Soulbonder

Chapter 34 - In the Mud (1)

The dragon flew beyond the city outskirts and up into the mountains. They were lost in the clouds for a long time.

As they delved downward, through the thick mist that clung to the peaks, Shale saw that the surfaces of the Eradashi Mountains were wet and swampy. Drek's wing strokes began to slow as he weakened and quickly, they descended toward a lake of mud.

"He's going down," Ezil yelled.

"We have to jump," Tershar said.

Waking from her shock-induced stasis, Shale followed the lead of her friend and pushed herself off the side. She plummeted straight down and struck the murky waters. The thick folds of mud swallowed her into a cold, biting oblivion.

She felt the reverberations as her companions hit the water too, then a powerful sixth that must've come from the dragon. The force of it sent her spinning so fast that when she settled, she lost all concept of which way was up. The same darkness persisted in every direction.

Panic set in and she kicked her legs, going toward one direction, but to no avail. She tried another, then touched the hard ground. After that, she spun and swam in the opposite direction.

When her head broke the surface, she took in grateful gulps of sweet, freeing air.

As she observed her surroundings, she saw, at a distance, a large silver raven flying through the sky. It landed primly on the bank at the far south edge of the mud lake.

Shale, who had only ever swum short distances before, in Silverwood Forest, had to summon hidden reserves of strength to make it to the Ravenbonder. When she emerged from the water, her arms and legs were burning. She strode a few steps before collapsing into a mud-splattered heap.

Valera's eyes were fixed to the sky, contemplative. Her jaw tightened with controlled emotion.

Shale began checking her supplies.

Her steel sword was safely sheathed in its scabbard, but the black Magizyra blade she'd procured from Bridgefort was lost. She had also lost all of her iron-tipped arrows and only a single white Magizyra arrow remained, tightly wedged into the material of her quiver.

She considered throwing both her quiver and her bow into the water, in a fit of frustration, when she remembered there was a more important item to be searching for.

Digging into her satchel, she first came upon her book. She had expected it to be ruined, for the ink to be smudged and the pages to be sodden and torn, but was surprised to find it instead in good condition. Some mud had stuck to the pages but came off easily under the rub of her thumb. That was lucky. It must've sealed itself into an air pocket.

Returning to her satchel, she dug in further. Her heart was hammering and her head was bleary with the anxious flurry of thoughts.

Then her hand happened upon something metallic.

When she brought it out and held it in the centre of her palm, the relief washed over her in a warm wave.

The trinket was slathered in mud, but that mattered little compared to the fact that it was still in her possession.

She attempted to clean it with her cloak, but that proved a fruitless task, as her clothing was also coated in mud. Muttering her thanks to the Eleven for keeping it safe, Shale instead began cleaning it with the snowdrifts along the bank.

By the time she had it glistening again, Ezil, Bandor, Tershar, and Karlar had also emerged. Each followed Shale's lead by checking over their own supplies and cleaning themselves with the snow.