Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 39

Chapter 38 Mae POV

By the time we made it to the River, Jacin was unconscious. The stupid "no powers in No-Man's-Land '' made dragging him difficult. I could tell it was hard for Kate too, but she never made a complaint. She was better than me, as a swear word escaped my lips every few seconds. His head dropped forward, and his knotted, sweaty hair grazed his forehead. His once sun-kissed skin was now ashy. It was not like the pale blue my skin wore due to fear, but a grayish twinge that beckoned death. Even though shallow, I could see the up and down of his chest. That gave slight relief to my fear.

We stood a few feet back from the river. Clay was no longer under our feet, but fine sand. The sediment, like the clay, was a burned auburn. Also like the clay, it was surprisingly soft and comfortable under my skin. Even though that was a pleasant surprise, the size of the river was not. I was severely incorrect on my guess. The river was not half a football field in length, but 10x that. I did not know if the mirage was an optical illusion from that distance, or I was just stupid, none-the-less it sucked.

Even though the distance reminded me of a Lake, unlike Lake Michigan, I could see the shoreline across the body of water. White peaks spread across its surface. At least I was right about the turbulence. Strangely, the waves never hit the shore line. Like a normal river or lake, I would expect the waves to pulse up onto the shore line, then withdraw back. That was not the case here. It was a consistent, rapid flow that never rose or fell in altitude. This was a nice inkling of knowledge, as I did not have to be worried of being splashed by the water standing on the shoreline.

Without exchanging words, we both lowered Jacin to the ground. The bleeding continued. The toga was mostly red at this point. I had ripped off a few strands from my garment and fastened it as a makeshift bandage. I was not a doctor, especially a Human one, but my guess was that we did not have seconds to spare. We needed his wolf healing to kick in.

I scanned the river once more. The waves were due to speed, not due to obstacles in its way. That was good. We did not have to deal with sprouting rocks. The water was the shade before black. It was not murky brown like you would expect a river or blue like a lake. Instead, it reminded me of ink. Ink or death. The complete darkness too led only our imagination to guess what laid below. I would not be surprised if fun little demons lay waiting.

"How do we get across? I do not think swimming is doable," I asked Kate. Swimming posed two main issues. One, it was almost impossible to swim without getting some water in your mouth or drowning. In this case, water in mouth equaled no memory. I was a good swimmer, but swimming this distance was improbable. Two, there was absolutely no way we could drag Jacin.

"Boat,"

I squinted my eyes in confusion, and glanced up and down the coast to see if I somehow missed a boat. I did not. The only thing I saw was sand, water, and small white rocks, "That would be nice, if we had access to one!" I snipped at her, "Is there some invisible boat around or something?"

I knew I was being snippy, but I was exhausted. The more I watched the waves of the river, the more I wanted to curl up next to Jacin and take a nap. Repeatedly blinking my eyes did nothing to eb the urge. In fact, it made the pressure behind them grow larger and larger. The soothing sound of the river only added to my fatigue. I always had a fan on while I slept, so this was my Pavlov Conditioning.

"No, obviously," she proclaimed, mimicking my tone as she said 'obviously.' I could tell sleep was calling her name too. Small bags under her eyes started to appear. Every once and a while she would bring a closed fist up to her eye and wipe away some invisible intruder, "We need to call the 12th ship of Odysseus."

"What?"

She rubbed her eye again, "How do I break this down for you: Odysseus commanded twelve ships for Agamemnon. On his return journey from Troy, his ships were destroyed. The last ship of the twelve was destroyed by Charybdis. Let me tell you, that is one Demon you wish you will never have to meet. Not only is it beyond deadly, but it liked to hoard its conquests. When the Demon Accord was passed, and Charybdis had to go to the underworld, it brought with it its favorite treasures. One being the twelfth ship of Odysseus."