XXVIThe next day passed in a blur of noise and pain for Finn. He awoke still exhausted, shivering and sweating at the same time. He was aware, distantly, of an ironclad standing over him, a kick in his side, a voice bellowing at him to get up. He knew he could not and knew that meant he was no longer any use to them. Neither thing seemed terribly important.
Then he heard Tom speaking as a strong arm hauled him to his feet. “He'll be fine. He'll come around.”
“He'd better.”
The ironclad strode away. Finn tried to support himself with his own legs, but they'd turned to grass. He lay back on the ground while Tom dribbled more water into his mouth. He felt it trickling down inside him as if he were hollow.
“Come on, Finn. You just need to get to the rock face.”
Finn nodded, lacking the st
