Into the Land of Valentia

Chapter the Seventeenth

XVII

Travelling started out smoothly the next day, if not silently.

Whether he had forgiven Vivica or not, Garrett couldn't speak in Narrick's presence. Cayden had returned to his pre-elf village self: reserved and generally irritable, with words spoken only when absolutely necessary. Narick, unaware of what was going on but clearly sensing tension, kept quiet for the sake of not crossing any lines. 

Vivica had watched him carve a new notch in his stick the night before. The solemn task had been a heavy reminder of why they were all travelling together in the first place. With that in mind, she had given him her knife—"a loan, until we end the days, and not the other way around"—and resolved to put aside her own issues.

Now, riding with a new lightness in her boot but no change in the weight on her chest, she hoped they reached the River Silver, and then Mirror Lake, sooner rather than later. She hated the idea of any one of them looking down on the lake's glass surface. But anything was better than extending their quest.

She was jarred from her thoughts by a sudden movement in her peripheral vision. Narick had jerked his head to the side.            

"Do you hear that?" There was no mistaking the excitement in Narick's voice. He didn't wait for confirmation before urging Knickers into a gallop and surging ahead.

"Narick?"

It was clear the man wasn't waiting. With the height of the meadow grass, it wouldn't be difficult to lose someone once they gained enough distance. Vivica squeezed Garrett's sides and the pair rushed after Narick.

Almost as an afterthought, Vivica threw an inquisitive "Coming?" over her shoulder. Cayden was already several metres behind. 

She didn't have to go far before she heard what Narick must have been referring to: rushing water. It was a sound that guaranteed no need to worry about thirst, that would lead to their next destination, and most of all could only come from one source. A source that Vivica and Cayden had been searching for since they had first gotten their hands on a faesien flower: the River Silver.

Garrett's pace whipped air into Vivica's face. Stands of her hair that had already escaped her braid flew back and twisted in the wind. At this pace, she was able to keep Narick in her sights. Knickers, for his calm disposition, was a very rapid horse. In efforts to keep up, Garrett accelerated.

Up ahead, Narick's head disappeared. Worried, Vivica urged Garret on. At a high gallop, they broke through the golden meadow grass and plunged into icy waters.

Shocked at the cold, Vivica's hands slipped from the reins. The water reached well above her waist. Garrett was struggling to keep his head up. He trumpeted in panic and water rushed into his mouth. She could see Narick and Knickers a few metres downriver from them, in the same predicament. 

She opened her mouth to call out, either to Narick to see if he was alright or to Cayden to warn him. She only ended up expelling all the air in her lungs when Garrett hurtled forwards and she punched her stomach on the pommel of her saddle. The river's current had them in its grasp, and it wasn't letting them go easily.

Vivica kicked her right foot free of its stirrup. If she could get off Garrett's back, the loss of weight might make it easier for the stallion to make it back to solid ground. Then she could swim over herself. 

Garrett must have sensed her plan, or been thinking along the same lines. He began to twist his body in the direction they had come from at the same time as Vivica began to pull her other foot from her stirrup. 

The movement threw her off balance. That, combined with the odd position she was in to shake off the stirrup in the first place. The current came at her full force. She was thrown from the saddle while her left foot remained trapped in the stirrup.