SFFS 26/3/2016 Sorrel Swordless part 8

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone else is still posting here, but I'm going to carry on doggedly simply to complete the story I'm posting. If there is anyone else on this weekend, their details are here.

This is part 8 of a complete short story (in snippets) set in Sorrel's world. For those who have already read the Sorrel novels (and if you haven't, you should - they're good books!) this is set after the end of Sorrel in Silver - but you don't need to have read the novels for it to make sense, and it doesn't contain too many spoilers for the main trilogy. Part 7 is here, in case you missed it last week. A giant horror has crept up on our hapless heroine, and she has decided to swim for it; her friend Kelhene is on the shore.

 

We were both in trouble, a point accentuated when something swished past me in the water. A lake-snake? Or a zhark? Or some other Sorrel-eating horror?

I wondered about trying to use my sorcery without the coronet. It would almost certainly mean I was wracked with agony, which in my current situation might well make me drown. No, not an option unless nothing else occurred to me.

Nothing else was occurring to me. I was well and truly stuck. I glared at the big ruzdrool. I was treading water, well outside its reach, but there was definitely something in the water with me. I was also aware that my thighs were aching – I needed to get out of the lake.

I swam towards the Swan. The starboard wings were stretching out over the lake above me - I could get to the side of the hull easily, and the footholds in the fuselage would let me scramble up to the starboard engine. Much good that would do me.

On the other hand, it was better than staying in the lake. Despite the mucky green of the water, I could see a dozen silvery shapes swimming around me now. If they weren't hungry yet, I suspected it wouldn't be long before they were.

Three more snippets to go before the end of the story. As always, comments welcomed!