Oaring

Malik had thought he was sore before he started oaring down the Gray Waters. He had thought his muscles ached with the stiffness of standing and being captive. Then he had oared down the waters for a night and found the pain had barely started. Now his arms, forearms, and shoulders throbbed with every movement, but he knew he could not stop. Khris was opposite him, doing the same, but with each stroke they moved slower and slower. Malik was not sure how much longer he could go. 

“Here let me take over for you,” Mollie said, grabbing the oar as Malik pulled it from the water. 

Malik would have protested, but when he tried to lift his arms, they felt like dead weights at his side. Embre was on the other side of the raft, taking the oar from Khris. Khris’ arms were too heavy as well to put up any protest. 

“Get some sleep, both of you,” Mollie demanded. 

Malik thought about arguing and then he thought about sleep. The thoughts of sleep won, and he scooted himself over to the middle of the raft. He looked up into the morning sun as it peaked out across the water’s horizon. They would not reach land for some time, but Malik was simply happy to be away from the boat and from the prospects of being handed over to the Tempre on the other side. 

Malik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He did not remember falling asleep. He was so tired he just closed his eyes and drifted off. 

When he woke up, his body hurt worse than it had ever hurt before. He tried to move, but with every movement it felt like someone had kicked him all over the body. He could have sworn each of his muscles had bruised from a physical beating. It took him several minutes to motivate himself to a seated position. There, he wished he had never moved. 

Mollie and Embre no longer rowed. The oars sat on the raft beside them. 

“How far did you guys make it?” Malik asked. 

Mollie looked down at the oar. 

“Not very far,” she said with a shrug. “I rowed for a few hours, but I am not used to rowing. Embre couldn’t keep the oar going for more than a few minutes at a time. It is not her fault; it is just that she was not expected to do much training in her village.” 

Malik looked out around his surroundings. The water’s surface was such a deep blue in the light it looked rather gray. Only the occasional ripples provided any color. Malik knew just under the surface the waters teemed with life. Fish, amphibians, plants, and who knew what else lived just below them. Their lives normal until the raft floated over them, disturbing everything they had ever known. Malik felt like a raft had floated over his own life. He had been a simple bard a mere few weeks ago. Then a roar from a monster changed it all in an instant. Now he chased his oldest friend, and a relic said to contain the souls of the Saints. Malik had absolutely no idea what he was doing and had no idea how to achieve it. Like the fish and the other water life, he would just have to keep moving. 

“The current has helped a little, I think,” Mollie added. 

Malik noticed the current pulled them gently in the direction they needed to go. At this pace, they would be on the water for days, and without food and drink they would surely die just like those who had jumped into the water the night before. 

“Did you grab any supplies?” Malik asked Khris. 

Khris stretched his own aches and pains from his muscles. With a groan he said, “I did not think about that.” 

Malik was not sure how someone forgot the essentials of survival. There was no water, no food, and now there would be no way to survive. 

“We have to row, or we will just float to our death. We could probably do without food, but water may be a problem,” Malik said. 

“We are floating on water,” Embre answered. 

Malik looked down to the surface again. The sun’s rays bounced back at him, creating an almost mirrorlike surface. 

“This water will not be kind to our stomachs unless we have something to boil it clean. I have never drunk from a stream without cleaning the water first,” Malik said. 

Abrie had always instilled the need to be clean. He could hear him saying, “If you are dirty then you won’t be around to worry.” Malik had no intention of coming through all of this just to die from foul water. 

“I have never drunk from a body of water either, but what could really be the worst thing to happen?” Mollie asked. 

Malik shrugged. “Abrie claims that your insides will revolt and send everything you have ever known through your pooper,” Malik said. 

Mollie’s face contorted. “I suppose that we don’t want that.” 

Malik laughed. “No, I don’t suppose we do.” 

The others joined in at the thought. It was a serious situation, but the thought of them all dying from diarrhea was a little humorous. Maybe it was the scorching sun, or the delirium from lack of sleep, but they all laughed for a few minutes. Just floating down the Gray Waters to who knew where and laughing like madmen. 

Malik reached up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The sun rose to its afternoon peak. He supposed they had been on the water for almost a day and a half, but the slow floating of the raft would not account for much ground covered. 

“We will have to take shorter shift and row until we get to land. I took a raft once with Abrie, after we did a play in Gray Waters, and it took around four days. Those men were fit and used to rowing. We are lucky and got a full day on a boat, but none of us really know how to row. We have the current so maybe that will help, but it will still be hard going.” 

Malik left out the part that he did not know if they would make it. His body was so sore he doubted he could row for ten minutes; let alone the hours they would need him for. When the raft finally hit shore somewhere, he supposed the only one left alive would be Egg. He wondered if there would even be evidence there were four others on the raft. He tried not to think of that right now. 

