Chapter 8 · Tamer of the Ash Wilds - Chapter 8: The Dead Man's Name

Lin woke up to Crunch wheezing.

Not the usual rasping snore. This was thin, reedy, like air through a crack. He rolled off the cot and hit the floor on his knees, hands already reaching. Crunch's chest rose and fell too fast, shallow pulls that didn't fill the lungs. The grey fur along its ribs was damp.

"Hey." Lin pressed two fingers under the jaw. Pulse too quick. "Hey, you're fine."

Crunch's eyes cracked open, glassy and unfocused. One paw twitched. The claws scraped concrete.

Lin grabbed the water tin and tipped it against Crunch's mouth. Most of it ran off. Crunch coughed, a wet sound, and turned its head away.

"Damn it." Lin set the tin down and pulled Crunch's eyelid back. Bloodshot. Pupils uneven. He'd seen this before, back in the lab. Inflammation, probably respiratory. Maybe infection from the fight. The bone-plated thing had cracked two of Crunch's ribs before it went down, and Lin had been too busy burning the debt contract to check if anything punctured.

Stupid. He should've checked.

He stood and looked around the room. The cot, the tin, his jacket. Nothing else.