"So hot," Sparrow murmured. "I worked through the hottest hours of the day each summer at the farm, and never did it get anything like this."
"Quit whinin'," Neddryn snapped in reply. It was actually the first time the squire had spoken up during their daylong hike, but the akor’mar was already cranky. His sight hadn't improved after their rest, and the others had had to escort him up and down every slope, guide him around any obstacle taller than his knees, and once, to Neddryn's chagrin, hold his hand as they negotiated their way across a narrow bridge spanning over lava. He felt like a doddering old man, and it ticked him off.
“Were you always this cranky, before your resurrection?” said Sparrow, her tone dry.
“What’s it matter ta you?”
“It matters…”
They walked in silence for a few long minutes. Neddryn kept waiting for Sparrow to finish her thought, but she didn’t. “Well?”