Time stretched on like a slow crawl.
Ren spent the remainder of the night wide awake, her knees pulled to her chest as she stared out into the misty fog. Every splash, every croak, and every slithering sound echoing across the dark water kept her nerves pulled tighter than a bowstring.
Beside her, Vex slept as peacefully as a baby, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, completely unbothered by the terrifying environment.
Eventually, the oppressive blackness of the sky began to bleed into a bruised purple. The sun slowly began to rise over the horizon, casting a pale, washed-out morning light through the dense canopy of the swamp.
With a soft, scraping thud, the wooden boat finally drifted to a stop, bumping gently against the twisting roots of a cypress tree.
