Joe tried to gauge if the log was gaining on them. In the swirling chaos of the river, he couldn’t be completely certain.

His gut was shouting at him, ‘Yes! Yes, it is!’

His ability to steer, especially without Kaid pushing, was incredibly limited. Every now and then, an underwater branch on the tree would catch on a rock or something, causing the trunk to roll and jerk to one side or the other. Even if Joe could angle them far enough to one side, he did not even know which direction to try to angle for. The deadly vessel skipped to the left and then, a moment later, jumped back over to the right.

The only idea he could think of was to make a jump of his own.

His new talisman couldn’t teleport him anywhere close to the far shore, but sixty feet should get them out of the way of the jagged obstacle chasing them.

Joe reached back and grabbed a good hold on Kaid’s arm. He set his sight on a spot toward the middle of the river and tried to lock on.

Nothing happened.

So far, each time he used the medallion, it was almost like his senses zoomed in on the spot he wanted to go, and the rest of him followed. This time, he could not get that sensation to work. No matter how many times he willed himself and Kaid to move, he could create that link between himself and the space he wanted to go.

When it finally hit him what was going on, Joe sighed.

He couldn’t jump to a spot further into the river because that spot kept changing. It was not like he was targeting a piece of ground or even a tub of water. He was trying to target an area of ever-changing fluid. The swirling section of water he wanted to lock onto was not nearly static enough for him to connect to.

Looking downstream, Joe spotted a boulder that should pass within twenty yards of them in just a few seconds. He quickly wondered what would happen to his momentum when they jumped. When he used the talisman last night while they were fleeing through the forest, it felt like the momentum he had flowed through the teleport. If he were moving, that inertia had been present when they finished the jump.

That meant this time, they would be carrying the speed they had as they surfed past a large wet rock. His gut told him they would just skip right off of the top of the slimy stone and back into the river. Still, it might save them from the oncoming impalement if they could control that crazy dismount.

Joe looked back at the tree and another idea occurred to him. Probably another terrible idea, yet it was one he felt slightly better about than this whole river debacle.

The tree was moving at roughly the same pace as they were. If he aimed at some part of the tree past the deadly corona of broken branches, he might be able to get them both up onto the trunk. He didn’t know for sure if it would work, but if it did, he could get Kaid up out of the icy flow that was killing the small gnome.

Joe quickly scanned the tree as well as he could from his position in the water. If this didn’t work, he’d try for the rapidly approaching stone. He looked for an intersection of two large limbs further down the trunk beyond the top branches.

Between bobbing around in the river, holding Kaid, and the tree’s own movement, this took much longer than he wanted. The boulder option came and went as Joe tried to find some safe spot in range he could lock onto.

Just as he was about to give up and try to locate another river rock, his eyesight snagged for a second at the intersection of the main trunk and one of the bigger limbs.

‘OK. Wish me luck, Hawking.’

While [Luck] is a resource I cannot provide freely, you do have my sincerest hopes for success, Joe. You are an intriguing addition to Illuminaria.

‘I’ll take it.’

Making sure he had a tight grip on the small rogue, Joe found the spot again and stared at it for all he was worth. His vision zeroed into the notch he wanted, yanking them both through space to reach it.

Joe hit hard. It was not a difference in speed but height that was the problem. Both he and Kaid, as well as the tree, were all bobbing up and down in the water. When he appeared, Joe was bobbing up while the log was dipping down. He tried to keep his footing on the slick bark, but it was impossible. His boots skidded off the timber, and Joe cracked his ribs against the hard log. A branch in reach was the only thing that saved them. Joe just managed to latch onto it before they were sucked under the deadly tree.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He had Kaid in one hand, the branch in the other, while the river current was trying to drag both away from him. Luckily, even soaking wet, Kaid weighed less than Mia, Joe’s Polish sheepdog. With a heave, he lifted the gnome up out of the frigid water and wedged him into the junction of the main limb and the trunk, before blast-casting cures.

