ALIENA

   After waking from the vision, Uncle Jack pointed me toward a shelter made of branches even while I winced and held the cloth to my bleeding nose. Not a true shelter, more of a lean-to made specifically for privacy but I recognized the weaved layers and knew my friends were responsible at first glance.
   I rubbed a tender spot on my head as I stood, my other hand going to my injured arm which felt worse then it should have, no doubt I'd pulled my stitches again. "Geac?" I asked Jack.
   "Still sleeping." He replied simply.
   I frowned at him and went off, realizing that I'd been covered in my cloak for which I was happy for, seeing as I was nearly in my undergarments beneath it. The Rangers moved around what they'd claimed as camp, but I felt like they were avoiding me. Obviously word of who I was had spread in the short time I was out.
   I slipped inside the lean-to to see Venny and a grumpy looking Loryn sitting there, eating stew and drinking water. I was hungry but felt too ill still from the vision to talk and so I sat, trying to fetch the energy to go to my bag for my medical supplies. Ritch joined us before I could, still rubbing his eyes from waking. He took one look at the stew and bent to eat as well.
   "So you're really Princess Aliena Greyor?" Loryn asked quietly, breaking the silence that had hung over us.
   I felt uncomfortable speaking about this, having kept it secret all this time, but I nodded. "Queen now, I suppose." I said. "Like you."
   She looked me over and snorted. "I can't see it." She said, then with a laugh. "I just can't. I mean, you're too brutal and wild to..." She trailed off, looking over my shoulder, I looked to see Geacob standing there and stood myself, a hesitant smile on my face.
   "Hello, Geac. I wish to apologize for---"
   "So, tell me your name again?" He said, his tone not at all gentle and there was a sarcastic undertone that I didn't like at all, but I answered him just the same.
   "Aliena Greyor."
   "Ah, yes." He said. "Funny, I thought I remembered you saying that, but for some reason, I assumed it was a cruel jest. Silly me, I suppose." He turned around and walked away without another word.
   Hurt passed across me, painful and sharp but I followed him out quickly. He was walking so fast I had to run to catch up.
   "Geac? Geacob wait. You must understand---"
   He spun around to face me so fast that I nearly ran into him. "I don't have to understand a bloody thing that comes out of your mouth."
   There was something ugly on his face, something I hadn't seen there before, but I reminded myself that this had come to a shock to him. Not doubt he felt betrayed that I had kept such a thing a secret so well from him. I kept calm with these reminders. "I am sorry that I did not tell you, but I didn't know---"
   "You knew a lot more than I!" He shouted and I became aware of a crowd forming around us and my cheeks flamed in the embarrassment of getting so publically yelled at. "For the sake of all the gods that listen, Alie --- or Aliena or whoever you are --- you expect me to just be alright with this?"
   "You said you would be." I reminded him as calmly as I could.
   "That was before I knew the lie! Now you're ruined and I refuse to take blame when it was because of such a manipulative girl such as you!"
   "I'm the same person you said you loved." I told him, my face was calm though I felt it heat with even further embarrassment as he so loudly told everyone I was ruined. "Nothing has changed except who my parents were."
   "Everything has changed!" He threw up his hands. "You think there's any future for us? I stay with you and what? Become king? I'm a feking Ranger! A Ranger. And proud to be one!" There were a few cheers around us at that, but I barely noticed them anymore. "I wear my cloak proudly!"
   I felt a flare of anger with the insult. "I would never ask you to give up your cloak, Geacob. What kind of person do you think I am?"
   Someone spoke from the crowd around us. "We thought you were a Ranger."
   Geacob laughed harshly. "Apparently, no one knows what kind of person she is, huh?"
   And that was where I finally snapped.
   My hand shot out and cracked across his face, knocking him back in surprise. "How dare you speak to me that way!" I shouted at him. "I never lied to you directly. Assumptions were made and I went with it, that is all I did. And I did so in order to protect myself! Even then, I remained the same person that I am. You believe all that hunting was, what, an act? That killing Archrik was an act? Standing my ground against the dragon as he snapped his teeth at me in anger? An act?"
   His hand left his jaw to throw both hands up in the air. "Who knows? I, more than anyone, am aware of how good of a liar you are!"
