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“I have an idea,” I said. “Wait here.”
We had walked upstream from the crash site, following the curved tail of the dragao lake. If there was one thing in our favor, it was the tide.
With Zoei watching my every move, I strode into the periphery of the forest, listening to the hum of the trees. Each one had its unique sound—the older buttress trees held a deep, sonorous voice, almost like vibrations in the wet ground beneath. Due to their advanced years, their density would make them unsuitable as floating devices in the gentle water, especially with our added weight.
Instead, I needed a mid-tier log, something that was lightweight enough to float above the water yet hold both our combined weights without sinking.
I let my fingers travel over each tree that lined the bank, listening to their voices converge in a beautiful melody.
Near the edge of the river stood an old buttress, almost black with age. Its lifesong was quiet, almost a dull staccato. As I neared it, I realized it had been hollowed out in places, perhaps by an animal in search of shelter. Between every few inches, a large hole had been dug in its bark, making it seem almost diseased.
I touched my hand to its side, trying to read its aura. It was almost lifeless.
“Just pick one already.”
Zoei’s voice made me jump. She stood close, merely a few feet away, watching me with a mix of curiosity and impatience.
“Hush,” I said, placing my ear against the wood. “I thought I told you to wait by the river.”
“I got bored,” came the irascible reply. “And you looked like you needed help.”
I shook my head.
“The tree is very old,” I explained. “It shouldn’t be difficult to get it out of the ground.”
“Looks like it’s been hollowed out,” she commented. “It should float better.”
I glanced back at her. “How did you know what I’d planned?”
“As much as you’d like to insult my intelligence, I’m not quite as thick as you’d like to believe. I can put clues together.”
I knelt by the base of the tree, murmuring a few words of thanks to the old buttress. It was weakest here, the wood crumbling away from the trunk. I set my fingers against the brittle bark, and gathered my powers in a big, gusty inhale.
A snap echoed through the forest, silencing the hum of the other trees surrounding it. I positioned myself away from the river and pushed the broken trunk towards the shallow bank. It fell with little resistance, branches breaking every which way.
“Felt blasphemous,” I murmured under my breath. “All life should be cherished.”
Zoei said nothing in response.
The soil under us was soft and malleable, and I manipulated it into little wave-like movements to push the fallen trunk fully into the water. It bobbed shallowly, the smaller branches caught in the riverbed.
“Step aside,” Zoei said, coming up behind me with a noticeable limp.
She snapped her fingers and a thin beam of fire severed the top of the tree like the pointed tip of a laser, leaving behind a dark, hollowed-out floating log.
I splashed deeper into the water and held it steady, gesturing for Zoei to get on. She shook her head.
“Your weight will act as a balance for mine,” she explained. “Get on first. Pull it closer to the bank so it’s easier.”
As I navigated the heavy log, Zoei collected a few larger branches from the severed tree and tucked it under her arm.
It took more awkward tries than I cared to admit, but soon, we were off.
“How’s the thigh?” I asked as Zoei used one of the branches to push us away from the bank.
“Fine,” she replied, staring straight ahead.
“Zoei, I can tell you’re bleeding.”
