Emberwatch

The fire flickered and died, the embers still glowing slightly in the dark. Nothing much else happened on the camp site and all that could be heard were the sounds of night-time in the dense forest around it. Only one person was still awake, but the figure just sat silently, slowly breathing in the cold air. The area was safe enough for the travellers not to worry about dangerous animals, so the darkness was not unwelcome. The early autumn days were followed by cold nights, so all four of them had wrapped themselves up in blankets before all but one of them went to sleep. They still had a long road ahead of them in order to rejoin some semblance of civilisation, which meant they could not risk exhaustion, especially not when their youngest was injured…