“Hand me the oar,” he said, lifting his arm with shots of pain greeting him. 

“How long will you even be able to row for?” Mollie asked. 

Malik knew the answer was not very long. He was not lying to himself. “I will go as long as I am needed,” he lied to Mollie. 

“What if we used the sun to boil the water?” Khris asked. He had been quietly cupping water into his hands and inspecting it. Malik watched him as Khris let another handful pass across his outstretched fingers. 

“How would we do that?” Embre asked. 

Khris sat back up, drying his hands on his shirt. “I think we can use our shirts to catch the water, we just need something to put it in,” Khris said, looking around the raft. 

The raft was flat, there were no hidden compartments, and there was nothing sitting out waiting to be filled with water

“I don’t think we can magically make a can,” Malik said. There was that old irritation with Khris. 

Khris looked dejected, as he came to the same conclusion there was nothing with them. 

“I messed up,” he said. 

“You saved us,” Mollie reminded him. 

“Just to let you die on a raft,” Khris said. 

“I don’t want to die, but if I had the choice, it would be to die out here in the open and not in confinement. We have hope out here,” Mollie answered back. 

Malik wished he felt as confident as Mollie. He agreed he did not want to die, but where they died mattered extraordinarily little if the results were the same. 

“Let’s just row and find land,” he urged them again. 

Malik heard a splash, and he turned over his shoulder to look at the water. He half expected a giant fish, mouth gapping, to be behind him. Instead, it was just Egg deciding to take a mid-morning swim. 

“Egg get back on the raft!” Mollie said, reaching out a hand to help the creature. 

Egg was not interested in getting back on the raft. He swam around them twice and then used his feet to latch onto the wood. Malik did not understand what Egg was doing, but without warning, the raft picked up speed. Egg used his arms as oars and swam through the water without apparent struggle. They may as well have had sails and oar men, as Egg paddled through the water like a sea creature. 

“He is pulling us,” Khris said, speaking the obvious out loud. 

Malik watched on in amazement. “How long do you think he can manage this?” Malik asked Mollie. 

Mollie shrugged. Just because Egg had attached to her like an infant, did not mean she knew anything more about him than Malik. Malik turned back to Egg, who showed no signs of slowing down. Malik looked at the oar and thought about trying to help, but at this speed, there would be no way Malik could keep up for more than a stroke or two. 

“I guess we just see how long he takes to wear down,” Malik said. 

No one else had anything to add or argue about. Malik fell into a kind of lull, watching Egg’s arms move up and down. It was mesmerizing to see the efficiency of the small creature. Malik thought about how recently he would have left the monster behind. Now Egg was invaluable. Malik still feared him, deep down. There was still no proof it would not someday eat them, but for now it helped. Maybe Malik was not the best judge of character. 

“Thank you,” Malik said, turning toward Khris. 

“Huh?” Khris said, looking up out of his own mesmerized daze. 

Malik did not want to say it again, but he swallowed his pride. “I just want to say thank you for getting us out of there.” 

Khris looked just as shocked as Malik felt. “I wouldn’t leave you guys to die,” Khris said. 

Malik had not been so sure of that. Khris’ father was part of the Tempre, and he had killed many people, if Malum could be trusted. Then again, it was Malum, and there was no way to know if he told the truth. 

“Still, all the same I am glad you were around to help,” Malik said. 

Khris let a genuine smile come across his face. Malik wondered if Khris had ever had a friend or someone to associate with. Vee, the tavern keeper, was the closest Malik had seen anyone come, and even she would not stop a mob from killing them. 

Malik turned back toward Egg and watched his steady pace. There were worse things in the world, not many, but there were still worse. 

Throughout the rest of the day the group talked of food, their homes, and places they would love to see. It was a cheerful conversation, filled with laughter and joy. It brought Malik’s mind to a better place. A place where he did not think of the screaming pain in his muscles, or the pang of hunger in his belly. He talked of food and drink, but the conversation kept him from merely droning on it. Thinking of Abrie was hard but telling stories of his and Abrie’s travels eased the pain. It was a simpler time he longed for and Abrie had given him that simple life. Malik had never noticed how much he took it for granted until now. Abrie had kept him fed, hydrated, sheltered, and free from worry. He never even fully squashed his dreams of fighting the Tempre. Abrie just expertly guided him in the wrong direction. He owed the man more than he could ever repay. That made his travels now easier. He was heading toward a higher purpose and he just had to keep going. Sometime around sunset Egg slowed down, but he had been going for so long and so quickly Malik was sure they were close to land. That night, when Malik curled up on the floating raft for sleep, he felt better⎯even with the pain⎯than he had felt in an exceedingly long time. When Malik woke up to the roars of Egg’s mother, he knew the short lived peace was gone.