They all climbed out of the carriage and saw what the servant had meant. The storm that had passed through dropped so much rain in this area that the entire bridge had washed out. The flood waters were still raging, preventing the caravan from moving forward.

The young lord was looking visibly upset at the situation. He threw his hands up and said, “now we’ll never get there. This is getting more ridiculous by the day, father.”

Iratoi’s eyes cut toward her companions. Kaden could only assume she was thinking the same thing. What else had been ridiculous? Had he meant their arrival or was there something more that had happened? The young lord stomped off and they could hear him yelling at the various servants who got in his way.

Zuma walked up behind him, scaring the servants who were near. He wasn’t sure how they had been following the caravan, but was glad to see that they were around. The Lord walked back toward them with a frustrated look on his face.

“Normally I would not request such a thing, as this is not something you four should have to bother yourselves with but,” he said as he bowed his head toward them, “I request your assistance in stopping the water until our caravan can pass.”

They looked at one another in confusion. Eloise looked over at the raging waters and said, “you want us to stop a literal flood?”

He nodded and said, “I normally would try to do something of this nature on my own but, I don’t think I alone would be powerful enough to stop, as you said, the flood waters.”

Iratoi pursed her lips in thought. “The apprentice won’t be able to assist in such a matter. He doesn’t know the finer details that would be needed for such a task, but… I think we can do it.”

Jaxtor’s jaw dropped, “even the most powerful water mage can’t stop a flood. This is insane.”

“Yes,” Iratoi nodded in agreement, “but we’re not stopping it, not forever. And there are several of us working in tandem. We should be able to hold it long enough for the carriages to pass.”

“You’re the boss,” he said while shaking his head in disagreement.

Eloise added, “surely ourselves, the lord, and his son should be able to stop it for —”

“My son cannot help us,” the Lord interjected.

“Is he not a user as well? I’m sorry, I just assumed with him being your son and all…”

The subject seemed to irritate him, and Kaden had a feeling Eloise knew it would. He didn’t know the inner workings of how all the nobles worked, but he had heard that many noble families had multiple generations of magic users. His son was around Kaden’s age. Nobles often introduced their children to matriarchs much earlier than the lower classes, as they could afford it.

For his son to not yet be blessed, and from the behavior they had already seen, it didn’t seem as if his son would ever be blessed. This had to have been a sore spot for Lord Loratyk. He wouldn’t have thought of that, but Eloise apparently had.

“We four will have to do it then,” added Iratoi. “Please advise your men. The quicker we can get them across, the less strain we will have.”

Lord Loratyk agreed and went to tell his men about the plan. Iratoi let out a breath she was holding as he walked away. Turning back toward them, she shook her head and said, “this is incredibly stupid to do, but we should be able to hold the flood waters for a little bit.”

“Has anyone picked up on anything?” asked Jaxtor.

Eloise motioned toward where the son was in the distance, yelling at some handmaiden who was traveling with them. “He’s totally a disappointment to his father.”

“Yeah, that was pretty obvious,” added Kaden, trying to participate despite being incredibly out of his depth.

Jaxtor shook his head and said, “the thing is you don’t have to be a magic user to create runes. They use the magic in the world. A magic user can amplify them, but he could have set the traps.”

“What need would either of them have for capturing dragons?” asked Kaden.

“Maybe,” Iratoi rolled the thought around before fully vocalizing it, “maybe the son is trying to get a power he’s so far been denied?”

Eloise let out an audible hum before saying, “that’s a possibility. Does he think that any dragon will be able to give him a blessing because if so, he’s incredibly wrong. A dragon the size of Zuma can’t bless anyone.”

Kaden’s mind went back to the cave where it felt as if Zuma’s power helped heal the two of them on the platform, not anyone else’s. They probably didn’t know the extent of what a dragon could or couldn’t do.

“So if we just position ourselves along the banks,” Iratoi said more loudly as she noticed the Lord coming back toward them.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have informed the men of the plan. They will group up as closely as possible and try to get us across as quick as they can.”

