The world drifted in and out of focus. Nick was slung across the back of a horse, and his arms and legs were tied to the saddle, though he couldn’t see exactly where or how. The bouncing caused by the horse’s gait ground into Nick’s guts and made them churn. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore how bile and acid crawled from his stomach and burned up his esophagus. Spitting phlegm out did nothing to alleviate the pain gnawing through him, pounding through his skull in time with hoofbeats hitting the ground.
He was going south, that much Nick knew, but how far or the exact route eluded him. For a time, he’d tried keeping count of the minutes and any landmarks he could get a look at, which were few and far between, but it was a useless effort. A few hours later, Nick couldn’t do much more t
