Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [42]
“Yeah, I was hoping they’d not be in the main river,” he says.
Coming back over to them, Miko plops himself down and asks, “Now what?”
James looks to him, and says, “Let’s just eat while we think about it. There’s bound to be a way.”
While the animals are cooking, they continue pondering the situation.
“How about a raft?” suggests Miko.
“What would we use?” Jiron asks him. “No logs or large limbs to use, and nothing with which to secure them together.”
“We could try to swim fast?” James offers much to the horror of Miko who shakes his head violently.
“Just kidding,” he says to Miko who flashes him an ‘I’m not amused’ look.
“There’s got to be a way,” Jiron says.
“I’m sure there is,” says James. “And not one that requires us to enter the water, either,” he adds for Miko’s benefit.
“Could you get us there with magic?” Jiron asks.
“I don’t know, maybe,” he says. “But if something should happen to break my concentration, we would fall to the river below.”
They sit there in silence for a while longer until the animals are fully cooked. When they’re ready, Jiron hands each of them one and they set to with a hearty appetite.
During the course of the meal, Jiron suddenly asks, “How about a bridge?”
“That would take too long to build,” James tells him.
“No, no, no,” he says. “I mean a natural one.”
“That would be nice,” James says, “but I don’t see any around here.”
Jiron glances toward him and says, “But you could make one.”
“How?” James asks him.
He points down where the other fork of the river continues on and says, “Look, there’s a tall tree down there on this side of the river that might span the water.”
“How are we to cut it down?” Miko asks. “We don’t have any axes or anything.”
Nodding toward James, he says, “He could knock it down with magic. After what I’ve seen you do to buildings, this shouldn’t be too hard.
Looking at the tree in the distance, he slowly nods his head and says, “Might be able to arrange that. Give me a moment to think about it,” he tells them as he finishes up with his lunch.
Once he’s done, he tosses what’s left into the river and watches as the little fish consume it. Then, with the other two watching, he walks over to the tree and begins to figure out the particulars of what he’s going to do.
It definitely looks tall enough to span the water after it falls, providing it falls in the correct direction. That shouldn’t be a problem, he just needs to direct the magic to steer it that way. Ready to try, he motions the others to stand back several yards behind him as he begins to concentrate.
Miko watches him as he stands there, five feet from the base of the tree. Suddenly, the base pops as bark flies in all directions. The top begins to topple and at first it looks to be falling more along the river than across it. But then, as if a giant hand grabs it, the tree swings more toward the opposite shore. With a loud crashing, it lands with the top of its branches well on the other side of the river.
They come over to where he’s standing, congratulating James as he watches the water passing just under the trunk of the tree. “Good job!” exclaims Miko.
“If we’re careful, it’s unlikely we’ll fall in,” Jiron says as he climbs up onto the trunk. “Let me go first, and if it’s safe, you two can follow,” he tells them.
Miko and James stay next to the trunk while he makes his way across the water to the other side. The trunk is fairly stable, the branches beneath it forming a secure contact with the riverbed.
They watch as Jiron makes his way through the limbs to the other side and finally comes to stand on the opposite shore. “No problem!” he shouts back to them.
“Wanna go next?” James asks Miko.
Nodding, he climbs up onto the trunk and makes his way to the other side. Once he’s there, James begins his way across and finds carrying his stick with him will be impossible. So he tosses his walking stick into the water and goes on across. The multiple branches extending away from the tree give him ample handholds with which to maintain his balance, even with his injuries.