Nick was glad for the offer. His arms were growing sore, and his partner was a lot stronger than he was. She could chop down the last three trees with considerably less effort. While she went to work with the axe, Nick took the bundle of vines, unrolling them to their full length and then laying them side-by-side.
When the last tree hit the dirt half an hour later, they decided to break for lunch. They ate smoked fish while discussing their next steps and watching the river sparkle beneath the light of an alien sun. Afterwards, they could move everything closer to the water, lash the logs together, and attempt the crossing.
When they were done eating, Nick picked out three long branches that he would carve into crude oars. After trimming each limb and cutting off the narrow ends, he used the axe to taper down the other sides. When everything was ready, they began the laborious process of dragging all five trees over to the riverbank.
They set the logs next to each other, then began figuring out how best to tie the vines to hold everything together. Fortunately, they both had prior experience living outdoors. Before long, they had decided which way to wrap and knot the buoyant trunks. Working in tandem, they began passing the loop of vine back and forth, weaving it between each log before moving it down to start the next row.
Two hours later, their makeshift raft was complete. While they recovered from the grueling labor, Nick used his dagger to carve the finishing touches on his paddles. Hopefully, they could propel themselves across before the current carried them too far downstream, adding to the time it would take to hike to the tower after. He went to work, whittling away the extra timber, while Sophia tightened the knots and tested the vines for weakness.
They waited until a family of giant otters finished passing through the area, then rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Sophia and Nick dragged their raft over to the water’s edge. It took a fair amount of effort, even with her considerable strength added to the mix. At least the vessel was easy to slide once it hit the muddy riverbanks.
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After stopping to catch their breath, they made a final inspection of their equipment, tossed the oars aboard, and pushed the raft into the river until the water was waist high. The duo quickly scampered aboard before the current dragged it away.
Once they were situated, they used their poles to push the raft further out, until they could no longer reach the bottom. They assumed positions on opposite sides of the ramshackle vessel, pointed the front at an angle, then began paddling for everything they were worth.
The moment they left the shallows, Nick felt a rising tension in the air and his adrenaline began to flow. He couldn’t spot or sense anything dangerous yet, even with size up. But he hadn’t felt this exposed, this vulnerable, since the night that the blood moon had risen.
Nick had been on the bog long enough to know that some of its most dangerous denizens lived below the water. While he was hoping that the crossing would be uneventful, he had a hunch that they would be in for a fight before they set foot onto the far shore. Ten minutes later, they were still less than a third of the way across. It was taking them longer than he had expected, due to the poor quality of their oars.
Thankfully, the river ran relatively slow here, so they hadn’t drifted too far downstream. On a brighter note, the raft was sufficiently buoyant. It easily held the weight of both partners and their gear. The vines lashing the logs together were holding firm, and the raft would likely see them all the way through to the far side of the river.
Nick scanned the water with one eye and the sky with the other, on watch for beast and blackmist alike. He had no desire whatsoever to try maneuvering the raft while flying blind, and he fervently prayed that no mist would arrive until their crossing was complete.
Following Sophia’s lead, he kept his strokes strong and slow, moving them steadily across the surface of the water while making as little noise as possible.
Despite his pervasive unease, nothing assailed them as the raft floated past the halfway mark, and Nick let out a soft sigh of relief. That all changed ten seconds later, when a ball of condensed water broke the surface of the river, streaking straight toward his head with blinding speed.