Ella turned a deeper shade of red.
"Just watch out for me. See that branch there, the long one? Keep that ready in case I have to come back."
"Yes, yes."
Ella looked meaningfully at Layla, hoping she’d made her point. Then, before she could think too much about it, she turned, diving head first into the water.
It was icy cold, straight from its source below the hills. Ella popped to the surface of the river, gasping with the sharpness of it. The current was already pushing her downstream, away from the waterfalls above. She’d neglected to mention to Layla to keep up with her as she was pushed down the river. She hoped the healer was quick.
With heavy labouring strokes she pushed herself through the river, thankful for all of the time spent swimming in the Sarsen. This was nothing like the Sarsen though; this was like a wild young buck compared to the sedate old man that was the great river of her homeland. She was pushed one way and then the other, tossed around like a piece of wood. She tried to keep an eye on the bank ahead of her, it seemed terribly far away. She couldn’t help but glance back to see how far she’d come.
Ella realised she would never make it.
She heard a voice yelling, it must have been Layla. Her hair floating in a cloud around her head, Ella tried to turn in the river. It was like trying to push against a stone wall. The current was speeding up, taking her with it. She gave up on her overhead stroke, instead trying for a simple paddle. Her body slowly swung around, she could now come to terms with her position.
The water was beginning to get rough, peaks and troughs forming in permanent waves. Ella suddenly realised there must be rocks under the surface. In panic, she looked further downstream, cursing herself for not scouting downriver before diving in.
The tips of jagged rocks protruded above the surface of the water, sharp enough to slice her open from head to toe.
Layla was running down the bank, shouting and pointing at the rocks. The healer held grimly onto the stick, desperately looking for an opportunity to hand it out. Ella realised she needed to slow down to give Layla an opportunity to get ahead of her, further down the bank, and hold out the piece of wood.
Summoning strength she didn’t know she possessed, she fought against the current in an attempt to bring herself closer to the bank and give Layla the chance she needed.
Then she saw it.
The bank ended in a wall of stone, the river flowing past it into a canyon, sheer cliffs above and rapids below. Layla stood at the very limit, pressed against the rock wall, holding the branch out as far as she could.
Ella felt a rock under her foot, sharp and painful as she kicked it. Her body was thrown down into a trough and then up again, water splashing into her mouth. She spluttered and coughed as the water entered her lungs. She could hear Layla shouting.
With a final effort, she kicked out at the ground, her feet finding the riverbed for a heartbeat. She threw her arm out.
And caught hold of the branch, holding it in a grip of death. Layla struggled on the bank, her face bright red with exertion as she tried to hold Ella’s weight against the current. Ella kicked out again, lunging towards the shore. With one hand clutching the branch and the other reaching out, she finally caught hold of the bank, dragging her naked body out of the raging river.
She fell onto her back, catching her breath, realising how close she’d come to drowning. All because she hadn’t taken the time to run down the riverbank and see what lay ahead.
"So stupid," Ella whispered to herself. "So stupid."
She passed out.
~
ELLA woke to a warm liquid being poured down her throat, redolent with the taste of herbs and some type of fungus. She coughed and sat up. She had a terrible headache.
"What in the Skylord’s name are you giving me?"
"It’s an elixir. You took water from the river into your lungs. It is probably fine but you need to take some herbs just in case."
"In case of what? What are you talking about?"
"In case bad spirits in the water affect your lungs and you grow sick, especially in your weakened state."
Ella was utterly exhausted. She was still naked, two blankets covering her. It had grown dark.
"Bad spirits in water?" she muttered, but her headache was starting to clear. "Thank you, Layla."
The healer just grunted.
"Can I have my dress?"
"Here you go. I brought everything up here. I thought you said you could swim the river?"
Ella was growing to know Layla enough now to understand her strange sense of humour. She still didn’t find it funny though.
"I said I would try. I tried, and I failed."
"Please don’t be angry."
"I’m not angry," Ella took a deep breath. "I’m just frustrated. I’m not sure what to do next."
"When we don’t know what to do, we pray to the Eternal."