Page 26 of Blood Red Woes

“I don’t see why not, as long as you focus.”

Dropping the bag on dry ground, I stretch and crack my knuckles. My idea might work or it might lead to me drenching myself for no reason. I’ll have to try it and see.

I step closer to the water’s edge and let out an even breath as I close my eyes. I extend an arm in front of me, my palm outward toward the water. I imagine what I want to conjure up—a trick I learned from Rune yesterday while trying to summon other magical things besides a bolt—and before I open my eyes, I take a step forward, knowing that step would be the true test.

I don’t need my eyes open to know if it works. If my shoes get wet, I’ll know.

They don’t get wet.

Opening my eyes, I chortle out glee as I look down to the magic currently keeping my feet above the water. It’s like a surfboard, only rounder and directly beneath me. See-through, it crackles and fizzles with blindingly bright yellow jolts of magic, the same look the shield had when Rune threw it up around me before.

“It worked!” I squealed, unable to hide my own excitement.

“Yes, how wonderful. You can walk on water now.”

“Don’t you know what this means?” I ask. “It means I don’t have to walk day after day. I can just glide on the water. It’ll probably help to get me there faster, too.” Less walking and a shorter trip? Sign me the fuck up.

Now, all I have to do is figure out how to let the current of the water take me. Hmm. Or, better yet, use magic somehow to propel me forward on the water’s surface. If I can do that, I’ll practically fly on the water.

I step out further into the river, so I’m right in the middle of it, where the water is a bit deeper and it runs harder under the magic keeping me up. I’ve never tried to do two things at once before, not when it comes to this magic shit, so it might be touch and go.

Worth a shot, anyway.

I imagine the process is the same as it is when I do a single thing with magic, only I have to do it for two things at once. Focus on both, let the magic flow into both things simultaneously. Keep myself afloat while also moving—while also dodging any rocks that might jut out of the water here and there.

It won’t be easy, but it might be the best fun I’ll have in Laconia.

I move positions so that my right foot takes the lead and my left foot is behind it, shoulder-length apart. Rune crackles on my wrist, a yellowish-white color from the magic-use. I take a deep breath, and then, with my left hand, I push against the air…

And I send myself flying forward, knocking myself off the magical board and right into the water.

I’m drenched, instantly drenched, but I try again. This time I keep my right hand flat to mimic the magical surfboard beneath my feet. Don’t ask me why, but it’s easier for me to do all this magic stuff while moving my hands. Rune told me I don’t need to use my hands so much, but it just feels more natural that way.

Using both hands helps. I’m able to make it twenty feet down the river in about five seconds by propelling myself along. I don’t stop. I keep going; I know I’ll need to go back for my bag, but I want to get some practice in before I do it.

I bend my legs, lean my body while keeping the magic beneath my feet going and pushing me ever forward with magic behind me. It really is like a surfboard. I don’t have the best balance, but it’s kind of fun.

“Whoo!” I yell, laughing as the wind whips at my face. My hair is wet from the first time I fell in the water, but I don’t care. The sun is warm as it kisses my skin, and though I’m doing something totally unnatural, I feel as if I’m one with the world.

A world that’s not mine, but even that doesn’t matter as I coast along the water’s surface.

“This is amazing!” I shout. “Are you seeing this?” I expertly dodge a large boulder that juts out of the middle of the river, and in doing so I manage to spray myself with some water.

Rune’s tone is the very opposite of impressed. “Yes, how wonderful.”

“Don’t be jealous just because you’re stuck as a tattoo—”

“Rune,” he corrects me, but I ignore him.

I’m seconds from saying something else, probably from mocking him and the fact that he’s stuck on me, when I get distracted and don’t see the small rock breaking the surface of the water ahead of me. I hit it head-on, and though it’s small, it’s enough to tip me over thanks to the speed I’m going.

Up and over, I lose my concentration on the magical surfboard and the magic propelling me along. I fall face-first into the water, completely submerging myself in the river. Luckily I don’t crack anything on the rocks beneath the surface; it’s a deeper part of the river. I swim up and cough out the water I inhaled during the accident, and I move to the river’s edge.

Once I’m on grass, I roll over onto my back and sigh. Even after that fall, I’m still smiling. It was fun.

I need to go back and get my bag, but I don’t move for a while. With the excuse of wanting to dry off a bit before I get moving again, I lay there in the sun with my legs and arms outstretched as I ask Rune, “Do you think we’ll find Frederick’s dad?”

“His corpse or his research?”

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