by Allan Joyal
We broke the surface, and I let out a gasp. With my head free, I risked adding my right arm to the efforts to pull Shaylin to the surface. I moment later I was rewarded with a sickly sounding cough as I held Shaylin out of the water.
I had Shaylin, but Cimbra had also fallen. I looked around to see that she was still using her arms to fight against the water’s pull. Her efforts had kept her close to Shaylin. I transferred Shaylin to my right arm and reached out with my left. Cimbra grabbed my arm and nearly pulled me under in her panic. She clawed my arm as she brought her body next to mine.
At this point I realized I had a problem. My right arm was holding Shaylin up and my left was wrapped around Cimbra. I could use my legs to keep afloat, but I could already feel the cold and fatigue creeping into the muscles. We needed to get out of the water soon.
I kicked a little harder to get my head up for a moment. “Cimbra,” I gasped. “I need you to hold me around my waist, not my neck. I think I can get us to shore, but I have to be able to breathe.”
I felt Cimbra’s hands move. She kept her right hand on my right shoulder, but her left moved down to wrap around my stomach. I noticed that she continued to kick, but it felt ineffective. With each passing second the threat of being dragged to our deaths increased. I looked around trying to come up with a way to avoid that fate.
The first thing I decided was that I needed an arm free. I kicked a little harder trying to raise Cimbra and Shaylin above the water so they could hear me. “Shay! I need you to release my neck and then slide around me to cling to Cimbra. I need my hand free so I can take us to shore. Please, don’t speak; just try to move into Cimbra’s arms.”
Shaylin reached out with her right arm and put it on Cimbra’s shoulder. For a moment we were in an awkward three-way hug as we continued to float downstream with the current. With Shaylin making the move to free my arm I took a look around. We were safe only for a moment. Hitting a rock could break my fragile hold on either woman, and there was no sign that we would find another shallow spot to rest. I was facing downstream so I looked to my right, hoping we could return to the same side of the river as when the girls fell in.
We were in a section that was relatively calm. The current was swift, but I saw few white spots that might hide a submerged rock. Shaylin was still climbing across my chest as I looked at the right shore. My hopes for an easy rescue by the rest of our group were dashed when I saw the shore was lined by a clay face that rose high above the waters.
I turned my head around to scan the left shore. At first I despaired as the same clay walls rose up, but as I turned my head back to the front I could see that a section of the wall had collapsed and slid into the flow of water.
Shaylin was now holding onto Cimbra. “Hang on!” I sputtered as I rolled so my right side was deeper in the water. I stretched out my right arm and began clawing through the water, aiming for the far shore.
I had to turn so I faced upstream so I could not see the slope. Frantic that we might miss the opportunity to climb from our death ride, I kicked harder as I awkwardly swam towards the shore. The waters were now splashing against us.
One wave pushed me down. I swallowed a mouthful of water. I could hear the screams of Shaylin and Cimbra as I used my legs to thrust my body back to the surface of the water. At the same time my strength was failing. I was considering pushing them forward and hoping they could reach land. Before I could act on this thought, my hand crashed into something.
For a moment my mind froze, but then I realized that my right leg was scraping on rocks and gravel. I twisted my ankle and managed to get my foot into the riverbed. A roar escaped my throat as I heaved my body and with a kick of my right leg threw Cimbra and Shaylin onto the riverbank. Then I crawled out of the water and rolled onto my back.
I lay on the bank, just trying to catch my breath. Once I had to turn my head to the side as I coughed up some water. I was rolling onto my back, when I heard screaming over the roar of the stream. I pushed my elbows into the soil and sat up. Across the stream I could see several of my friends waving. My right arm was leaden, but I raised it up enough to acknowledge their shouts before falling back against the soil.
The shouts increased in volume. I could not make out individual words over the roar of the raging water, but I roused myself and sat up. My chest was wracked with pain as I desperately tried to draw breath, but I looked up and across the river. My friends were pointing to my right. When I turned I could see Shaylin and Cimbra laying motionless on the ground.