“That’ll have to do, my lord.” Iratoi pointed to the bank that looked the most clear on both sides. “I think if we position ourselves over there, that will be the best spot to push the water. As it subsides, we’ll circle down into the creek-bed to hold it. Once the carriages and horses are past, we’ll then fold ourselves back up to the other side.”

“That sounds like a decent plan,” he nodded while placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “No wonder they put you in charge, Lady Cronley.”

She looked like she cringed when he used her surname. It sounded familiar to Kaden, but he couldn’t place why. Maybe she had told him it at one point already. It didn’t take them long to get into a formation. She instructed him to ensure the crowd got through the creek-bed. That was his task. He didn’t feel like he really needed to do it.

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He wished he could be there to help them, but he knew nothing about holding water in place or moving it around at all. Kaden knew he would just be in the way if that were the case. Ensuring that everyone was through safely would have to do. At least it made him feel useful.

Kaden watched as his companions took up their positions as he sat atop Zuma to get a better view. Jaxtor bounced as he shook out his arms, readying himself to tackle the task. Eloise shook out her shoulders while Iratoi just stood there, focusing.

She said something to them and all four of their hands lifted up. He watched as the waters slowed, no longer raging. Slowly, it started to build up and push back, forming a large wall. The water pooled back and forth, climbing higher into the air. Before him, the path started to open.

Shouting at the caravan, he made sure they wasted no time. The water subsided enough that there was only a small amount trickling through. It was extremely muddy, though, and he knew it could become a problem. The first carriage started to bumble through. The horses and people slipped across the mud, but they were crossing.

He looked back to his companions to see the water was growing to a massive size. He hadn’t realized how much water had been flowing through the creek, now river. They all looked strained with their hands in the air. They were stepping their way into the creek-bed itself.

His attention was brought back to the caravan as he noticed one of the carriages getting stuck in the mud. The wheels were spinning, but no movement was being made. He instructed Zuma to use her massive weight to push. It didn’t take long before the carriage got some traction and dislodged from the muck.

This happened again with another carriage. He was working on pushing it out when he heard a shout from his companions. His head whipped over to see the wall of water had grown to an incredible height. People around him started sprinting through the mud. Panic was rising as it loomed over them.

Eloise was on the far end now and it was her voice that had let out the yell. The water must be getting harder to hold the more it grew. He had to get the people across. The stuck carriage was the last one in the mud. Everyone else was climbing out and moving back away from the creek, getting distance between themselves and the massive wall of water that was growing every second.

He felt a lunge and a whinny from the horses in front. Next thing he knew, they were running away. The handler atop the carriage was screaming, they had broken loose, nothing was pulling the carriage. Inside, Anders was screaming his head off.

They weren’t going to be moving if they didn’t have any horses to do so. Pulling Zuma in front of the carriage, Kaden got to work trying to strap them in place instead. They would pull it out. It was the only option.

His companions were having to fold back in, the water now seeping through. They were unable to control it entirely. Water started pooling in around his feet as he worked on attaching the straps. The rush of water and Ander’s screaming was not helping the situation as he tried to focus.

Getting the last one attached, he instructed Zuma to pull. They used all their strength, but the mud was sucking them in, holding them steadfast. He tried his best to force his energy, his will into Zuma to help them move.

His companions had moved in closer, being pushed together while trying to hold the water. Jaxtor had broken off and was attempting to push the carriage from behind. He could hear Eloise screaming as if she was in pain.

Lord Loratyk shouted something to them that Kaden couldn’t make out. Next thing he knew, Eloise was on the side of the carriage, pushing it through the mud as well. They were using some of their increased strength from the magic and finally; the carriage was moving a few inches.

A loud slurping pop echoed across the creek-bed and they were freed. They lurched, and the carriage came out of the mud. Zuma was running, pulling it with them as they came out the other side. Eloise and Jaxtor had grabbed on, taking the ride out.

