I think I smiled, it was hard to tell with how sore my jaw felt. “Yeah.” Looking at the vegetation around us I pointed northwest.
“Okay. I better get going in case I decide to make two trips.” Pasha chewed on her nails, still watching me. “Are you sure you'll be okay?”
“Go.” I waved her off. “Thanks for the concern, but if I don't make it back that's a me-problem, not a you-problem. You won't have time to make two trips if you don't head back soon.”
“She's got a point,” Georlan said. “Jeesh though, you sure you'll be able to make it back by yourself?”
“I think so.” I probed my swollen jaw again with a wince. “Just need to take it slow.”
“I'll try to follow the same path I took the first time, if I do make another run,” Pasha promised. “If I see you on it, I'll help you get all the way back before sundown.”
I know I smiled then, a genuine warm smile. “Thanks, Pasha.”
As far as I was concerned, Orin was a sack of shit.
But having Pasha and Georlan also on my team almost made up for it.
Waiting an hour under the shelter of a tree for my headache to fade before heading back tested the limits of my patience. Banana snails, slugs, and worms kept silent company.
My steps were slow and the rainfall that beat down against me didn't make things any easier. Pain, my old friend, took a vacation with me every time I put weight on my bad ankle. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other, determined to make it back.
I clutched my flowers by their root bulbs, careful not to crush them as I traveled.
Lightning and thunder made a symphony of colors and noise as I went. Every step was harder, each fresh stab of pain preventing me from numbing myself to it.
I distracted myself by mentally running through the notes on clouds I could remember. Nimbus, Cumulus, Cirrus...
Inevitably though, my mind returned to the Reformatory, and Nikolach’s approaching release date. He'd be eager to carry out the threat he'd made on my life.
I had no plan for how to deal with him. Being in Voyager training would only protect me for so long, but after I graduated, he'd find me. Maybe I'd get lucky and he'd get locked up again before he could reach me.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that it didn't register immediately when I approached Opae River.
Something visceral sunk in my gut as I saw it.
The low-hanging palm bridges I'd used to cross the first time were submerged. The edges of them were barely visible beneath the raging current, which was rushing with enough speed to carry away a small child. The river itself had swollen outseveral yards from the edges of the riverbed, a quagmire of mud and sandy loam frothing from the flood waters.
Crossing was going to be slippery and incredibly dangerous.
If I lost my footing, there was a good chance the current would drag me under. I was already soaked slick, with a weakened ankle. The wind was strong enough that the possibility of falling was likelier than not. And if that happened, I would need both hands to stabilize myself, or swim. Otherwise, I'd drown.
The river was surging fast enough that trying to swim while holding onto the flowers would shred them to an unrecognizable pulp.
Looking at the flowers in my hands, I didn't remember them being on the list of poisonous plants on Mesmoria, certainly not contact-toxic like Jatropha. Now, I’d have to trust my life to my memory’s accuracy.
Carefully, I put the stem of both flowers between my teeth, locking down despite the ache in my jaw.
Lightning flashed overhead, followed by a deep vibration of thunder.
I took one shivering step forward into the river where it now extended out past even the edge of the bridge. It was freezing, intense enough to shock even through my boots. At least the temperature soothed my ankle a tad. Something hard rushed against me, maybe a rock, but I pressed forward. The water was up to my knees.
Three careful steps later, there was palm wood under my feet. It was worse than the mud, which had squished beneath me and held me more firmly in place. The palm wood was fully soaked through, and slippery as sin. My shoulders and head barely crested above the water as I sucked in careful breaths through my nose.
I took two more steps before I stumbled, nearly falling into the turbulent waters. Balancing myself again with sheer will power, I didn’t waste time steadying myself before rushing forward. I was more than halfway now, I could make it!
Another blinding flash and boom caught me off guard and had me stumbling again, wind cutting into my soaked skin. I pressed forward, focusing as something rough slammed into my waist before being dragged away by the current.
Just a few more steps.