You have removed the {Shock} affliction from Kaid Ward. Additional impairing conditions remain.

Your skill [Purge] has increased to rank 1.

Aiming for a spot on the trunk, Joe dropped a [Heartfire], hoping it would move with the log. It did.

Your [Heartfire] spell has removed the {Chilled} affliction from yourself and Kaid Ward.

He followed up with two more [Purges], removing {Impaired} and {Slowed}. Each spell needed about four seconds to cast, roughly twice as long as it took to fire off one of his [Healing Touches].

“Joe,” croaked a weary voice. “How did we get into a tree?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. Get yourself into a good spot so I can get out of this arctic river. Come on. Quick, quick, quick.”

“When did you get so bossy?” the sodden gnome groaned.

“Dude, my balls are somewhere up around my diaphragm. Move it, Bud!”

Watching the normally nimble rogue laboriously haul himself along the slippery branches was a bit like watching a drunk trying to unlock a door. Joe knew he needed to get himself up to safety, but he couldn’t look away from the little man’s precarious and almost comical fumbling. As soon as Kaid had a solid spot where Joe’s movement shouldn’t dislodge him, he started his own climb.

Of course, he waited too long.

The sound of an underwater branch grinding and snapping was immediately followed by a booming slap as the tree lurched up and back down onto the surface of the river. The hammering splash broke Joe’s grip, sucking him into the log’s wake.

Joe was pulled under the water, scrapped against the bark, heading for the tangle of roots, when suddenly he stopped short. His backpack was yanking his shoulders painfully backward.

The rope!

Joe snapped his arms tightly across his chest and held onto the straps, praying they wouldn’t snap. He had no idea how he was going to grab the line while he was being battered and ground against the coarse wood.

Then, somehow, his head broke the surface of the water moments before the last of his air ran out.

His first sight was Kaid: a tiny, trembling Kaid, his small face stamped into a rictus of determination. Wedged into the branches, the short little man was hauling hand over hand, pulling Joe up out of the raging river; Joe, who had to be at least four times his size and saturated with an additional twenty pounds of river water.

“If you are going to just keep looking at me with googly eyes, I’m letting go,” the grunting guttersnipe groused.

“Sorry,” Joe spluttered, grabbing the closest branch. “Wasn’t expecting Superhero Kaid.”

“I was not expecting to be a burr-tree’s bitch yesterday either. This makes us even. Hells, that fire alone might still have you one up on me.”

Joe agreed with the benevolence of the [Heartfire], climbing closer to the magical blaze. He ended up practically sitting in it, letting its aura of warmth push away his shivers.

“Well, this was a clever idea,” the little man exclaimed, gesturing at the tree as he sat down right against Joe inside the spectral flames.

“Unfortunately, we are still stuck in the river,’ Joe countered. “I have no idea how we are going to reach the other shore. Oh, and please tell me there are no waterfalls ahead.”

“Uh … I don’t think so.”

“A little more confidence would have been nice, but here’s hoping you are right. How’re you feeling? Your body temp was really low a minute ago.” Joe was rubbing his own hands together to loosen them back up.

“I’m tired, even with your spells. But the fire is nice and warm. That spell might be a problem, though. Anyone near either bank is going to be able to see it.”

“I’m not sure we can do without it,” Joe admitted. Without the [Heartfire], they were facing hypothermia again. “Maybe we can hide it.”

“Possibly during the day. Not at night.”

“I really hope we are not still on the water when it gets dark.”

“Really? Then we need a new plan. Mine was to ride this thing all the way to Heron Reef.”

“And how long would that be?”

“Couple a days,” Kaid answered with a shrug.

“No way,” Joe insisted. “The water is too fast and too cold. We’d be just asking for something to go wrong.”

“Then, as I said, we need a plan,” the small man stated, staring at Joe expectantly.

“Fine. Give me a minute,” he uttered back. By the time Joe had feeling back in his toes, he had worked up and discarded a bunch of awful ideas. His current one might just work.