"I could not find dead trees, I had to find live ones," said Layla.
It wasn’t as good but it would have to do, and the trees were the right size.
"What are you going to do?" Layla said.
"The cultivators of Vezna use their lore on trees and plants," said Ella. She took the vial of essence from a pocket in her dress. "The problem is, because lore can not be used on living things, the essence inevitably kills the trees."
She carefully dipped the scrill in essence and touched it to the skin of the first tree. She then moved along the trees, touching a tiny amount of black liquid to each tree in turn.
"Is something supposed to happen?" Layla said.
Ella took Layla’s hand and led her to the first tree she had touched. "Watch," she said.
It took some time for there to be any noticeable effect. Then Ella pointed at the leaves of the tree. They had turned a darker shade of green, sickly veins sprouting along them. Some of the leaves began to curl slightly.
"It will take quite a while longer, I should think. We’ll return after a meal and see how they are going."
They periodically checked on the saplings as they prepared themselves for the river. By the evening the trees had lost their leaves completely and the branches were now like skeletons, as dry as bone. Ella still wasn’t happy, and the trees were still not ready when they went to sleep. She cursed every moment they were delayed.
~
IN the early hours of the morning Ella was woken by a series of mighty thumps. At first she shot up, fearful and suddenly wide-awake. The sun was just beginning to rise. The morning air was still and cool.
"Good, you are awake," Layla said, standing at the edge of the camp. "The trees, I think they are ready for us to make them into a raft."
The saplings had fallen down under their own weight. Their bark was dry and hard, they were completely dead.
Ella set to work with the hunting knife, which she had enchanted to cut through wood like butter.
"Tu-mah," Ella spoke the activation rune. The knife lit with a satisfying glow.
She first trimmed the branches and roots, then took off the remaining knobs and points, until she was left with twenty fairly straight lengths of wood.
One by one they took the logs to the riverbank. Layla knew some strong knots, and the logs were soon tied in a row, one to the other. Ella then made some quick rune sequences on the joints to give them added strength.
Ella looked at Layla, taking a slow breath. They regarded the raft.
It was simple — just a platform of logs, really — but it looked strong, and with Ella’s added enchantments she thought it would serve their purpose. There was enough space for the two girls, their possessions and little else.
"I think we’re ready," said Ella.
"I think we may have missed something," said Layla.
Ella looked over the raft. She checked each joint, each connection. "What?"
Layla reached over to where she had something tucked away, something made of wood.
"I made these," she said. She withdrew two carved paddles.
"Oh," said Ella. How could she have forgotten paddles! She had grown up on the river! "Well done, Layla."
Layla just smiled.
They were ready.
~
ONE of their main problems was that the current wanted to carry the raft off before they were ready. They pulled the raft to the shore, with half of it in the water and the other half on the bank. The river pushed at the wooden logs, pooling in places, running up through the spaces in between. Ella quickly put her satchel over her shoulder, Layla already had hers.
"You go first," Ella said.
Layla jumped onto the raft. Her weight made the raft sink onto the bank.
Ella pushed. The raft moved only slightly. She pushed harder. It began to move, faster as the river caught it. She quickly gave it a big push and then jumped on. For a second her extra weight slowed the motion of the raft. Then suddenly they were in the river. They were away.
The first of the hazards to negotiate were the jagged rocks that had almost caught Ella previously. They paddled furiously. The raft tended to plunge into the water at the front so the girls tried to keep their weight on the back, Ella paddling on the right side and Layla paddling on the left.
There was a sudden horrible scratching sound as they went over a rock. Ella held her breath. Fortunately the raft stayed strong.
They headed straight for a huge sharp stone the size of a man. Ella paddled furiously to turn them to the left. Then she realised Layla was doing the same, cancelling out her own strokes.
"Paddle backward!" she yelled.
Layla just looked at her blankly. Ella had no choice, she began to paddle backward. They turned to the right. Too late. The raft smashed against the side of the rock, scraping against it. Layla was nearly knocked off the raft. Ella reached for her, the raft tilting dangerously until Layla regained her position.