I

There had been more than a few anxious moments in the last few days. The men had eyed the spreading soot cloud on the horizon and piled on sail, even though the wind had been average to poor. The nets had lain more or less abandoned, and Toren had gathered more than the usual number of curses and backhanders.

But today it was as if the ship's timbers themselves had let out a sigh of relief. The worst was over.

XIV

She began to smell salt in the air. The stream of animals had become a trickle; they all ran faster than her, even the littlest mice, because by now she was running at a walking pace.

Then her shoe landed in liquid that splashed onto her leg. She bent down to find Samson gorging on water in remarkably efficient manner. If he was drinking, then it was clean. Tsvetka fell to her knees to scoop water to her mouth; its taste made her feel she could never get enough, never want anything else. Samson sat down to gaze at her, having had enough. He was no longer in such a hurry. That was good, right?

At last, she stood up, her face now gloriously cool. They went on, and the cheetah let her walk. The salt smell reminded her of something... brine... sea... the sea? She started running again - the darkness thinned - and thinned even more - thunder, no, waves on sand. And suddenly she was in daylight, and the sun was half-way up the sky... and her feet were in sand, and before her was the grey ocean.