Chapter 82: The Marsh of Death
Selka wiped a thick bead of sweat from her forehead, her chest heaving as she stared out at the marshland.
The intense, shimmering heat waves rising from the mud distorted her vision, but there was no mistaking the low-lying, swampy water source cutting through the golden expanse.
Oh, I found it! The water body! she thought, a spark of hope flaring in her chest.
Just as the elders’ legends said... in the height of the summer heat, the mighty Elephant Clan always migrates to these muddy, low-lying water sources.
It must be this one, Selka reasoned, her legs practically moving on their own as the desperate urge to quench her burning thirst took over.
She took three rapid strides toward the squelching mud, but abruptly locked her knees, skidding to a harsh halt just meters away from the reeds.
Her acute, trained nose had just picked up a heavy, foul, and terrifyingly familiar scent carried by the humid air.
Sniff... sniff...
Her silver eyes narrowed to tiny slits. No... it’s not the lion prides. It’s not the hyenas either. This suffocating, ancient smell... it’s a massive group of crocodiles.
Gulp.
Selka slowly took several deliberate, silent steps backward, a cold sweat breaking out across her spine as she realized her mistake.
The relentless heat, the exhaustion, the agonizing thirst... this damn desert environment made my mind completely forget the golden rule. I was walking straight into the jaws of the plains’ classic prehistoric apex predators.
In these treacherous waters, only the Elephant Clan and the Hippo Clan are massive and brave enough to be completely fearless of them. A solitary wolf? I’d be nothing but a quick snack.
Selka gritted her teeth, her throat feeling like absolute sandpaper. I’ll just have to wait out here in the open until the giants arrive... I just need to control my thirst and stay alive.
"Sigh... this unbearable heat..." she muttered, her voice cracking slightly. "How does anyone or anything live out here permanently?"
Scanning her immediate surroundings, she spotted a massive, isolated boulder rising out of the tall grass.
Scrambling up, she managed to crouch within the small, sliver of shadow cast by its jagged peak. "Ugh, even the damn rock is burning hot," she murmured under her breath, shifting uncomfortably.
Leaning her chin on her knees, she fixed her unblinking, predatory glare onto the marshland ahead.
Out in the open mud, dozens of massive, armor-plated crocodiles lay completely motionless, their huge jaws propped wide open as they basked lazily under the summer sun.
"Basking..." she murmured in deep disgust, settling in for a long, tense stakeout as the midday sun reached its brutal peak.
.
.
.
.
The afternoon sun reached its absolute, merciless peak, turning the Golden Grasslands into an oven. The air was so thick and stifling it felt like breathing soup.
Up on her hot rock, Selka’s vision began to blur around the edges. Her tongue felt swollen, and a pounding headache throbbed behind her eyes.
She stared down at the marshland, her heavy eyelids fluttering as she watched the prehistoric beasts baking in the mud.
I can’t control this thirst anymore... she realized, a wave of dark panic washing over her. If I stay up on this rock waiting any longer, I am going to pass out from heatstroke. If I faint here, I’ll never wake up. I have to take the risk.
But as she calculated her approach, she groaned. Honestly, I don’t even know what’s worse! Is it worse when they are hiding and floating underwater, where you can’t see them until they clamp onto your face, or right now, when dozens of them are out of the water, sun-basking and completely circling the only drinkable pools?
She let out a dry, rattling sigh. Bask or float... either way, it’s a confirmed death trap for a wolf.
But I have no choice. I can’t wander blindly into the tall grasslands to search for the Elephant Clan. That endless grass belongs to the lion prides and the hyena clans.
They live in massive numbers out there; a lone, injured wolf walking into their territory is just an easy meal. I have to stay by this water source and wait for the giants. But to stay alive long enough to see them, I need to drink.
She looked down at her hands, a wry, desperate smile touching her lips.
Seriously... if the Furless were here, I bet she would have found some way to draw that water up to her without ever stepping foot near the mud.
Selka violently shook her head, slapping her own cheeks to force her brain back into focus. Get it together, Selka. Let’s do this.
Stepping out of the small patch of shade, she let out a quiet poof of smoke, shifting back into her sleek silver-grey wolf form to maximize her agility.
Keeping her belly pressed flat against the baking earth, her tail completely tucked, she began to crawl forward.
One silent paw-step at a time, she crept toward the perimeter of armor-plated monsters—predators far older, far more ruthless, and infinitely more dangerous than any jungle cat she had ever faced.
Selka crept through the tall, scorched stalks of grass, keeping her body so low that her belly practically dragged across the burning earth.
She slowly and meticulously circled the perimeter of the vast marshland from a safe distance, her silver eyes scanning for any vulnerability in the predators’ defenses.
But the more she looked, the more her heart sank into her stomach. Almost every single square inch of the muddy shoreline was fully occupied by the massive, scaly bodies of basking crocodiles. They were packed together like armor-plated logs, their jagged tails overlapping.
After a tense, agonizing search, she finally spotted it—one single, tiny opening in the reeds that led directly down to a small pool of clear water.
She froze, staring at the narrow gap. It’s a trap.
Walking down that tiny path was the literal definition of stepping straight into hell. The moment she bent her head to drink, she would be completely bottlenecked.
Massive crocodiles would be flanking her from both sides, pinning her against the deep water.
If even one of them woke up and snapped its jaws, it would be a suicide mission. There would be absolutely no room to dodge.
Gulp.
Selka slowly backed away into the grass, her survival instincts screaming over her burning thirst. Never mind. Forget it. I am former Alpha, not an idiot.
She violently shook the mud from her paws, abandoning the marshland entirely.
If I can’t drink the water, I’ll just have to find another way to hydrate. I’ll hunt a small animal. The moisture from fresh meat will keep me going until I find the Elephant Clan. It’s not ideal, but it will keep me alive until the giants get here.
With her target shifted, she turned her back on the silent monsters in the mud and crept deeper into the golden grass, her ears pricking up as she began to listen for the faint rustle of a rodent or a small hare.