The first bit of the sun started to flare over the sea. Charavan emerged from a bush nearby with a cluster of coconuts in his mouth. He crawled over the sand to us with his enormous body.

"Your mount had been weeping his crocodile tears since you were gone," Sovannmacha told me. "I asked him to fetch a drink for you. Steady now, you must be thirsty."

I realized the thirst was burning through my body as she helped me to sit up again. My muscle grew wobbly and weak. I probably had been unconscious for hours.

Charavan dropped the coconuts by my feet. He opened his powerful jaw and...