Chapter 11
Mud - Amanki
I was so afraid that for a moment I almost stopped rowing. As a Webby, I instinctively wanted to dive into the water and head for the far shore of the river, but if Manhera and I dove into the water, Baskrod and the boat would be lost. So I renewed my rowing efforts with added vigor.
Instead of aiming directly toward our boat in the canal, the beast streamed across the field diagonally toward the river. I realized he was going to try to cut off our exit. Desperate, I located the fishing trident, grabbed it, placed it at my feet, and then resumed rowing.
“Keep rowing,” I urged Manhera, who was straining to stay even with my strokes. “If it looks like he will overtake the boat, dive deep and swim for the distant side of the river. Don’t worry about what I’m doing, understand?”
“Yes,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly.
We would soon gain the river, except the beast rider had moved along the shore to get in front of us. I despised him. Bunches of bloodstained Webby feet were hanging from the ropes he gripped. He was no more than three boat lengths away from us. Although the rider urged his horse into the water, the beast hesitated. The man yelled to me in a language that I did not understand. When he saw me looking at him, he pointed to me, then pulled his fist into his chest. He yanked the fist up and away, then took his other hand and pointed to himself. I thought he was threatening to rip out my heart, which was beating wildly.
I just kept rowing, while looking at him blankly. He put his fist to his chest once more. When he kicked the beast again, it splashed into the water and headed for us. The man lifted his bow above the water and took aim at me.
Then, in that instant, I realized what he wanted. I grabbed the cylinder seal, lifted it off of my neck, and held it up to show him. As I held it up in the sunlight, it shone a deep blue. He nodded his head in encouragement and pointed to himself, while sending unintelligible sounds to me. But instead of offering him the seal, I held it dangling over the water on the side of the boat as if to drop it in the muddy canal. Realizing my intent, he froze, his fingers holding the arrow in place on the taut string and his eyes looking as angry as the Berserker himself. Then he slowly lowered the bow while still staring at me. I suddenly felt powerful. I had something he wanted. If the cylinder seal dropped in the canal, it would be lost in the mud.
“Keep rowing,” I instructed Manhera, while still holding the seal above the water. I could tell that the man was trying to decide if I was bluffing. Whatever it was I was holding must be very valuable, but if he shot me, it would drop into the canal. He must have realized this was true, because he put the bow and arrow back in the quiver at his side. Meanwhile, his beast slowly paddled toward us.
While still holding the seal above the water, I held up my other hand and yelled, “Stop!”
Pulling on the ropes connected to the beast, the man turned the animal so that it swam parallel with our boat. We were about to gain the river. The man lifted his bow in the air, shook it over his head, and began shouting. Once we entered the river, I put the string around my neck and grabbed the oars, synchronizing my pulls with Manhera’s to rapidly advance the boat into the current of the river.
“Just a little further and you can rest,” I urged Manhera. “Don’t give up.”
The man lowered the bow, aimed, and released the arrow. It flew through the air directly at me. I dodged, but it wasn’t necessary. Although the arrow flew far, it fell short of its mark.
The man yelled in anger, calling to some of the other raiders. Manhera let go of the oars, panting with exhaustion.
“We made it.” I said with relief, but I did not let go of the oars. “I’ll put up the sail as soon as I think it’s safe.”
I kept rowing with the string hanging safely around my neck. I couldn’t wait to take a closer look at that cylinder seal. I had seen cylinder seals hanging from the necks of the wealthiest men in Arvuk, but I had only seen one so brilliantly blue in my dreams, those crazy repetitive dreams that my brothers had laughed about. Those dreams seemed more real than life right now. I wanted to awaken on my reed mat, tell my brothers this nightmare, and let them mock me. They could mock me all day and all night as long as they were safe and alive. But instead here I was in this unreal world, wondering: Why had that woman given this seal to me, and why did the man on the mud beast want it so badly?