Chapter Nine: Treading in Murky Water
Soon the ground became more slippery so Icefire slowed to a walk to prevent herself from falling. The watery ground made squishing sounds beneath her large paws. The mud squished between her toes and the webbing in between her toes prevented her from sinking. Her feet left large impressions in the mud.
The ground was pretty much all water within an hour so Icefire was forced to swim. Her toes were spread apart so the webbing could be used as paddles. She was almost completely submerged under water; all that could bee seen was her head. This made swimming easier and she could use her large wings like giant paddles.
Icefire easily slid through the murky water. The semi-warm water slid over her violet scales. It soothed the spots where the new scales were coming in to they felt less itchy. The muddy, brown, murky water was impossible to see through. It left mud and gunk stuck in between Icefire's violet scales. Soon they no longer sparkled they had too much mud covered them.
Before they had entered the water Chiro had moved from the saddle. He now sat in between the two horns on Icefire's head so he wouldn't get wet. He held onto each horn so he would not fall. He glanced from one place to the next when he remembered what Simon had said about crocodiles.
Icefire flicked her leathery ears upward to prevent any more water from entering them. She flared her nostrils and snorted water out of her nose. She blinked her yellow-green eyes to remove the water from them.
Icefire felt Chiro suddenly tense. A wave of fear came through their mind link. She lifted her head just high enough out of the water so that she could talk "What is it Chiro?"
At first Chiro was unable to talk. When he was able to his voice quaked with fear. "C-c-c-crocodiles!" Icefire looked about and at first saw nothing. Then she saw some movement to her left. There swimming toward were crocodiles at least half her size.
When the crocodiles made the mistake of getting to close, Icefire swung her tail under the murky water. Her tail collided with the side of the green scaly lizards head. It cried out in pain and fled to get reinforcements the others followed.
"Wow, that was easy..." Chiro stated and sweat droped.
"Don't count your dragons before they hatch. They probably just went to get reinforcements from larger and much stronger crocodiles." Icefire said.
Chiro trembled in fear at what Icefire had just said. "Do you think you can beat them?"
"I don't know but I don't want to stick around to find out." With that said she swam as fast as she could.
"I see land!" Chiro cried.
Icefire swam until she was able to run on dry land. She galloped a little ways away from the swamp before she stopped. She lied down and let Chiro get off her head. He instantly went to her side and mounted, he strapped himself into the saddle.