TKC 24
Both men hold the boat Damin, Mirlin and I clamber into. The
raging water threatens to sweep it away and us along with it. We bounce as if
we are to overturn. When they release it, we are swept into the darkness.
How those two will manage alone with the second boat, I have
no idea. All sight of them is lost within moments.
We hold on. There is some light from above and in its
shadows I realise Damin dares not even touch the oars. The water is insane
under us. The rushing noise is overwhelming. I begin to wonder if the lower
city exists at all now. How many bodies will we discover churning in this
morass?
There are points of light, however, ahead in the darkness.
Lanterns lit for night. Those on high ground summon the less fortunate to
haven.
Our boat grinds over something below and our swift progress
finally slows.
“Walkway!” Damin bellows. He reaches for the oars and starts
digging into the water.
Soon he is the one determining direction, not the current.
The fear closing my throat subsides somewhat and I am able to breathe.
Mirlin lights his lantern again. I swallow convulsively when
I realise we are rowing through a sea of bodies.
“You highborn can’t stomach reality,” Mirlin growls at me.
Instantly I desire to throw him overboard, to join the dead.
How dare he?
“Quiet, Mirlin,” Damin snarls. He is about to say more, when
a desperate shout arrests him. It has all our attention, in fact. Damin swings
the boat.
Clinging to a tree we discover a woman and two children. Damin
bumps against the tree and snags a lower branch. Hazardous as it, swiftly we
have them with us. The little girl cries uncontrollably. Her mother draws her
close.
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