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"Come on." Tavian gestured frantically.
"Hurry the fuck up," Vayne growled. "My boots are getting wet."
The commander’s pissed off tone was exactly what I needed. I gave the water a last shove, forcing it back for just long enough.
Zared finally reached the bank. Tavian leaned down to grab his arm. He grunted and yanked Zared up off the riverbed and onto the bank as the wall evaporated.
One moment it was there, the next it was completely gone. Not even cubes of ice floated on the current. The wall might as well never have existed. The river poured into the gap with a triumphant gush, reclaiming its territory.
I flopped down beside Zared who lay panting in the damp grass.
For the longest time, I couldn't speak. Exhaustion threatened to swamp me like the river almost had.
Finally, I managed to conjure a few words.
"I'm so sorry. None of that was supposed to happen."
"It was kind of incredible," Tavian said. His face was red, like he'd run instead of Zared. "It wouldn't have been incredible if you didn't get out in time."
"You need to run faster," Vayne remarked. He looked down at Zared and gave him a nod. The Vayne equivalent of saying he was relieved he got out alive.
"I'll bear that in mind," Zared panted. He looked up at me with something I'd never seen in his eyes before. Fear. Fear of me and what my magic almost did to him. He could have died because I fucked up.
"I tried to make a bridge, but it wouldn't do what I wanted it to." I didn't know if it was the magic or the river, but both seemed unwilling to comply with what I asked of them. Not exactly like they wouldn't behave, but like they had other ideas. Somehow they thought the wall was better than a bridge.
"At least we got some fish," Tavian said.
"Unfortunately, I don't think we have time to appreciate that fact, or cook them," Ryze said. "The minute that swell hits the bridge, they’re going to know something is up. Chances are they'll come and investigate. If they do, we want to be anywhere but here."
He turned and scanned the area around us. The vegetation was thinner here, with fewer places to hide. Harder for border patrols to remain unseen, but harder for us too.
"Can you keep going?" I asked Zared.
He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm fine. I'd rather not be here when someone comes."
Tavian grinned.
"Not that kind of coming," Zared told him.
"I know, I just thought I'd lighten the moment," Tavian said.
I stood and looked back at the river. It was innocently winding its way through the landscape like nothing ever happened. Ryze was right though, the rush of water would cause a noticeable swell downstream. Big enough to look strange and out of place.
"Why couldn't we hold the wall?" I asked Ryze as I fell into step beside him. "Between both of us, shouldn't it have been easier than that?" That was logic talking, not my very basic knowledge of magic. The more I learnt about that, the more I realised I didn’t have a clue.
"Magic is fickle," he said. "You felt it the minute it decided to stop playing nice. Between that and the natural pressure of the water, we were lucky to hold it together as long as we did. I couldn't have held it by myself. If it was you alone, Zared would be kilometres downstream by now. Which is exactly why magic is dangerous, and why you should practice as much as possible when we get home."
Home. Was that what Lysarial was? I supposed it was as much home as anywhere else right now. The Winter Court capital was more a home to me than the temple had ever been. The home I had before that, the memory was too faded. Tainted by the idea I wasn't wanted there, in spite of the sense of warmth and security whenever I thought back that far.
"Maybe we shouldn't have run across the river bed," Vayne suggested.
"We definitely should have done that," Ryze said with a smile. "How often do we get to do things like that?"
"Things that might get us killed? More often than we should." The army commander gave him a dark look.
"We live a long time, but we still only live once," Ryze retorted. "When did you become such an old stick in the mud?"
"When I found myself running across mud and then standing in front of a potential flood," Vayne said. "If you want to be a fucking idiot, that's up to you, but don't get me killed."