Cimbra’s hood had fallen off her head and her white hair lay against her skull. I tried to roll and touch her and could see her hands moving. She coughed a couple of times and then groaned. She appeared to be breathing slowly so I crawled past her to check on Shaylin.
The young enchantress lay on her stomach. She had turned her head so that she could breathe, and once again I could just hear her wheeze over the sound of the torrent. I put a hand on her shoulder and bent down. “Shay, we are safe.”
“Go away, I want to sleep,” She moaned.
“No sleeping,” I said. “That water was cold, and I can’t let you sleep. First, sit up. Cimbra, you should sit up as well.”
Shaylin moaned, but rolled onto her back and using her elbows managed to raise her head about eighteen inches above the ground. Her lips were a little blue, and I could tell she was shivering. Her sodden blouse was plastered to her body as she looked up. “What am I looking for?” she asked.
“Look across the stream,” I said as Cimbra sat up. The dark elven woman did not appear as distressed by the cold. Instead she looked at me with a wild-eyed look as Shaylin gazed across the stream.
“That’s Gertrilla!” Shaylin said. “And I see Oleiana! But they are on that side of the river!”
Shaylin tried to stand up. She stumbled toward the water, and I had to grab her before she fell in. “Careful! The cold has left you unsteady on your feet. Don’t try to rush. We’re going to have to walk upstream and find the ford.”
“But you swam!” Shaylin protested.
“Shay, that water is cold. The cold does bad things to your body. And even if I could swim you across, we can’t climb that clay face, it would just crumble, and we’d end up back in the water. We’ll have to walk. Cimbra, can you stand?” I finished.
I stood up to help Shaylin steady herself. She was shivering visibly as I held her from rushing back into the water. Across the stream I could see that Gertrilla and Oleiana were jumping up and down holding hands. Lydia was standing behind them, holding a crossbow. I waved and then pointed upstream.
Lydia waved back and then nodded. She reached out to put a hand on Gertrilla’s shoulder. The two young girls each waved and then turned to start walking upstream on the far side of the river.
I looked over to find that Cimbra was standing. She had left her hood down, and for the first time stood confidently as the sun bore down on her white hair and grey skin. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“I won't let anyone die,” I said. “But for now, we have to get back to camp. Let’s start walking.”
I started to climb up the rather steep clay slope. My cold hands struggled to grip the clay, and my wet clothing dragged me back on every step. Shaylin was beside me, using my body to support her as we made our way up the slope.
Chapter 22: Complications
By the time we reached the plateau, Shaylin was visibly shivering and her face looked a little blue. She stood up for just a moment and then started to collapse.
I grabbed her falling body. Her skin was cold to the touch. “Damn,” I said. “She’s too cold. We need to get her warmed up fast.”
“I’ll make it,” Shaylin said. The fatigue in her voice made it clear her words were a lie. I had caught her as she fell. Her head lolled to the side, coming to a rest against my chest. I picked her up and looked at Cimbra.
The dark elf smiled. “I can keep going,” she said. She sounded tired, but her words were firm. “The caves are alway
s a bit cold.”
I nodded. “We need to hurry. I’d take her clothes off, but without a way to dry and warm her, it would do little good.”
Cimbra nodded as I turned and started to walk upriver. “I understand. I wish I knew a spell to warm her.”
“I’ve learned so much from you already,” Shaylin said sleepily. “You taught me the spell to throw a glow around something. You even showed me that light spell that you use. I just haven’t mastered it yet.”
“You will,” Cimbra said. There was a surprising amount of pride in her voice. “If the stories are true, you already know more spells than any woman born since the fall of the empire.”
“I’ll work harder,” Shaylin said. “I’ll study the books my father gave me. I’m sure there are some better spells in there.”
Cimbra nodded and put a hand on Shaylin’s head. “You will, I promise you. I’ll help you every step of the way.”