   I couldn't take this. Not from Geacob. I turned toward the horses without another word, pushing around Loryn and elbowing aside Uncle Jack to reach them, but Geacob wasn't done. No, now that I had gotten him started, he didn't seem to want to stop.
   "Where are you doing, Princess? Back to Nascia to claim your crown as queen?"
   I spun around and pointed a finger in his face. "I spit on you, Geacob. I would have told you sooner, but I was afraid it would change the way you looked at me." My eyes found Jacks whose face was tight with stress. "I should have listened to you, Uncle Jack. I was a fool to believe you were wrong because of a few flimsy words whispered in the night." I turned away from both of them and hauled myself upon the horse weakly, grimacing at the pain in my arm.
   Still he was not done. "Where are you going?" He demanded. "Stealing a horse from Ranger's isn't your best idea, Princess."
   "I am borrowing it!" I snapped. "And not that it is any of your business, I'm going to the nearest town to get a strong drink and a room that is away from you." I shook my head at him. "You are not the man I thought you were, Geacob. You're nothing but a boy in a cloak who believes himself better than anyone who hadn't had to steal food to survive." I turned the horse away.
   "Speaking of cloaks," he called out, "better loose yours!"
   "Fek you!" I shouted back at him. Princess or not, there are times when such language was needed and this was one of those times. "I've earned it!"
   I kicked the horse into a fast gallop, nearly running a Ranger over in the process but I did not care.
   I needed to get away quickly, before they say the tears fall.

GEACOB

   I watched her go and nearly chased after her to yell some more. The rage I felt was almost unbearable. Some of it, perhaps even most, caused by embarrassment.
   My mind kept throwing memories at me. How improper we'd been! She was of the Greyor bloodline and I had acted around her as I would a Ranger. Why? Because she knew how to hunt? What a fool I had been.
   And I'd bedded her! I'd bedded and ruined the feking Queen of Nascia in a stone tunnel! Even went so degrading as to pinch her bottom as if she were a common girl. I should have known when I saw her clear skin and felt her soft hair that she was highborn. No, I should have known the very moment that I'd heard her impeccable speech. As if a servant would ever speak so well! I should have known...
   Then I remembered something, and a new rage came up as I spun around to my uncle who seemed to be waiting for me.
   "You knew." I remembered. "You knew who she was."
   "I did." He agreed. "The moment I saw her. It's why I did not first trust her."
   "Yet you helped keep her secret?"
   "I gave her a chance to confront you herself, watching her carefully all the while. I later realized that I was wrong about her. She was not being a pretender, Geac, she simply shortened her name."
   I moved in closer. "I bedded her, Uncle." I hissed. "Do you know what that means?"
   "That she trusted you." My uncle said. "And you've broken that trust. I wish you luck trying to get her back. She is not one to fall into charming words and sweet gestures, you'll have to work for it to get her forgive you."
   "I don't want her back!" I snapped. "She's royal!"
   "Blood means nothing, boy. You choose your family, remember? She chose you and you failed her." He turned to walk away, but I followed him.
   "Sounds to me as if you are angry at me, Uncle."
   He slowed, then turned again. "For the first time in your life, you've truly disappointed me, Geacob."
   Those words hurt. They hurt even worse because they were not said in anger but as a fact. "Why?" I managed to ask. "Because you like the girl?"
   "No. Not at all; who you're with isn't my business, it's your choice and always will be."
   "Then why? Because I'm angry with her? I have a right to be angry."
   "That's your choice too. No, son, I'm disappointed because of how you acted. Here. Publically humiliating her in front of the most respected of the Rangers while she was one herself. Some of these men have become her friend, and I don't know of a single Ranger here that hasn't come to respect here in these past few weeks. But you chose a public confrontation, on purpose no doubt, and absolutely humiliated her because you were angry. You think she'll be able to walk among these men comfortably again without her having to work for it? She's lost respect as a Ranger because of you."
   "She's not a Ranger." I hissed quietly. "She never was."
   "Really? Are you sure about that? Because she seemed like one to me."
   "You can't be a Ranger and a royal!"
   He looked at me a long time and then he saddened, I watched him age years before my very eyes. "So you say blood creates a Ranger?"
   "I'm saying that blood can unravel it." 
   A flash of anger shot across his face and he stepped closer, his nose inches from mine, for the first time in my life, I feared he would hit me. "Then I suppose that means that I am not a Ranger? That you're not?"
