Flynn watched helplessly as Nyx negotiated passage on a cargo ship then allowed himself to be pulled on to the boat. The blue-haired woman had apparently found a ship that was only minutes away from leaving and the gang plank was pulled up right after they boarded. They were directed to an area on the side of the boat where they would be out of the way of the crew.

  In a matter of minutes, the boat had been pushed away from the dock and was moving slowly down the river away from Aramath. Flynn gripped the railing of the boat and watched helplessly as the boat picked up speed, though it still moved slower than a galloping horse. He took a deep breath and turned to tell Nyx about his inability to swim but found that he was standing all alone. He looked about, trying to find her amongst the sailors but there was no sign of her blue hair.

  Flynn groaned in frustration, and a little bit of fear. His grip on the rail tightened as the boat rocked and his stomach started to rumble. He looked down at the water, but the rapid motion caused his stomach to churn even more. Instead, he focused on the city they were leaving, watching as it grew smaller and smaller.

  Aramath was little more than a dot on the horizon when a commotion broke out somewhere near the back of the boat.

  Nyx was suddenly at his side, pulling him toward the railing. “It’s time to go!”

  She started to climb over the rail but stopped when she realized Flynn wasn’t doing the same. “Come on, I created a diversion to cover our escape.”

  He looked down at his feet and quietly said, “I can’t swim.”

  “What?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I tried to!” Flynn insisted as he looked up at her, eyes wide.

  Nyx groaned but quickly climbed back over the rail. She looked around for a moment then grabbed a nearby crate. She ripped the top off, her Epic level body more than strong enough for the task, even if she didn’t have a dedicated Strength card—though Flynn was unsure of exactly what cards she did have.

  She dumped out the contents of the crate and shoved it into Flynn’s chest. "Hold onto this, it will keep you afloat. I’ll help guide you to shore.”

  He nodded and Nyx climbed back over the rail and jumped into the river. He stepped up to the railing and watched, breath held, as she disappeared under the water. Flynn exhaled in relief when she surfaced a moment later.

  He looked down at the river then back to Nyx who was treading water a dozen yards from the boat. She waved for him to jump in, but he was frozen in place as he looked at the ten foot drop to the river.

  It wasn’t far. He’d jumped much further onto hard ground before, but this jump into water terrified him.

  Flynn took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. Then he put a foot on the railing and leaped over, holding the crate above his head as he soared into the air.

  Then he was free falling.

  An instant later he plunged into the water and his whole body tensed. He remembered an instant too late to hold his breath and sucked in a mouth full of water. Panic overwhelmed him and he flailed his arms and legs, trying to get his head above the water. The wooden crate that was supposed to keep him afloat was long gone.

  He gasped for air as his head emerged and his arms flailed, trying unsuccessfully to keep him afloat.

  Flynn held his breath the second time he went under. He could feel himself being pulled down river, away from the boat, but he flailed and kicked until he got his head above water again.

  He gasped for air looking around frantically, trying to find Nyx.

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  Just before he went under again, he heard her yell something. “Stand—”

  Flynn didn’t know what she was trying to say and didn’t have time to try to figure it out. His entire focus was on trying to swim. He kicked his legs and pulled at the water with his arms and felt his body move toward the surface.

  He felt a little less panicked when he surfaced and sucked in a deep breath. Nyx was swimming toward him. She yelled again, but all he heard was “Not deep—” before he went under again.

  His feet hit the bottom of the river and fell over, flipping head over heels under water, his arms flailing the whole time. When he was right side up again, he pushed down with his legs and burst from the water.

  For a brief instant, half Flynn’s body was above water, then he crashed back down into the river.

  Just before his head went under, his feet hit the ground. He almost fell over but his flailing arms helped stabilize him.

  Nyx was next to him a moment later. Her arms and legs moved through the water rhythmically, keeping her shorter body afloat. “It’s not that deep, just stand up,” she said in exasperation.

  “Yeah, I see that now,” Flynn said as he started walking toward shore.

  Nyx followed him, swimming until she could stand, and they were soon on the shore.

  The boat was already a hundred yards away, but they could see several people watching them from the back of the boat.

  "I don’t think we got away unnoticed,” Flynn said.

  “Ya think?” Nyx looked at him sideways and shook her head. “How can you live in a riverfront town and not know how to swim?”

  “I don’t know, I never thought it was important, I guess,” FIynn replied. “I was also a little bit busy just trying to survive and earn enough card fragments to make a full card.”

  Her expression softened a little. “Fair enough. I just assumed that everyone that lived around water knew how to swim,” Nyx said. A small smile appeared on her face. “Swimming is actually one of my only fond memories of growing up. We used to swim in the bay when it got really hot out.”

  Her smile grew bigger. “It was also a good place to swipe a coin purse or two while the rich folk swam.”

  “I never heard of anyone doing that here,” Flynn said. “The swimming part. The swiping part is pretty common.”

  “I guess swimming just isn’t a big thing here.” Nyx shrugged. “Let’s get going. As soon as that boat gets to the next city, the Church of Knowledge is going to know we jumped off.”

  They walked back into the river and started traveling back toward Aramath.

  “This isn’t going to stop them from finding where we went, but it might slow them down a little bit,” Nyx said. “Or at least make them divide forces to search in every direction.”

  “Why do you think they came for us?” Flynn asked. “I’m sure it had something to do with the monsters, but maybe they just wanted to learn what we saw.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t surround someone’s house with a dozen priests to just talk.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he agreed with a nod, “But why? It can’t just be about the monsters. Do you think they knew about the portal?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” She was silent for a moment than said, “I can’t help but think that Origin Fragment was important.”

  “I think so too, but we need to figure out what exactly it was. How do we do that?”

  “We need to get to Khalreth,” Nyx said. “I can send a message to Khalor once we’re there. Hopefully he can tell us more.”

  “What about the Church of Knowledge?”

  “Once we get to Khalreth, we should be safe.”

  She didn’t say it, but Flynn knew that meant they weren’t safe until they got there.

  After a couple hundred yards, Nyx swam across the river then walked onto shore and a short distance away from the river to leave a false trail. She returned to the river and continued to travel on that side, leaving false trails every few hundred yards.

  Flynn did the same on his side of the river.

  By the time the docks of Aramath came into view, they had left dozens of false trails to confuse anyone trying to follow them.

  Nyx crossed back over the Flynn’s side of the river, and they left the river before anyone at the docks saw them. They exited the water at a rocky patch of ground then carefully climbed a small hill doing their best to avoid leaving any trace of their passing behind.

  They stayed on the rocky ground as they climbed to the top of a hill where the ground was covered in grass as was the ground that led away from the river allowing them to walk without leaving much trace of their passing. They were quickly out of sight of the docks and possible discovery.

  “This won’t fool anyone with a Tracker card,” Nyx said, “but it will slow them down. That’s the best we can hope for.”

  Flynn nodded, realizing that staying ahead of the Church of Knowledge was going to be a much more difficult task than staying away from the head-tattooed mercenaries had been. They had a head start, though, and as long as Throm showed up with horses, they should be able to reach the city of Khalreth without getting caught. He could only trust that Nyx truly could find help once they got there.

  His confidence was bolstered a moment later when they heard Throm call out for them. The mercenary waved at them from the top of another hill a couple hundred yards away. He held the reins of three horses.

  Flynn smiled and silently declared, It takes more than a few priests to stop us.