River

‘You know,’ Merrin said as he walked along the path behind the others. ‘We could have been drinking by now if we’d left at the right time.’

Danny rolled his eyes and tried his best to ignore Merrin.

They also could’ve been drinking several hours ago if they’d actually stopped off at The Traveller’s Rest. Maybe it wasn’t the best drink around, but it sure beat the sheer amount of nothing they were drinking right now.

‘I told ya Adriel wouldn’t be ready before sunrise,’ Danny reminded him. ‘If you wanted to be home before sunset you should of dragged him out of bed yourself.’

‘I’m not risking that,’ Merrin said incredulously and gave Danny a wide-eyed stare. ‘He would of killed me!’

‘What a shame…’ Orlia said with a slight smile on her face.

‘By the gods, you’re right,’ Matthias said, and Danny almost believed his words. ‘What would we have done without you?’

‘Drowned, probably,’ Merrin shrugged, clearly unimpressed by the reaction from everyone else.

‘In what water?’ Orlia asked.

‘The river?’ Merrin said and looked through the trees towards the shallow river.

‘It’s like half a metre deep,’ Danny explained and crossed his arms over his chest.

‘Yeah but that’s like half your height’ Merrin said with a smile.

[to be continued]