Page 20 of The Arcane God

“Well first of all, I’m obviously stronger than you,” Turner said, smiling teasingly, and Ty rolled his eyes. “But second of all, your life is much more valuable than mine at the moment. You’re about to be a father, and you’re the heir. So yes…I’m definitely going first. If any of us is going to die, it’s going to be me, okay?”

Turner spoke flippantly, as if his death meant nothing to him, but Ty knew it belied his true feelings. He was doing this out of love—for him, and for Ena. The man was the most loyal person he knew, and unfortunately, he knew from experience that that meant there would be no talking him out of this.

“Alright, if you say so,” Ty agreed reluctantly, though he didn’t like it one bit. This had been his idea, after all.

“Good,” Turner said, nodding his head with finality. “Glad my tone brooked no more arguments. You got anything to say, Ena?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at her, daring her to stop him.

Ena was staring at the rushing river, and Ty knew her fears of water and being swept away must be making her incredibly nervous right now. “Just don’t die,” she said simply, her brow furrowing with concern as she finally looked at Turner.

“Alrighty then,” Turner said. Turning away from them, he proceeded to take off his coat and put it in his horse’s pack, which would hopefully be elevated above the water. Then he rolled up his pant legs as high as they would go.

Taking a few deep breaths, he walked out onto the brief sand bar that led into the water. The moving river had melted the snow there, so you could see the river bottom clearly as it sloped into the freezing-cold depths.

Taking a cautious step into the water, Turner sucked in a painful breath. “Fucking Iblis, that’s cold!” he exclaimed. “We’ll need to start a fire on the other side to dry out.”

“Good thing you’re going first then,” Ty said, trying to keep his tone light as his stomach tightened.

Turner entered the water with both feet now as he led his horse by the reins behind him. When it came time for the horse to step into the water, he resisted, bucking his head backwards.

“Shh, shh,” Turner spoke to it. “You’ve got it, we’ve got it. It’s okay, see?” he added, demonstrating to the horse that the river bottom was steady as he took several more steps into it.

The water dropped off as the next few steps he took led him deeper, so the water came up to his thighs. The water was rushing around him as he crab-walked sideways facing upriver, arm outstretched to hold his horse’s reins.

“I can see deer tracks here on the bank,” Ena said nervously as they both watched him. “That means other animals have crossed here, which is a good sign.”

“Good,” Ty said, trying to sound reassuring. “He’s doing fine.”

Ena nodded in hesitant agreement as they both watched Turner like hawks as he and his horse made their way cautiously across.

He was at the middle of the river now, ostensibly the deepest and swiftest part, and he hesitated for a second. You could tell the water was pushing on him, trying to pull him along with it, but after a second, he adjusted and kept moving, slow and steady. After another few minutes, he was finally close to the other side where another sandbank waited like a mirror for them to exit.

Stepping clear of the water, his steady and true horse behind him, Turner raised his arms in triumph and whooped. “See that, motherfuckers?!” he shouted to them from across the river.

Ty couldn’t help but laugh gleefully at his friend’s joy, that ball of nerves in his stomach loosening ever so slightly now that he was across.

He looked to Ena, trying to be as steady as possible. “See?” he asked. “Easy peasy. Now it’s our turn.”

Ena stared at the river, then looked up at him with terror in her eyes. “Ty,” she said, her voice nearly trembling. “I-I don’t know if I can do this. That water is…”

“You can do this, Ena,” he said. “Focus your Knowing on me, and not the river. I’m not too scared, right?”

She nodded reluctantly at him.

“Right, so just hold on to me, and you’ll be fine. I won’t let you get swept away,” he added, a corner of his mouth tugging up.

Did she remember the last time he’d said that to her? When they’d been young and infatuated that summer by the River Wry, and he’d convinced her to go swimming? A river had been the start of their love story, and Ty knew it wouldn’t end it now.

His words seemed to reassure her slightly as she took in a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right,” she said, before shedding her cloak, and tucking her heavy skirts up into her belt. She was wearing skin-tight leather pants underneath as an extra layer, but those she couldn’t easily roll up, so they’d have to dry them out on the other side.

Ty followed suit, readying himself and Ena’s horse Mahnin for the crossing, until they were all standing on the bank, ready to go.

“Just don’t cross your legs,” Ty instructed. “Walk side to side, facing upriver, like Turner did. And if you feel yourself start to stumble, use me and Mahnin to steady you.”

Ena nodded in understanding, her nerves written across her face.

He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he started to get a little concerned as they approached the freezing-cold water. He’d seen how much effort it had taken Turner to cross, and he was a daemon with Iblis-given strength—not to mention significantly more body mass than Ena—but he suppressed it quickly, knowing that Ena was focusing on him.

He linked Ena’s delicate arm in his as he took the first few cautious steps into the water, being sure to stay slightly upriver to her, blocking as much of the water’s energy as he could.