   I felt my heart paused a beat, then speed up. "What are you talking about?"
   "Roiloighon spoke to you, you fool of a boy. Or have you forgotten that so easily?"
   "Obviously you were wrong about only the royals being---"
   "I wasn't wrong. That secret I needed to tell you? The one I didn't want to tell you for fear of the way you would look at me? You remember that?"
   "No." I said. Not that I didn't remember, but in denial of whatever he was about to say. No, I did not want to hear it.
   "I vowed I'd tell you on your return, yes? I was going to wait to speak to you privately so you could have some time to process it alone, maybe ease you into it with wise words and reminders I've given you your whole life for when this day came, but after that show with poor Alie, I'll just tell you now."
   "No." I whispered, my mouth going dry. I took a step back but he stepped forward, keeping us close and his voice low.
   "I'll skip the story and the explanation for now. I think I'll just spit it at you the way you're so suddenly fond of, so here it is."
   "No." I snapped and tried to pull back but he gripped my arms, stopping me by force.
   "Your name, boy, your true name, gifted to you by your sweet mother before she died, is---"
   "No---"
   "---Geacob. Arow. Dargolyn."

RITCH

   The night was solemn and silent among the three of us. After Alie (Aliena, wow) had fled the public thrashing and then Geacob stormed off in a fury after tense words with his uncle, we had busied ourselves around the camp, ignoring the suspicious looks glancing our way, as if Alie's demise meant the rest of us were guilty as well. Later, we ate and built a small fire in our miniature shelter to keep the nights chill off --- the final grasping fingers of the winter trailing behind.
   But now that night had fallen completely and neither Geac nor Alie had returned, we weren't sure what to do. Should we wait up for them? Go searching for them? Sleep?
   All I could think about was the vision, and I'm sure the rest of us had it on their minds as well, but it felt wrong to speak of it without the five of us present, so we sat in an awkward silence for a long time, listening to the Rangers settle down one-by-one in the night noises.
   It was Uncle Jack who came over to us and broke our silence. "You kids should get some rest. I doubt Geac or Alie will be back tonight."
   "Did Geac go after Alie?" Loryn asked almost hopefully.
   He grimaced slightly. "No. I'm quite sure he didn't."
   "Shouldn't we make sure they're alright?" Venny shifted on the grass with worry. "They're out there alone---"
   "And each more then capable of taking care of themselves. You should know this."
   "But not this upset." I said and felt a flare of anger which I did my best to tamper down. "Geacob was really cruel to Alie. She's probably not in her right mind right now."
   Uncle Jack sighed. "Don't be angry with Geac, Ritch."
   "Why?" Venny asked sharply. "Alie did nothing wrong. She only did what she had to do to protect herself." Then his voice went sad, loosing its anger as quickly as it had come. "We've never heard them talk to each other like that."
   "Just get some rest, kids." Uncle Jack sounded exhausted himself, and had a drawn look about his face that didn't calm us in the slightest.
   But there was nothing to say and nothing we could do that would actually be useful, so we redid our bandages that Alie would normally do for us, and we slept.
   It didn't occur to me until morning that with Alie's bag here, she had no medical supplies and no weapons of her own.

ALIENA

   Somehow, I'd forgotten how terrible of a rider I was until the temperamental horse reared and threw me hard to the ground. I smacked my hip hard on something as I landed and let out a cry of pain, but sharp as it was at first, the pain didn't linger there and I was able to stand up and calm the horse enough to get ahold of his reigns and lead him to a spot of grass, tying him on there so he wouldn't wander off.
   I'd ripped my stitches again. I felt it, and I had no supplies with me. Or water. Or anything else.
   But all those things were the least of my concern. I slid down to the base of a tree and curled up on my side. I ached with hurt. How had he convinced me he would be fine with whatever I told him? I'd been a fool to have even convinced myself.
   And then to allow him to talk to me that way in front of all the others! To call me ruined even, and question the most basic things about me that made me me. How dare he! How could he? Had I misjudged him so badly?
   I tightened myself into a smaller ball as if it would protect me from the hurt in my mind and cried until I fell into an exhausted sleep.
   When I woke, it was in darkness and for a disorienting moment, I didn't know where I was or why I was curled on the ground. I felt hot and sickly, as if I were ill, had I had a fever? Then, it came to me suddenly and violently, nearly pushing me into sobs again, but I choked them down.