The route we were taking was flat enough that I was able to move quickly. My already sore chest kept me from jogging, but I walked as fast as I could. Shaylin was trying to stay awake in my arms. She looked up at me.
“You do so much. How did you save us?” she asked.
“My swim instructors would have failed me for what I did. I just dove in when I saw the cliff collapse. I barely remembered enough to carry you to shore,” I admitted.
“You had an instructor for swimming?” Shaylin asked.
“We do a lot more swimming in our homeland. It’s considered good exercise. Many parents take their children to special instructors who will show some of the better methods of moving around in water,” I said.
“But you said your instructors would have failed you,” Shaylin pointed out.
“I did many things wrong. I dove in with my boots on. I had no backup. I also tried to rescue both of you at once. All of those are things I should not have done,” I said.
“But you would have failed to save us had you not done what you did,” Cimbra pointed out.
“I know,” I said. “And the fact that I rescued both of you is a great reward. Our group needs you.”
“No,” Cimbra said. “You could survive without me.”
“Who has helped teach Shaylin to use magic? Who keeps watch at dusk and dawn?” I asked. “As I remember you do that and more. If fact, weren’t you trying to get water for the animals when you ended up in the river?”
Shaylin giggled. “She’s even shown all of us girls a few tricks to protect ourselves. Cimbra knows some really neat tricks you can do with a hairpin.”
“A hairpin?” I asked thinking of some kind of small pin.
Cimbra reached into her hair and pulled out something that looked more like a knitting needle. She smiled as my jaw dropped. “You can do a lot to cool the ardor of a man with one of these,” she said calmly.
“Did you bring spares?” was all I could think to say. Cimbra and Shaylin started to giggle. Shaylin had her right arm over my shoulder, but reached up with her left and pulled out her own needle.
Shaylin giggled again. “Joelia got them for all of us. She even brought some back for Haydee and Jesame, but they don’t have theirs yet. She’s shown us how to use them to hold our hair up.”
I nodded. “That is actually quite nice. And I didn’t get her anything.”
Cimbra snorted. “You gave her a way to escape a forced marriage without her father being blamed and ruined.”
It was my turn to snort. “She would have found a way,” I replied.
“Ron,” Shaylin said. “I’m cold.”
“I know,” I said. “We need to get you out of your wet clothing and warm you up with some soup. I’m getting you back to the camp where we’ll have what you need.”
“How much farther?” Shaylin complained.
I looked across the river. To my surprise we were passing the campsite. I could see several of our friends waving. I turned Shaylin so she could see the camp. She gave a languid wave. Her heartbeat was weak and her head had once again fallen against my chest.
“I hope the ford isn’t too far,” I muttered.
I looked up hoping to see the ford. Cimbra looked with me and gasped as Krysbain and Al ran up. Both men were soaked to their knees. Al was ahead and he raced to me.
“You have to be almost frozen,” he said to me. “Just walking across the ford was enough to make me shiver.”
“I haven’t have time to think about it. But Shaylin is suffering. We need to get her warmed up,” I said.
“We can cross at the ford,” Krysbain said. “Cimbra?”
The hunter was looking at the dark elf woman with a shocked expression on his face. Cimbra looked back without fear.
“What is the surprise?” Shaylin asked. “We never hid where she come from.”
“It’s just. I never really got a good look at her,” Krysbain said. “I’ve seen only a few elves in my lifetime. They hide in their forests. And what little we know about dark elves…..”
“We care little for humans, and in the underworld dark elves have a deservedly poor reputation,” Cimbra said. “I’m sure most of the stories that do reach a town like Saraloncto are terrible.”
“A town?” Krysbain said. “Saraloncto is a city! It’s one of the largest on Jord.”
Cimbra shook her head. “I guess I grew up believing different. The place I grew up in was a small crèche. Still it had more than one hundred children, and the city I grew up in had at least fifty different crèches.”
