John started walking upstream to find a good spot to drink.
"Come on Charrack." He called over his shoulder, when no answer came, he spun around. Charrack lay motionless half in and half out of the darkened pool. John hesitated before deciding Charrack was more important than quenching his thirst.
He rolled Charrack over onto his side, "Come on you stupid lizard wake up, I wasn't paying attention in water survival class so you gotta snap out of it."
John put his hand against the abdomen of his new friend and pushed as hard and as fast as he could, to his surprise Charrack started coughing and sputtering. Red ooze poured out of his mouth and he rolled over onto his stomach.
"I'm not a lizard." He moaned.
John breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you were a gonner."
Charrack chuckled weakly, "I can't die yet, I still haven't payed you back for saving my life."
John shook his head and helped him to his feet. With clean water not too far away they set out again with shaky steps.
When they arrived at a calmer portion of the river they sat down to drink and refill John's canteen. The water was cool and refreshing to their parched throats. John imbibed so much water he was worried his stomach would burst. They sat awhile in silence to get some rest and listen to the peaceful water. After a time, Charrack broke the silence.
"Why do you keep saving me?"
John gave him a quizzical look, "Would you rather I didn't?"
Charrack shook his head, "No, but you didn't have too. I'm an enemy and we fought already, so why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?"
John thought for a moment on how to respond. The first time he figured he would need a bargaining chip for his own life. That reason quickly dissolved once he learned they were on an unsettled world. This last time however was different. Sure John could use his help to survive, but he was another mouth to feed, and he was still injured.
"I don't really know," John admitted, "I guess I rely on you for support. I may not completely trust you, but I don't think either of us could survive without the other."
Charrack nodded slowly, "I will do my best to prove worthy of your trust."
"We should get moving," John said as he rose to his feet, "we are losing daylight and we might want to make some arrows to hunt or protect ourselves with."
Charrack stood up and clutched his ribs. One appeared to have broken during their encounter with the dragon. He stumbled into the brush to find some suitable materials to make arrows and fletching. A rustling sound made him jerk his head up and suck in his breath. The broken rib left a sharp pain in his side with every movement and breath.
John started to wander off back towards the body of the giant "scorpion-crab". Charrack turned back to his task and tried to keep his ears and eyes open for whatever was causing the rustling noise.
John managed to pry open the shell and scoop out a sizable portion of meat. He began to cut it into strips and hang it from his belt. After doing that he began to cut out another chunk. His task was interrupted by a sharp pain in his calf muscle. A scream escaped his lips and he spun around.
A camouflaged lizard, about eight feet in length, was latched onto his right leg. John kicked it's nose with his left foot and it skittered back. It's camouflage was fast acting, making it nearly impossible to see, even as it moved. John's vision began to swirl and he started to sweat profusely. He tumbled to the ground and cut his pants open.
The lizard attempted to latch on once more, but John reacted fast enough to plunge his dagger into the creature's head and kill it. The hide was soft and it's skull brittle, which is why it relied on camouflage and venom to hunt prey. Now the deadly venom was pumping through John's system, turning his veins black.
Charrack came rushing over to see John writhing in pain, clutching his leg. The massive lizard lay lifeless with the knife imbedded in its brain. He wasted no time in examining the wound and attempting to cut off circulation.The pain in John's leg was like a fire, burning it's way up past the knee on it's way to his heart.
"John, listen to me." Charrack grabbed John's hand to calm him down. "I'm going to have to cut your leg off so you don't die."
"No!" John screamed in English, "You are not amputating my leg!"
"The sooner you let me do it, the more of your leg we can save." Charrack grabbed the knife handle as John struggled to keep his grip.
Although Charrack hadn't understood what John said, he knew the man was reluctant to lose his leg. He wrapped the tattered pant leg around John's upper thigh. By now the venom has turned the veins black several inches above his knee cap.
Charrack grabbed the knife and forcefully took it out of John's hand. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
John continued to struggle madly. His heart rate had excelerated, making the venom spread quicker. Now it was almost up to the top of his thigh. Charrack managed to pin him down and began hacking at the mangled leg. It took three heavy swipes but he managed to cut completely through and sever the leg.
John's ceased his struggling and he went completely pale, passing out. Charrack clamped down on the remaining stub, tightening the knot to stem the tide of blood. Out of the severed limb, infected black blood oozed onto the rocks. It had a nauseating effect on Charrack. If his stomach wasn't empty he surely would have vomited it's contents out. He cast the infected limb off the cliff and carried John to their new campsite.
Charrack started a fire to cook some of the meat and hopefully stave off predators. It was going to be a long night....