We end up having to break in the middle of the ride so that Lucas can lie down and recover a bit, and so that we can sleep a bit and try to ease the headache Lucas is developing. We can't afford to blindly ride ahead when we're too exhausted to think straight.
Given how much trauma Lucas' body has endured over the past few days, that goes double for him.
I won't be getting anywhere if I have to carry him over my shoulder across the countryside.
I'm not happy about sleeping outside with him. It's nowhere near as secure as sleeping in an inn. It's also not good for his injuries.
As a cherry on top of all that, because of his injuries I can't have him taking watch at night, and because I need to be alert to protect him in the morning, I can't just take an all-night watch.
Still, without the tracker I can at least use my skills to find us somewhere hidden. There's a small mountain range we're riding alongside on the way to Ardmore.
