Chapter 30 Leila #2
Leila wasn’t sure how many hours had passed once She rounded the hillside.
The sight below sent Her weak—a rocky riverbed with clear waters stretching far into the distance.
God’s River was nothing like the sandy shores of the Atabi, similar only in its vastness and beauty.
Smooth stones littered the channel, and pearly ice floated atop the water’s surface.
It was hard to imagine such a serene sight destroying lives and sucking them down below.
Halla hoisted a monstrosity from the river’s shore—a meager raft fashioned with logs and twine. She propped her foot atop it. “All aboard.”
Leila glanced between the raft, then Halla, then the raft again. She’d expected the worst, but the pathetic sight before Her had somehow surpassed it, a sham She couldn’t have predicted. She opened Her mouth to speak but couldn’t form the words. Halla’s raft wasn’t a vessel—it was a tomb.
Raphael stepped forward, incredulity written across his face. “Is this a joke?”
“Am I laughing?” Halla said.
Fear and fury dueled in Leila’s belly, but then Tobias flashed before Her eyes, silencing the storm. She marched toward the raft, and the others reluctantly followed.
“Take only what you can carry,” Halla instructed. “There’s no room for cargo, plus the raft can only hold so much weight.”
“You couldn’t have told us that sooner?” Raphael said.
Halla shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”
The four of them looked at their multiple satchels filled with food, linens, weapons, and more.
Enzo was already liberally armed, but he quickly began strapping additional weapons to his person while Raphael stuffed a map into his tunic, and Hylas pocketed olives.
Two satchels of dried meats and lentils hung from Leila’s shoulder, and She dropped them to the ground.
They would receive rations at the citadel, if they reached the citadel at all.
“God’s River is just a few miles across,” Halla said.
“It’s a quick journey, but with the rapids, it’ll feel like centuries.
” Her eyes panned between the four of them.
“If you care for your life, you will hang on until your palms bleed. If at any point you think the waters are calming, you’re wrong. ”
Leila’s stomach turned, but She steeled Herself.
Hylas shook against the chill, and Raphael set a hard, questioning stare on Leila, pleading with Her through his gaze alone.
The only person who seemed unfazed was Enzo, who scratched his balls through his pants as if the threat of death was trivial.
Leila resolved to channel his apathy and offered a definitive nod.
“All right then.” Halla cocked her head at the raft. “Move along.”
“That’s it?” Raphael said. “No instruction? No guidance?”
“You paid for a seat on my raft. Not for me to hold your hand.”
Raphael shot another pointed look Leila’s way, and She returned it tenfold. “Best not waste any time then, yes?”
She marched toward the raft with Her head high, though the churning of Her gut threatened to send Her retching.
“Sit on your knees. Gives you greater stability.” Halla tossed one of the two oars Enzo’s way. “You’re rowing with me. The rest of you”—she gestured toward the rope loops atop the logs—“grab onto those.”
Leila swallowed Her sickness and did as she was instructed.
She took a wobbly seat on the raft, the lining of Her cloak already saturated with icy cold water.
Their conditions would only get worse, and She tried to retain dignity as Hylas and Raphael took their place beside Her.
Halla and Enzo were the last to board, taking spots on opposite sides of the raft, oars in hand.
Halla pressed her oar against the rocky shoreline, ready to start their journey, then stopped short.
Her small, penetrating eyes were set on Leila.
Leila tensed. She recognized that look. Her hood hung low over Her head and Her shawl concealed all but Her eyes, but She couldn’t hide Her skin completely.
Thank God for the heavy clouds above; they’d dim Her glow if She were to reveal Herself fully, but they certainly wouldn’t eliminate it.
Leila sat up straighter and glared. “What?”
Halla eyed Her for a moment longer, her gaze dancing over Leila’s starkly pale hands. Without a word, she pushed their raft free from the shore, launching them into God’s River.
They drifted across the water, gliding over waves and bumping against boulders.
The ice-cold water sloshed between the logs, soaking Leila’s hands and legs, Her teeth chattering seconds into their journey.
Halla barked orders at Enzo as they steered their faulty vessel, avoiding jagged rocks and low hanging boughs from the nearby shore.
If their entire journey were to remain the same, Leila would manage.
