Two Rivers Isle This world is only gonna break your heart

Ulrich read the pain in Adylaide's eyes, the terror. He took a breath, his throat tight. Listen to me. If I should fall in and cannot be saved... He took another breath. Follow this river. Keep to the water. Water means life, and that means prey for you to hunt. Do not follow me into the water. Do not try to save me. I will try to save myself, but I cannot do that if I am worried about you. Now...

With that painful message out of the way, his heart squeezed inside his chest, on a terrible whim, he lunged toward her and pressed his nose to her cheek, just in case the worst should happen.

Then he turned without looking at her, heat surging through his body, and placed one paw upon the log, then another. He pushed at it, bouncing, but it held steady in the water. With a deep breath, he stepped up onto the log with all four paws. Nothing happened. He began to walk, tentatively, testing the weight of the log. It seemed to hold all right. He was halfway across, feeling confident when--CRACK!--part of the log under his paws collapsed under him. Most of the log remained intact, but still, Ulrich felt himself lose his balance. With a cry of shock, he fell sideways into the river.

Luckily, what with the water being half-frozen, the current had slowed down and he was not rushed away out of sight. Unluckily, the river was half-frozen, and the cold water was a complete shock to his system. He got his head above water in but a moment, but could not take a breath, the water so cold it made it impossible to inhale. Somehow, though he was only half-aware of his surroundings, he managed to get himself across to the other side of the river and throw himself up onto. the bank. And there he lay, shivering violently, all thoughts of Adylaide knocked from his head by the cold.