   Because it had been the horse that woke me. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him stamping his hooves and pawing the ground in snorts and huffs as he struggled to get loose. I stood quickly and reached for my knife, only to remember it had been in my belt that was with my bag and wools.
   I struggled to see in the blackness, but there were no stars tonight and my eyes hadn't gotten the time it needed to adjust at all.
   I heard a groan though, as the horse went more frantic and my heart started pounding. I knew that sound.
   Bear.
   And it was very, very close.
   Black or brown? I had no way of knowing. It didn't matter, I had no time to reach the horse, untie him, then race blindly away in the dark. Nor could I run. I would have to risk climbing as it was my only option.
   I felt the tree trunk, reaching up until I found a branch, then grasped it and pulled myself up, gasping unintentionally at the flare of sharp pain in my shoulder. There were noises of a crashing in the trees over the panicked horse and I blindly pulled myself up, scraping my neck on another branch, then smacking my nose on yet another causing my eyes to tear up. Not that it mattered; my vision were useless at the moment anyway.
   Higher I went. My hands were shaking but I wasn't sure if it was from fear or the deep chill that had settled into my bones from sleeping on the ground. I felt weak as well and after only climbing up one more branch, I settled into the tree as best I could with nothing to tie me on. My face felt flushed and I began to shiver uncontrollably up in my tree.
   As the horse stopped making noise, I could only hope that this bear could not reach me too as I shivered weakly on the branch, alone in the darkness.

GEACOB

   Geacob Arow Dargolyn.
   Geacob Arow Dargolyn.
   Dargolyn!
   Arow Dargolyn, the last king of Dargolyn who had died during the war, along with all living relatives, including his newly born child.
   Newly born child, the stories said. A child born during the war, to be given a name only after he survived the first year, as is the Dargolyn way. The babe was just nearing two months old the day the castle was taken over, the royal family murdered. The king beheaded only after his wife, the queen, was raped upon the balcony before all the eyes of the city and tossed over the side like garbage. A babe right after her.
   A babe. Who had been the babe?
   Two months of age the babe had been. I was six months old when my uncle joined the Rangers. Four months after the war ended.
   The math was simple.
   Geacob Arow Dargolyn.
   As I wandered the roads, heading nowhere in particular, my mind went over and over the truth that was now so obvious to me.
   Jack. His name was not Jack. It was Sir Ghakol Dargolyn, youngest brother of King Arow Dargolyn, claimed to have died in battle.
   The dragon knew the necklace. The way my uncle never spoke of my parents. How he constantly kept his hair short but never trimmed his beard --- something so opposite of a highborn.
   The way his speech, though sometimes had bits of slang and jargon in it, was usually remaining well spoken, and he encouraged me to speak the same way.
   He taught me how to read and write at such a young age, and he'd know a way into the dragons chambers from the outside. How he could so fluently speak the name of the dragon, and how he hadn't had a speck of fear coming down from the mountain in those claws, as if he had done such a thing before.
   Even his insistent hatred for King Loris Petal was explained.
   And what about the way he had raised me?
   "What are the five qualities of a good leader, son?"
   "Honor, bravery, kindness, fairness, and selflessness, Uncle."
   "And the most important one of them all?"
   "None had more importance in value then the other. All five must be present and obvious to everyone you lead or you are just a good leader, not a great one."
   It was my oldest lesson and one still drilled into me. I'd always assumed he was preparing me to take over as a Ranger leader one day, but had he been dreaming of something else all these years? Has he been preparing me to one day take back the throne that was --- oh gods, no --- rightfully mine?
   If he was, he would be disappointed; I didn't want to be king.
   Disappointed. That reminded me of Alie --- Aliena, whoever she was --- and my uncles disappointment at my actions.
   Honor. Bravery. Kindness. Fairness. Selflessness. What I had done to her was the opposite of all those thing. I had every right to be angry, as far as I was concerned... but to confront her the way I had and speak the words I had, made me feel ashamed.
   I stopped in the road, debated a moment, then turned around.