Of course, there was no possibility of that happening.
God’s River didn’t garner its reputation for no reason.
White foam rippled along the waters ahead, and Leila’s throat sealed shut when the roar of waves grew louder. Soon, their raft was soaring across the river, swift like a throwing spear. Leila’s fingers trembled, and She wasn’t sure if it was the cold or fear making Her body quake.
Stilling her oar, Halla barked over the noise, “Hold steady!”
Hylas and Raphael wasted no time wrapping their wrists in the rope and gripping tight.
Leila did the same, heart pounding. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, eyes trained on their destination—hell in the form of surging torrents crashing together like rolling thunder.
Their raft dove straight into the rapids, sending water spraying across the logs, and Leila swallowed a scream as their raft rode atop a wave and shot high into the air.
Their raft landed in the river with a splash, drenching Leila and the others.
Hylas sucked in anxious breaths while Raphael closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, bracing himself against the onslaught.
Halla shouted orders over the chaos, but Leila could hardly make out her words.
The waves pummeled them, an onslaught that threatened to pull Her free from the vessel and swallow Her whole.
Their raft slammed against something hard—a boulder splitting the waves—and Leila lurched to the side, falling against the logs.
Her wrist screamed, rubbed raw by the rope, but She wrangled Her strength and righted Herself.
The howls of the waves clawed at Her ears, and She resisted the urge to join in their wailing.
Water sloshed over the raft, pelting Leila’s face.
How much farther did they have? She could’ve sworn She’d been traveling the river for a thousand lifetimes.
Halla’s mouth was wide with a roar, but Leila had stopped trying to decipher her orders.
Another torrent gushed over the raft, knocking Leila like a battering ram and throwing Her neck back.
She cried out in pain, river water sputtering from Her lips.
As she blinked the droplets from Her eyelashes, the path ahead became clearer, brighter, even. Her gut lurched.
Her hood had fallen, and She was glowing.
Halla paddled against the current, hair drenched and skin glistening. She turned to the others, shouting more unheard orders, until her eyes fell on Leila, and she froze.
“What the—?”
Halla’s eyes fluttered closed as she fainted, and she tumbled from the raft, vanishing beneath the waves.
Leila screamed, but no sound came out, or perhaps She simply couldn’t hear it amid the waves.
Raphael took Halla’s place, fumbling frantically for the oar but missing it by a whisper, helpless as it cracked against the rocks and floated away.
Fuck. They’d lost their guide, they’d lost an oar, and Leila was beginning to lose Her sanity.
Maybe Halla would survive, but Her hope died as their raft was once again launched into the air, sending all four of them reeling.
They landed against the water with a hard smack, and Leila’s jaw slammed shut, pain lancing through Her skull.
“Tretsya!” Enzo pointed across the river. “There!”
Leila strained to see through the chaos. A white speck was barely visible in the distance.
Land.
She freed a wrist from the rope and brushed Her wet locks from Her eyes. Yes, She could see it—a patch of greyish snow, far away but very real. Something akin to a laugh bubbled in Her throat, Her emotions teetering between terror and joy. Their suffering would be over.
Their raft hurled against a wave, and Leila rolled to Her side, crashing into the river below.
Leila gulped and gasped, Her mouth above water, then below.
She was bobbing at the side of the raft, one wrist still caught in the rope.
The vessel dragged Her through the river, the icy sting like needles piercing Her flesh.
She flailed Her one free arm, grasping for the raft, for a rock, for something.
A meaty hand grabbed Hers, and Her heart seized.
Enzo hoisted Her from the waters and flung Her onto the raft.
Leila toppled against the logs, choking and hacking. Aches and pangs racked Her body, but She was alive, saved by a man with no duty to Her. He hoisted Her to Her knees, wrapping the rope thrice around Her bloodied wrists. Thank you. She opened Her mouth to speak it aloud.
And then Enzo was gone, sucked away into the river.
Leila screamed his name, scrambling to free Herself, but Raphael stilled Her hand.
Damn him. She shoved him aside, searching the river for Enzo.
There. He was splashing and flailing, fighting to grab onto a boulder, but the waves soon pulled him beneath the surface.
She spun toward Hylas only to be met with the back of his head as he dove into the river.
“Hylas!”