The first thing Renn asked when they returned was whether anyone could drink from the cistern.
"No," Sela replied.
Renn took the answer without moving. Around them, the settlement was settling into the afternoon. A woman was folding damp cloth outside her doorway, and Daren's youngest brother had covered the vegetable beds with more woven mats. The work continued because nobody knew what else to do.
"Then tell me what you accomplished," Renn said.
They gathered beneath the common shelter, where the remaining sealed jars stood in the shade. Sela described the broken arch, the grey flesh growing between its stones, and the narrow spillway they had opened. Daren showed the rope burn across his chest and admitted that the creature had nearly dragged him into the outlet.
"You went close enough to let it catch you?" Renn demanded.
"I went close enough to retrieve my tools," Daren said. "There's a difference, though I'll grant it wasn't a clever one."
