When Given a Lemon

Part 18

Denyel silently placed his hand on the bark of a nearby tree as if communicating with it through touch.

We all stopped our discussion to watch him, unsure what to expect from our wordless companion, but nothing happened. After a moment or so, he merely looked back with a determined expression. Whatever the real purpose of his movements, he never enlightened us. Instead, he headed off after pointing an arm in that direction.

I don't see anything but layers upon layers of old trees that way, snow unbroken by foot prints, shadows beneath the heavy limbs. Not having any better ideas to refute him with, we one by one followed after.

Slicing through the thinner branches and ducking under the thicker ones, I did my best to open up the path for them. We eventually stepped out into another clearing. A wide stream flowed up ahead of us. Possibly the same one we had earlier wanted to cross, though safe from the flying spheres out this far. The surrounding foliage was painted in browns, yellow-greens and dark blues; drab in contrast to the flow passing just beyond our feet.

This water was free of ice, moving downstream uninterrupted except for the occasional stone that added ripples to the current flowing over and around it.

“Can we cross this?” Saiya asked without conviction, poking a twig through its surface. “I can't see the bottom.”

“Why is it so milky looking?” I asked, knowing it was probably a stupid question but I'm not from a mountainous area so I had never learned what might cause water to look like this. Not only was it opaque, but a soft, bright blue-green as if under a color changing spell or made from gemstone. Or mixed with luminescent milk.

“It means a glacier feeds it.” Bill provided.

“Oh. That makes sense.” I don't know what or who a glacier is, but I now know what it does; turns the water into liquid emeralds.

I tentatively dipped my toe in, fascinated by such a lovely occurrence. Realizing afterward that dipping my toe in could have been dangerous. Not knowing what a glacier was, how was I supposed to know if it was dangerous or not? Luckily the toe of my boot didn't seem out of sorts. “Hey, Bill, can you drink this?” Bill ignored me.

I soon had my answer about whether it was dangerous to touch though.

Poking her stick around a bit inside the current before going in herself, we waited a few steps before we followed Saiya carefully across, trying our best to step only where she stepped. I almost lost my footing twice, but managed to stay mostly upright thanks to my flailing arms… until I reached the other bank where I immediately tripped over a very visible stone and ate sand. Literally.

I'm amazed that's all that happened. Wading through streams you can't see the bottom of is harder than it sounds. I could never be sure of my footing or the depth of each step, even when following her lead, meaning there was always the chance that I might end up underwater, tumbling down stream somewhere, never to be found again.

Once we had all reached the safety of the dry bank, I scrubbed my mouth out the best I could, repeatedly, and even tried gargling some of the emerald water, but no matter what I did I could still taste and feel the crunch and discomfort of sand between my teeth and gums. It was truly annoying.

I ambled behind as we stepped further from the bank, distracted with the gritty texture I couldn't expel from my mouth, only taking the lead when Denyel needed me to cut through something particularly dense with my blade. I made sure to make short work of every offending branch that I was sent to deal with. It left me a little sweaty and breathless, but I don't mind the work. It has been one of the few things that I’ve been able to do to provide me a sense of usefulness since arriving on this forsaken mountain.