Bors sat up from the rock floor, screaming he was nothing. Rick turned and looked at him. The fever was getting worse. Bors flailed around, pinning Rick with a stare, and said, “I am nothing. I am nothing. I am nothing,” before he dropped back to the stone floor of the cave, unconscious. Though, he had somehow still kept ahold of the sword. Rick was truly amazed by that.

Rick moved over to check on him, finding him cold to the touch. The spill over the falls had knocked loose the bolt, and the water being ice cold had helped staunch the worst of the wound, but it had left the big man trembling with a hacking cough. The fire Rick had built in the small overhang cavern wasn’t warming him enough, and the cough troubled Rick. He didn’t know what to do. His survival training had been a little lacking since he usually had his suit to help him recover. Or his kit and his ship. All he had now was his Tellic raygun, which wouldn’t help in the least.

Sitting up, he rested his forehead on his knees. He was unsure. Nothing in his lessons helped. He’d done his best with the limited medical knowledge given to him, yet it wasn’t enough. His friend was going to die. He didn’t know what else to do. Resting his head on his knees, he whispered, “Al’Kara, I need you. Where are you?”

He didn’t expect any kind of answer, but then— Rick, beloved, is that you?

“Al’Kara?” Rick shouted out in his mind, his head snapping up, half-expecting to see her there. “Are you there?”

“I’m glad you are close, my love. When are you coming to help?” There was something in her question that felt cut off, yet Rick pushed the thought aside. Her mental words gave him comfort.

“Help with what?” Rick asked out loud.

The semi-transparent form of Al’Kara appeared before him. Her red skin was muted by the wan light of the campfire. Her form was cut off about her waist. “My cousin. She needs help with the little Callistians.” Al’Kara said mentally with a hint of a laugh. “I told you before. Remember?”

Rick felt his face contort in rage. “Your cousin is the witch, isn’t she? The one causing all of this hardship and twisting the poor natives of this world?”

“No more than I am, Rick. Please, there’s no need to use such archaic terms.” Rick could feel Al’Kara’s eyes roll with her mental words.

“Bors needs your help,” Rick said, trying to change the subject. He didn’t have time to argue with Bors dying. “I need your help. Please.”

“He’ll get help, and so will you. You are so close, beloved. You are so close to help.”

“Where—”

“I’m in a nearby village. Bring your friend. He feels feverish,” her form said telepathically while she stood closer to Bors. “However, you should give him something to reduce the fever so he has a chance to survive until I can tend to him.”

She looked directly at Rick, deeply. Images of some kind of tree came through. The name that came to his mind was willow, yet it didn’t look anything like a willow tree. “It is the same thing—it looks different here on Callisto. The bark of this tree will help reduce the fever,” Al’Kara said.

Thank you, Al’Kara, Rick thought to the Golgoro as she faded. He realized when he stepped from the overhanging shelf that he was close to a small copse of those strange willow trees, and he was thankful. He did not think about Al’Kara as he sought the small copse of trees, or when he took his boot knife out to scrape off a section of bark. He threw himself into his work, preparing the bark as best he could. This he could do. There was a small bit of memory that Al’Kara had imparted to him. It had to do with crushing up the bark and boiling it, then dripping the resulting liquid into Bors’s mouth. He followed the instructions that had been drilled into him about willow bark.

Once that was done, he sat back and watched Bors. The larger man’s chest rose and fell unsteadily. The bandages were cleaned as best he could, using some of his own uniform to help create new ones. He did not like being this helpless.

One thing he did not do was dwell on what Al’Kara had said while she was talking to him. He had to worry about that later. Get Bors back to a bit of health, get him to the village, cross the bridge about Al’Kara being in league with the witch later.

It was a long night of little rest and more worry.