Magic and Misrule (Mishap's Heroes Book 1) by KM Merritt

Author:KM Merritt [Merritt, KM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Fyre Press
Published: 2021-04-01T22:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Vola came awake suddenly with the complete and gut-sinking knowledge that she’d forgotten to set a watch.

Sludgy water climbed up her body, and she splashed to a sitting position.

“Holy—” The tent was already half a foot deep in water and it seemed to be rising rapidly.

“Wake up!” She reached across to shake Talon with one hand and Sorrel with the other. Lillie snored and rolled over, her hair floating around her head like some sort of poetic damsel in distress.

“Wake up, we’re sinking!”

Talon sat up as swiftly as Vola had and was instantly on their feet.

Sorrel gasped, and in the process, sucked in a mouthful of water. She sputtered and choked, and her flailing woke up Lillie.

“What’s happening?” the wizard said, rubbing her eyes. Then she blinked down at her wet hands.

“Get up,” Vola yelled while she slapped Sorrel on the back. “Get out, we’re sinking.”

Lillie scrambled for the tent flap, but it was only as she reached for it that Vola realized that was where most of the water was coming from.

“No, wait!”

Too late, Lillie pulled back the tent flap and cried out as a wave of sludge and mud cascaded into the tent. The water level outside was much higher than in. In the back of her mind, Vola was impressed the cheap tent hadn’t just collapsed against the onslaught of the swamp, but the front of her mind was screaming, “we’re gonna drown in a tent! I don’t wanna drown in a tent!”

“Swim for it,” Vola said.

Talon was the first one out. They pushed through the rapidly rising mud and kicked out like a diver. Their booted feet disappeared in the torrent, and Vola could only hope that they’d managed to find clear air.

Vola tried to stand, but the canvas shifted and slid under her feet and she feared she was just pushing them further down.

“Now, Lillie!”

Lillie dove for the flap with a grimace and shoved at the mud. Vola set her shoulder against the wizard’s wide rump, giving her a good shove before her feet disappeared, too.

The muddy water reached Vola’s waist now, and she turned to see Sorrel clinging halfway up the tent pole to keep her head out of the water.

“I’ll give you a boost,” she said and grabbed the halfling around the middle.

“I can swim, you know,” Sorrel said indignantly.

“Then swim for your life.”

She shoved the halfling out of the flap with a squelch.

Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and followed.

She paddled like a dog and kicked her bare feet. The mud pressed into her on all sides, squeezing her chest, making her limbs and movements sluggish.

Two seconds out of the tent, she panicked, forgetting which way was up and which way was down. There was nothing firm beneath her feet, and there were no lights or bubbles to swim for.

She flailed.

Something sharp and strong closed around her wrist and she fought to grab hold of it. A tug yanked her arm free of the mud and hope surged through her, hot and wild.

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