He swung his head around to look at Iratoi and Lord Loratyk as they slowly were taking their own steps out of the water, the massive wall of water splashing over head. Kaden heard his voice again and Iratoi climbed out of the creek, leaving only the Lord to hold the water.

Kaden was impressed.

Lord Loratyk was struggling an incredible amount, but he was holding back the flood water as he took his steps out. Once back on the grass, Iratoi turned around and went back to trying to hold the water. She was a distance away, but it was giving the Lord the respite he needed to get himself out of the creek-bed.

The water splashed behind them, filling on the other side of the bank. The Lord had a similar bubble of protection around himself that Kaden had used to survive the storm as the water crashed overtop. It swallowed him whole. His heart pounded as he worried they had just witnessed the death of one of the king’s lords.

The water bulged and tore through the area as it crashed. He could hear Eloise screaming as she ran, sloshing through the ever-increasing torrent in an attempt to try to keep the water from swallowing Iratoi. It was rushing up and over the banks, soaking the surrounding forest. The Lord was still not seen.

Kaden watched with bated breath as Iratoi and Eloise stood firmly, water sloshing around them. Jaxtor was behind the carriage, pushing the water that was rushing toward them back, keeping it from the rest of the weary caravan. They had held so much water back that when it was released, it was flooding the area all over again.

The caravan in front of them rushed further down the path, attempting to get away from the waters. Kaden looked back to see an orb of water rising from the river. It floated slowly toward Iratoi and Eloise, who had their own curved barrier. The water thinned enough around that he saw the Lord's hands briefly before it was covered again.

The orb of water was the Lord. He was walking through the flood waters slowly. Reaching Iratoi and Eloise, he joined them and the three of them slowly stepped back toward the caravan. The water splashing off their barriers and away, keeping them from being swept under.

Eventually they reached Jaxtor, and the Lord climbed onto the carriage, dropping his hands in exhaustion. Eloise yelled at Kaden and Zuma to pull them away from the water that had reached them. The carriage lurched through as they climbed out of it and reached the rest of the caravan with a wet crunch.

Climbing down off the carriage when they were safe, he scrambled to join his companions. The Lord was bent over while panting. Iratoi was leaning her back against the carriage, using it for support as she tried to catch her own breath. He watched as her feet slid down and she fell to the ground, letting every deep breath fill her lungs.

The ordeal obviously took a lot out of them. They were all visibly exhausted and extremely tired. They stopped a flood long enough to get their people across safely. Nature was a dangerous beast and they briefly tamed her. The carriage with the Lord's son inside would have been lost if Zuma had not been there..

Kaden had been thoroughly impressed with the Lord’s powers. He didn’t know he was so powerful that he alone could stop the flood waters for a time. There was a reason he was allowed to rule over an entire swath of the kingdom in the name of the King. It made him question what they could even do to the man if he was trapping dragons.

Jaxtor had his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. The carriage door opened abruptly and nearly knocked him over.

Anders casually walked out and said, “that was a disaster. You all need to work on your skills. I could have died.”

All five of them shot dirty looks at him before his father said between breaths, “you fool. You could have ran when your carriage got stuck. Instead you nearly got us all killed.”

“And get my shoes dirty?”

His father found his strength once more and stood suddenly. Anders’ eyes widened, and he slunk back into the carriage, closing the door behind him.

“That boy is a damn fool,” the lord said before he slunk back down. Still exhausted from the ordeal. “He is an utter embarrassment and I have no idea how he ended up that way.”

Kaden didn’t know if it was entirely appropriate for the Lord to be saying this to four random water mages, but he was. He just started letting out all his anger.

“He was instantly rejected by a matriarch as a child and he won’t let me forget it. I tried to raise him with the Guardians’ principals and it never set in. Somehow it is my fault he’s not worthy. How is it my fault?”

They shared awkward looks to one another as they saw the Lord break down in front of them.