[Way Out of Milliways: Just a Little Further]

It's been - well, she's slept a few times since the last fight, and the wound still hasn't healed. Hasn't even started. The torn strips of her shirt and pants Mel's been dressing it with have soaked through to saturation, but nothing resembling a clot has begun to form. That bastard demon must have had something in his venom.

Running down her right shoulder to the swell of her breast, she can only think how lucky she is that no major organs or blood vessels were affected. The only thing she has to deal with is the throbbing pain - and considering the number of times she's broken a bone, torn a ligament or otherwise come out the worse for wear in the time here, it's not that bad - and the light-headedness that's steadily getting worse. She's so tired now, and her head throbs worse than her shoulder sometimes. The last of the water and meat she was carrying around has gone, and she still feels weaker than she can remember.

But she's nearly home now. The place of power is just over that hill. Which is a good thing really: Mel doesn't know how long she can go on. But she doesn't need to go on much further, just a little more...

Now if only her brother would stop looking at her like that.