Heavy Going in the Outer Tenge

Astra rose. Her legs felt heavy, but they were not stiff and she could at least walk. She was counting on the heavy feeling to go away, or else she and Hesht would not get very far before dusk. The trees and brush on the other side of the river were thin and widely scattered. This part of the Tenge was bare white dirt, white mud, grey and white rock, dimpled with small pools of water left over from the rain. Shallow ditches wrinkled the land, although none were especially deep. These ditches were bad in that they the slowed progress of Astra and Hesht toward the first cache, and presumably stored supplies, but they were good in that these ditches hid the travelers from passers by. Astra noticed none of those in this barren land, however.

Hesht had taken the lead. He had picked up the trail that he described earlier. Astra was glad that she did not have to rely on doing this alone, despite his instructions, as she had missed several of the landmarks that Hesht saw. As the sun dropped below the horizon, and the stars came out,

1. their legs were back to normal, and they had reached the first cache.
2. the heavy feeling persisted, and they were hungry, and out in the open.

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