On top of her already heavy spear and Seth’s belongings, Seth now added to her pile of water-drenched baggage.

Miraculously, Krea had barely managed to secure a hold onto the rock and with great effort, swung Seth’s items right on top of it. Then, she embedded her spear tip-down into the river bed, leaving one hand free to haul Seth closer to her. She blinked a couple of times at his exposed countenance, making a mental note to remind herself to prod the guy about it later.

With her head now at a comfortable level above the water’s surface, Krea surveyed what had happened back at Valon’s. Unfortunately, it was not a pretty sight.

The drake’s fire had vaporized the ice bridge almost instantaneously (thanks to Valon lack of foresight. Why ice? Why not stone?), and the maiden that had been attempting to cross it in the slowest way possible had been condemned to a swishy, watery fate. 

She disappeared underwater momentarily, before popping up and breaking the surface, followed by splatters and hacking coughs. The currents imposed on her the nasty route which Krea had to take earlier on as well. With each passing moment, the maiden was dragged closer to the warrior and her assassin baggage. Then, Krea had an idea.

“VALON!” She yelled her lungs out. “DO YOU FANCY A SWIM?” 

Struggling to get out of the river would be too much of a hassle with everyone but Valon in wet territorities. They could let the stupid river carry them further downstream where the currents were tamer – a one way ticket to safety. 

And [i]then[/i], they could come back to settle their scores with the drake.