Dragoncrest Cliffs and be yourself my ally in love’s battle

"Yeah, right..." Merlin murmured in response, not even looking in Njord's direction and, frankly speaking, finding his bouncy enthusiasm for this competition somewhat annoying. The fact that his friend was an expert swimmer in no way improved his sense of anxiety and unwillingness to dive in. Insensitive barnacle. He remembered all too clearly, what it had felt like the first and the last time he had tried it and the water did not look any more welcoming than it previously had. 

Rosalyn called them to begin, Njord dashed past Merlin, so did the guy he had not taken any notice of in the beginning (and only later would he recognize Pig he had met few weeks ago) and after some hesitation and "I will bloody regret this!" he joined the race too. It was just as bad as he had predicted. Unlike the weathered Seabiscuit or the youngster of polar tundran heritage Merlin's build and coat were in no way suitable to protect him from getting wet. Soon he was soaked to the bone, the cold seeped in every fibre of his body and a moment later muscles in is paws began to cramp. 

While trying to fight his way back to the shore, a wave washed over his head, dragging him under and water filling his airways. He panicked and tried to scramble, whichever direction the surface was, but all that was in vain, because he was very cold, very tired and quite frankly no longer gave a rat's ass about anything. So drown. Big deal. A little stream of bubbles run to the surface along with that one syllable famous last word of Merlin Memoryless Blackthorn: "Crap." 

A whump. :P