Kael didn't feel legendary.
He felt like a man whose muscles had been wrung out like cloth, and whose bones were still buzzing from impact. Legends didn't shiver when they stopped running. Legends didn't need to swallow bile and pretend they weren't about to collapse.
The old man pulled one of the waterskins and handed it to Kael.
Kael took it with a shaking hand and didn't even bother with caution.
He doused it immediately, without hesitation.
Water hit his tongue and it was the best thing he'd tasted in days. Cool, clean enough, and gone too fast. He swallowed like his throat was a drain and his stomach was a cracked basin. He didn't savor. He couldn't. His body was in a screaming deficit, and the only answer was more.
He took two more breaths, "More." Kael said.
It came out sharper this time, like the word was a weapon he was using to keep himself from blacking out.
"That's… that's all you get, that's your ration, I'm not giving you another one."