I tried to do the math as Al carefully took Shaylin from my arms. Al took off jogging. Shaylin protested weakly at the bouncing, but then fell back to sleep.
“I’m worried for Shaylin,” I said as Al turned and started down a wide slope. I glanced down and could see many animal tracks in the soil.
Krysbain noticed my inspection of the ground. “That’s how I figured out this is a ford. It looks like many animals use it.”
Al was racing across the ford. I noticed that he was keeping his steps small and pushing through the waves to avoid splashing. I watched him cross and then looked at Krysbain. “You’re right; we should be able to cross tomorrow. But we’ll need to take it slowly. This will be a first for everyone, and we definitely will need to have something setup to make sure we don’t lose any animals.”
“The carts and wagons are tall enough that they should keep anything they carry dry,” Krysbain said. “We might have to carry the two puppies over, but the other animals should be able to cross without too much help.”
“Thank you again,” I said. “Your scouting is helping us a great deal.”
“I didn’t see that the cliff would collapse,” Krysbain said. “And then I didn’t even think to attempt a rescue. You made it work.”
“I get by with a little help from my friends,” I replied. “Let’s get back to camp. I’d like to get out of these cold wet clothes and eat some warm stew or soup.”
Krysbain nodded. “I think Kariy was already working to heat something, but I’ll run over and make sure she knows you will be there shortly.”
Krysbain rushed ahead. He tromped across the ford, raising his knees and splashing water about as he crossed the fifteen or so feet of water. I shivered for a moment and then turned to look at Cimbra. “Shall we cross?”
Cimbra put a hand on my shoulder. “Ron, I owe you my life.”
“I would have saved any of our group,” I replied. “Let’s not speak about owing lives. I didn’t free you just so you would become my slave.”
“Ron, I never said much about how I was raised,” Cimbra challenged. She stopped at the edge of the stream. I turned back and looked at her.
“I’d like to cross. We can talk on the other side,” I said calmly.
Cimbra nodded, but I noticed a resolute look in her eyes. “Ron, it won’t change how I feel. I owe you my life. Twice. You rescued me from the slavers, when my life and freedom were gone. I would have died in days if they sold me to a brothel as they planned.”
“It was
the right thing to do,” I said as I turned around and started crossing the ford. The flowing water was cold. My legs immediately started to feel heavy as I worked my way across. I looked back to see Cimbra gliding as she strode through the water. It was a movement filled with a grace she had never displayed before.
Cimbra noticed my surprise and smiled seductively at me. “You do notice,” she said.
“I think any man would,” I said. “But I’m puzzled as to why you can do that and say you wouldn’t have lasted in a brothel.”
“No man has ever touched me that way,” Cimbra said. “My original training was in seduction. My family was going to arrange a marriage to a scion of another family. If that worked, I was expected to enslave the man and slowly drain him of life while ruining the family I married into.”
I winced. “Nice people your parents. Obviously that did not happen.”
Cimbra frowned as we left the water and started the up the gentle slope leading to the plains. “True. When I was still too young to understand what was happening, there was a war between several families. It ravaged the city and by the time the last stones had fallen, my family had been forced to surrender to another. At least, when the priests came for me they used that as an excuse for what was to happen.”
I paused and looked at Cimbra. There were unshed tears glistening in the eyes of the woman who had always seemed so stoic. “Cimbra? What kind of priests?”
“How much do you know about dark elves?” she asked me.
“They don’t even exist in my home world, except in story and legend. The one story I can think of says that they were formerly regular elves but left the surface world to live underground. Supposedly they turned to evil and now hate all who walk upon the surface,” I said.
Cimbra nodded. “That matches the stories we tell, only ours say that the other elves turned on us and forced us to live underground. Many try to make it sound like our home is better than the surface, but the only way we survived at the start was to find powerful spirits to help us. I know that some believe we worship these spirits as gods, but the reality is that we serve the spirits as supplicants who fear them turning on us again.”