   It was a long walk back and in all that time, my mind flicked back and forth between Alie's lies and Uncle Jack's lies --- or should I say Queen Aliena's lies and Uncle Ghakel's? I switched from feeling shame and embarrassment to red hot fury and everything in between the two. By the time I actually reached the camp in the early morning, I was still undecided about my feelings for both, but anger was still there and I walked through the camp with my fists at my sides and my head down, finding a bowl of rabbit stew and eating against a tree quietly in hopes that none would try and talk to me as the camp woke and fed themselves for the day.
   Ritch, though, was brave enough to approach.
   "Have you seen Alie?"
   I gave him an irritated look. "Thankfully, no." I said. "I will attempt to avoid her for as long as possible." But then I felt a twinge of concern as I understood what it meant for him to be asking. "Wait. You mean she didn't come back last night?"
   Ritch looked distinctly worried. "No. And her pack is here. Her weapons, too."
   Concern quickly turned to worry. I tried to push it away --- I did not want to worry for her, I did not want to care for her enough to worry --- but it was there just the same. "You're sure?" I stood when he nodded.
   "She's probably safe." I said. "She said she would be spending the night at an inn nearby."
   "Alie wouldn't make us worry like this."
   "We don't know Alie though, remember? Not the real one." Even as I said the words they reminded me of something Loryn would say and I hated myself for saying them, but it was too late to take them back.
   Ritch narrowed his eyes at me. "I know Alie just fine, it's this new Geacob I don't know." He turned away. "I'll go find her, don't strain yourself."
   I bristled. "Do you know the area?"
   "No, but I'm capable of reading a map."
   It was odd to hear Ritch so snarky. "I know the area well enough without a map. I'll find her."
   Except that I didn't. I went to both towns and each was abandoned and long past looted. Figuring she'd be back at the camp when I got there, I wasn't too worried about the quickly darkening sky. 
   But when Loryn, Ritch and Venny all approached me with hopeful looks on their faces, serious fear made my stomach sick.
   "I can't find her." I said.
   "She prob'ly juss ran off, lad." Said Greg, who was close enough to hear.
   "No." I said with surety. "Alie wouldn't run off without a word like that. Something's wrong." I was sure of it suddenly, and the fact that it was coming near the second night was terrifying.
   "I don't even know where to start looking." I admitted, looking around at the trees as if that would give me a clue. "I can't even imagine something that's capable of holding her up."
   "Mountain lions, bears, wolves---" Gregs voice was cut off when Darci elbowed him, but Ritch, Venny and I were already shaking our heads.
   "No. They couldn't take her down." Venny said.
   Greg blinked. "Seriously?"
   "Lost?" Came my uncles voice. We locked eyes a moment, but I didn't have time for him right now and forced myself to look away. 
   "No way." Said Venny. "She'd find a road."
   "I hates ta tell ya's, but sounds t'me like she ran."
   "She wouldn't run." Loryn snapped suddenly. "She wouldn't even leave Geacob right now, though even I'm tempted to ditch him. And I only admitted to not hating Alie three days ago so I wouldn't make her sound better then what she is, trust me. But she would never abandon us."
   "Something's wrong." I said again. "Something went wrong out there. We have to find her." I went to the nearest horse and mounted, then looked around in surprise when no one but the seers followed my lead. "Anyone else coming?"
   "It's night, Geacob." Said my uncle. "You'll have to wait till morning. As for you three, none of you can ride off road at night. You'll get yourselves killed."
   Loryan grimaced. "That's true, Geac." She admitted quietly.
   Ritch and Venny frowned, but they didn't contradict her.
   I felt a flash of anger again. "Stay then." I said. "I'll start early."
   "Geacob, wait---"
   I kicked my heals in and headed in the direction Alie had disappeared, quickly being swallowed up by the near darkness that was dusk. When I heard galloping behind me ten minutes later, I expected to find one or the seers (Venny, most likely) but instead, found Angus.
   "My uncle send you?" I asked tightly.
   "Said I could go if I wanted, but it was my idea. I like Alie, and I agrees with yous. Somethin' happened to her. She wouldn't run. She'd come back, if only t'beat you as publically as you humiliated her." He gave me a hard look and I gave him one right back.
   "I've been side-by-side with her for months, and she---"
   "You don't talk to a whore that way, boy, so ye 'specially don't go talkin' ta family like that."
   "She's not family." I said tartly.
   "Well, she's turned inta mine. I ain't abandon' her. So shut your yap, boy, I'm comin."
