Deus Ex Machinarium

Brandt observed Anh for quite some time after the tanai fell suspiciously silent. For a good quanter, maybe more, since he last spoke to him the bookkeeper seemed awfully absentminded. He floated like a puppet and stared into the distance without purpose.

-” I. Have a question?” - tanai finally spoke, carefully.

-” Please.”

-” How do you intend to go from here? I mean. We are down to nothing.”

-” I take, you reconsidered your leaving?”

-” Reluctantly.”

-” I have my things. I can hunt for food.” - Brandt was strangely, almost eerily calm - ”I believe you still have a compass.”

Upon hearing this Anh quickly searched through his clothes, it took a split,but there it was, stashed in one of the pockets, along with the sextant and a few lone feathers. He quickly took it out and checked if it functioned properly. It did. Having this familiar device in his hand considerably raised his spirit.

-” I do!” - he yelled in a high-pitched voice and immediately began to play with the device.

-” It is going to be rough. But we have all we need.”

-” How can you be so sure?” - Anh wasn’t hiding his worries - “I see us at a dead end.”

-” An opportunity will present itself.”- Brandt didn’t share his companion’s worries, to the contrary, it all seemed very mundane to him -” One way or another. My minimum goal is to reach whatever is there before the ordos do.”

-” That is … reasonable”

-” I think so as well. Besides, we can always hope they figured we escaped and went home. If that happened, we would be unbothered.”

-” Do you believe that?”

-” No. But I’ve been wrong. Once or twice.”

The tanai ceased playing nonsensically with the compass, and instead put it flat on his palm and began to observe the needle for a few moments. Then, after being satisfied with the result, he raised his hand and pointed in one particular direction.

-” I believe this is our heading towards the place we seek. I also believe it’s best to move out as quickly as possible.” - said Anh sternly.

-” We better”- Brandt nodded. He stood up, stretched a little, and shook his head left and right. Then he went to collect his bags and threw them over his back. He stomped over the fire to take it out and gestured the tanai to lead. Once Anh was in the front, he followed.