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Amara had brought us to the river slightly south of this popular crossing point, however, which was the only reason Nik had been able to join us the night before. There was often more than one group camping by the crossing, waiting for the barge to begin daylight operations. Now that we were alone again, I had expected us to move northward to meet the road and the barge, but apparently Amara was happy to facilitate our crossing herself.
When I saw the breadth of the river, however, I had second thoughts. Glancing back at Acorn, who was hitched to the cart, I looked doubtfully at the swiftly moving water.
“It won’t take us long to go north to the barge,” I said hesitantly.
Amara chuckled. “Have some faith, my apprentice.”
“Oh no, no, it’s not…” I let my clearly insincere protestations die out.
“The forest on the other side will force us to head north to the main road anyway,” she said. “But Nik was right that it’s a well-traveled road, and the barge berths on the eastern side of the river. It will load up on that side first, so there can sometimes be an extended wait for the barge on this side. We’re in a rush and are able to cross with our own power. But I would prefer to complete this spectacle without an audience.”
I raised my eyebrows. Spectacle? Exactly how was Amara intending to get us across?
“Climb up,” she said, hopping up onto her usual seat on the cart.
I opened my mouth to ask if she was sure but clamped it shut again before I could say something so foolish. Clearly she was sure.
I perched on the edge of the bench, trying not to look like I was on high alert. Ember picked up on my mood, slinking over the back of the cart to curl up on my lap. Phoenix responded to the fox’s movements by taking off, ringing upward and then flapping his way directly across the river.
“It’s easy for some,” I muttered, watching him go.
“Don’t worry,” Amara said in amusement. “It will be easy for us, too. At least as far as the rest of you are concerned.”
She flicked the reins, and Acorn started forward, walking calmly toward the river. She had clearly been with Amara for a long time because she didn’t halt when she reached the shallow stretch of bank, clopping into the water, the cart dragging behind her.
“What is she—?” I cut myself off, biting my tongue to keep myself from speaking. I needed to have faith in Amara.
My hands were white where they gripped the edge of the seat, however, as Acorn made it all the way into the water. She set off swimming, moving unconcernedly forward as if there was no current and she wasn’t harnessed to a fully loaded cart.
“How…?” I gasped, but the answer was obvious the second our cartwheels left the riverbed, the whole cart floating in the water as if it were a barge itself.
I whirled around to peer into the back of the cart, expecting to see water flooding our bags and crates, but it was just as dry as before. There was only one way such a thing was possible, and remembering the unnatural wall of flood water, I knew the source of our impossible passage.
Amara was using her power to float both Acorn and our cart through the water, keeping us cocooned in some sort of bubble, so that the water didn’t flood in.
I gazed at her in awe, once again shocked at the easy way she used power most people couldn’t dream of.
“You needn’t look at me like that, Delphine,” she said with a small smile. “I assure you that any elements mage from the Guild could manage such an easy feat as this.”
“Perhaps so,” I said in a slightly strangled voice. “But I don’t come from the Guild. No one I know with an elements affinity could possibly do this.”
Acorn’s feet hit the ground on the other side, her movement making the cart sway as she clambered out of the river, dragging us behind her. As soon as the cart had been dragged fully clear, water streamed off the outside of the wood and the horse until everything was completely dry, including Acorn’s coat.
“Now that is a handy skill,” I said, nodding my approval.
Amara grinned. “One of the first I perfected. The air is getting too cold at this time of year for Acorn to be wandering around wet.”
On this side of the river there was only a dirt track following the curve of the river north, but it was wide enough for our cart. We moved off at a brisk pace by Acorn’s standards, the horse apparently invigorated by her unlikely swim across the river.
Further south, the forest pressed close to the river, but here we had a bit of room to breathe as the forest tapered off to its northern tip. I could see the trees in the distance, however, and I reached for them, encountering a wealth of animal life beneath their sheltering boughs.
“Here comes the main road,” Amara murmured, pulling my attention back to my immediate surroundings.
Phoenix dove from above us, spreading his wings to land in the back of the cart. Ember, startled awake, barked in protest, leaping forward to join me on the front seat once again.
I gave Phoenix a disapproving look but didn’t have the heart to actually scold him for his dramatic entrance. Instead I petted Ember back to sleep as I watched the approaching road grow closer.
As warned, a slow but steady trickle of travelers moved along it, ranging from single walkers and riders to chains of several wagons, clearly bearing goods toward Eldrida.