   We rode in silence a while, getting out of range of where the men have been setting snares and chopping wood before we started calling out to her every few minutes.
   "Did you know?" I asked him finally, between shouts.
   He frowned. "About Alie? Nae, boy."
   "No, I mean... about anything else."
   Now he looked even more confused. "Like what, Geac?"
   I calmed a little. At least I hadn't been the only one in the group that was lied to. If Angus didn't know, that meant none of the rest knew either. My uncle had lied to everyone. "Never mind." I said, and sped up a bit.
   We rode all night. Circling the area multiple times while calling her name. We came across some wolves, but they gave us no trouble after a few warning arrows were shot. Otherwise, we found nothing.
   The horses were exhausted and dawn was touching the sky. We circled back again, taking twisted routes.
   Then we saw it.
   We didn't see her, but in the same place we had seen the wolves was a chewed and mutilated body of a horse. I was on my feet before my own horse stopped. "Alie!" I shouted again, my voice hoarse now as I started searching around the corpse, absolutely terrified of what I'd find. But there was no Alie. "Alie!" Panic creeped up and all I could think about was how terrible I'd treated her after promising her so much. I swore to trust her and then she told me and I'd behaved as if she were someone like Loryn pretending to be an Alie all this time. It was my fault she'd been out here. I was angry with her yes, but I couldn't handle her dead. I'd never live with myself if she was---
   "Geacob!" Angus called out and by his tone, I knew he'd found her. I ran to his voice and looked around, seeing nothing.
   "Where---"
   "Look." He pointed up.
   I almost threw up. Alie was up in the tree. It was easy to tell she'd been curled up in her cloak at some point, but now, her arm and head were limp and had fallen over the side of the branch.
   "No." I said. "No. She can't be."
   "She's alive, boy, I'm sure of it." Angus said, squinting. "Her fingers twitched. I swears it."
   I scrambled up the tree in the next second and saw that she was, indeed, alive. Her breathing was ragged and loud, but not rattled which meant infection, not illness. She moaned when I tiled her head back up and felt she was burning up. I quickly looked at the wound on her arm and it showed me that this was the cause. Her collarbone looked fine, but her arm had layers of puss squeezing out from behind the few remaining stitches. It must have been becoming infected for a day or two already, but now, all across her shoulder was a dark bruise and I suddenly understood what had happened.
   Horses. I thought. Of course. Horses were not her strength. She'd probably been thrown from the horse and ripped a stitch or two. Probably thrown because of those wolves which she climbed the tree to escape, and there the infection escalated in the cool weather.
   Had she called out for help, I wondered, up here in the tree as wolves ravished the horse below? Has she been terrified? Of course she had been, but did she show it? I doubt it. Somehow, though I held her feverish body in my arms even now, I couldn't picture her being helpless. But no doubt she'd been afraid and now she was more than likely going to die.
   All because she'd been running from me.
   "I'm sorry." I told her. "I'm so sorry."
   Working together, Angus and I managed to get her out of the tree and then in my arms atop the horse. She didn't show any sign of life the entire time except for a small moan and a toss of her head.
   "I'm taking her to Suzahh's. Go back to the camp and let the crews know."
   "That's a days ride for here, boy."
   "She needs a healer!"
   "Lenny know a bit 'a healin'. Your uncle, too."
   "Ranger healing. Enough to patch up until we can reach somewhere like Suzahh's."
   "Your horse wont make it to Suzahh's, boy."
   "Then I'll carry her."
   "Geacob." He kept a tight hold of the reigns. "Look at her. She won't make it to Suzahh's either. She ain't at all fit for travel. She'll die b'fore ye gets there." His voice went quiet. "And by the look at ya, you won't make it either. You yourself is barely sittin' atop your horse."
   It was true. I was dizzy and everything felt hazed around me, even through the panic. I hadn't slept for two nights and didn't sleep much the night after...
   With a start, I realized I hadn't slept in four days except to pass out from heat in the second chamber and while during the vision. It was a wonder I was still awake at all. I wouldn't make it a fifth night.
   And more importantly, neither would Alie.
   "Okay." I said. "We'll go back to camp."
   He nodded and let go. I took the reigns and for a moment, I very nearly set off toward Suzahhs anyway, but Alie began to toss weakly, delusions of a fever setting in and I turned my horse then kicked her exhausted flank toward the camp.