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After a couple of days of easy trekking the going was now getting tougher by every hour. Novgorod had entered the marshlands of Dagorlad and his pace slowed considerably. At times he had to check his every step and the mosquitoes were a constant annoyance. The going was getting all the more fatiguing and so the Blueberryjuice proved to be a real treasure, partly saving his day.
But eventually his concentration slipped for a fleeting moment. That was enough to get him into trouble. Suddenly the ground just gave away from beneath him and he realised his feet being swallowed by the bog, the swamp sucking them into it’s cold and muddy embrace ever tighter. He was sinking deeper at a slow but steady pace. Novgorod was cursing loudly.
This was not the first time Novgorod had been stucked into a marsh, but this time he had no one to help him out. He had sunken thigh-deep before he remembered what to do. With all his strength he yanked his body forwards, managing to ease the pressure around his feet passingly. He landed flat on his face to the bog, his legs still sucked by the muddy substance from under his knees. This probably is the most awkward position I’ve ever found myself from, he thought to himself after the “landing” and smiled a bit just to rise his spirits as he spat mud from his mouth.
As his weight was now spread over the surface of the swamp as evenly as possible, his body stopped sinking. But just laying there, nose on the smelly bog, was both frustrating and in a long run also dangerous. The problem was, that he knew only too well that every movement he made would probably sunk him deeper if he was not extra careful.
So, careful to move only those muscles that were absolutely needed, Novgorod started slowly raising his head to assess the situation and his chances. He had a faint image in his mind of there being patches of open water blue in front of him before he got stucked. He rose his head from the ground.
And there it was! Just two feet ahead from him behind the little neck of swamp. And if there is a place that is a bit higher than the surroundings, there is a reason for it... and that is some more steady vegetation... Carefully he started pushing his right hand through the moss and mud in front of him and finally got a hold of a root of a kind under the mud. Carefully he slipped his left hand in to take a grasp of the root too. Then he started concentrating. I need strength and speed to have momentum. I need strength and speed... he said to himself, breathing deeply and readying his muscles for the pull. I have one chance, a second is up to the stars. All or nothing, now!
With that he pulled himself fast forwards, using all the energy his arms could generate. The root he had taken hold of turned out to be quite rotten and broke down and so the pull produced only a part of the force he was hoping for. It was enough to free his feet but not enough to spring him to the open water.
“Blas...” he had time to yell before his face sank into the mud filling his mouth with the incredibly foul stinking substance of the bog and the rotten pieces of wood. He raised his head up immediately and realised being only about feet away from the open water, sinking fast into the swamp because of the force he had used. Just a feet! You can do it! He took a deep breath and started struggling forwards, sinking down with every effort of a stroke he made. Soon he was totally buried under the swamp, struggling forwards. And with every movement downwards he also got a little forwards. He had never fought this furiously for his life. Down he went, and a little forwards, down he went, and...
Just as his lungs were breaking, first his hands and then his head plunged from the mud into the open water. Novgorod had to double his effort to get the rest of his body out from the squeeze of the bog. His legs were still partly stucked in the mud as he made his last effort and sprang up towards the surface of the water. I... need... air...! ...
It took a while before Novgorod came faintly back to the here and now. He was on the float, free from the mud, in open water but too tired to do anything. At last he managed to take a draught of the Blueberryjuice and started regaining both his mind and body. There was a long patch of clean water around him, bordering to another little neck of the land, but behind it there was more water. Slowly he started swimming towards the next pool of water.
Passing over the next neck of land was a lot easier as he could build up some speed in the water and then leap forwards. That didn’t mean he didn’t have to struggle. Also his clothes and packages were wetted through and turned heavy. But in the end he somehow managed to pass several necks of land and following the open waters he at last reached the end of the marshes.
Novgorod was too tired to continue. He was too tired to even make a fire to dry and make himself warm. He only pulled the thoroughly wet clothes off him and fell asleep covered only by the low shrubs against the mosquitoes.
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