devised a plan.

She'd been joking when she said they were doomed. The water crashing by the shore wasn't that deep. She could just wade right through it. But it wouldn't surprise Merin if something was off about it. The only innocent thing that was just as it appeared to be was the cute little snuggly bug strapped to her back.

Red was the expert when it came to this place. The look on his face had spoken of doom. So she said they were and took several steps back.

A sharp, low whistle drew Merin from these thoughts, and she turned around to see a strange garbed figure. The overflowing adornment of cloth reminded her of when she first saw Red.

Another whistle had Merin turning on her heels to see more such figures. More and more popped out of the woodwork. Each whistled to distract and unnerve her. Merin narrowed her eyes at the way they formed a circle around her.

She rubbed her fingers together as she called upon her magic to do some damage. Only she wouldn't get the chance. All at once, the strange figures tossed a powder in her face. Merin's eyes snapped shut, and she passed out immediately.

Red crouched on the ground, looking at the footsteps in the sandy earth. In his haste to solve their horrible predicament, he forgot the number one rule when it came to Merin. She can't be left alone. The woman was more like a creature designed for chaos than a good luck charm. She was attracting all the wrong attention. Her silvery hair and pale skin were a commodity the slavers would give him up for.

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It wouldn't harm the slavers to piss off his brothers because they'd eventually kill each other until the one remained. By then, whomever they sold Merin off to will be thankful and most likely powerful enough to grant protection.

Merin would be stronger once she left Ela, but until then, she was a fledging attempting to survive in a wilddog land.

Red rubbed his forehead as he ran through his options. He needed to come up with a way to save Merin. Then, he needed to find the words to explain her future if they crossed the waters.

"Red!" Merin's voice traveled to Red, and he stood up. For a brief moment, confusion flashed on his impassive face.

She was running towards him, her ivory cheeks flushed with exertion. "Let's go!" She shouted.

Red slipped on the supply bags just in time because over a hundred men appeared to be chasing her.

"What did you do?" He said.

There were shouts of rage and cries of vengeance ripping from their mouths.

"I drugged. I took something." She said with a grin that spoke of mischief.

"We can't cross the water," Red said. The men were getting closer, but he needed to tell her about the danger that would happen to her.

"Red?" She said.

He knew she didn't mean his name. She was asking if it was because the waters were stained red.

"Inni blood." He said, pointing at the water. "They cursed the river. Only the blood of Inni may pass."

The spark of color and life in her face faded upon his words. "Site of curse." She said in broken Habrinon.

He gave a terse nod.

"I no Inni." She said. "ni was a gift."

Red had suspected as much. Merin was probably not even her real name.

"I can get you across, but there's a price to pay," Red said. He needed to focus on the situation at hand and how to fix it.

The men were nearly upon them. They didn't really have a choice now.

"Do," Merin said.

Red took his shovel and first sliced his left palm and then hers. He pressed the two bleeding palms together. A ceremony he never thought he would ever do was quickly completed with the words that would bind them for life.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips to seal the deal. Then, rather unceremoniously, he picked her up. The pangolin was still strapped to her back, and Red grunted at the placid creature.

Red ran for it, hauling his new passengers across the water. The ceremony should have been enough, but if it wasn't, she might be alright as long as she didn't touch the water. The red water was warm like blood and nearly as thick. Red kept his gaze steady and on the shore across from him. Now that he was in the water, they needed to get far enough away to avoid projectiles. The first hotheaded men would reach the water and die. The ones that see their agony may stop to help them, but there will undoubtedly be more that try harming them from afar.

Red could feel his muscles strain at the unexpected weight of the thin, frail-looking Merin. It didn't help that the pangolin was just a freeloader, and he was carrying their supplies.

He managed to get across the water with all of them. Red set them down but kept an arm on Merin to drag her away from the mass murder that was about to go down.

Merin was still reeling from everything when the screaming started. Unable to stop, she looked behind them as they put the red river far behind.

The first dozen men that dived into the water were melting into it. Loose skin fell off their bodies like hot wax from a tipped candle. You could see the men trying to scream, but their sudden deaths cut them off. They simply dissolved and became a part of the water.

Merin turned her head away. From what she saw of them, they deserved such torment.