How long had he been paddling?
Eallhere’s paws shook with effort, he kicked against the water. Even traveling with the current, he was exhausted. Water clawed at his fur, swells and surges threatened to drag him and his precious cargo under. Lightning cracked overhead and every shadow that passed under him caused his heart to leap into his chest. Logs, the corpses of creatures drowned in the ever-rising flood. A window, broken glass. Naku. Ealhhere shuddered, kicked harder against the churning river and yanked his head back out of the froth. He was so tired…

“We’re going in circles.” the purple cub on his back said. Her voice was flat, emotionless. She’d stopped coughing about 300 lightning bolts ago.
Her sister had finally managed to make it onto Ealhhere’s back proper when they found a log--400 bolts--that was solid enough to hold his weight without getting thrown by the current. The weight of both cubs was like stones on his back, holding him down and pushing him under. Without her threatening to drown him, he’d actually been able to correct his course and swim in a straight line. It would be easier if he could have them swim alongside him but… the current would take them. And--

Ealhhere shook his head, snorting on the muddy spray under his nose. “I’m not going in circles.” his voice rumbled in his chest. “The plains are just under a river ocean.” And he hadn’t seen a farm house he could climb onto for what felt like hours. He was certain it was only one. Counting the lightning flashes was the only way he had to tell time like this. The sky was grey and dark, the only light and breaks marked by the flashes of purple.

“Then why isn’t there any land?” the red-coated cub demanded. “We should’ve found the edge of the zone by now…” her body trembled on his back, rocked by his frantic paddling. He tossed his head, tried to toss his forelock out of his eyes to no avail. He simply had no leverage surrounded by water, to toss his feathers any way. Not without risking smacking the cubs with his horns or throwing them from his back.

“I know, kid. But you’re not the one swimming. If I start hearing ‘are we there yet’ I’m going t--”

The red one interrupted him: “Are our parents going to be okay?”

His heart jolted and he swallowed. Their parents. His mates. Ruairi. Zahrah. “It’s a Raid.” he answered. “Lotsa people are going to die. Focus on surviving. We’ll find your family afterwards.”

Lightning cracked. Winged shapes darted about the horizon. Ealhhere’s legs burned. His lungs ached. Trying to stay above water was getting harder, the current threatened to pull him Down instead of forward.
He couldn’t let the kids drown, though. They were kids.
What if they were his?
Could he forgive the selfish fool who let his cubs drown because he couldn’t handle a swim?

No, he couldn’t. With a huff he kicked out with renewed vigor and clawed at the water in front of him. Another flash and there was… that was the outline of the city?
…The city meant houses.
Sure it also meant death traps and who knew what else, probably swarms of naku desperate for a meal. But it was something. He could make that. He just needed a way to rest his legs for a bit, so he could keep swimming.

“Hey… kids.” he hissed over the rush of wind and the roll of thunder. “I need you kids to do me a favor.”

The red’s paws shifted, tangled into his mane to keep her balance. “Uhm… what kind? Is it pulling the thorns from your feathers?”
Oh was he thorny again? Of course he was…

“No, not that. I need you kids to talk to me. Tell me about your parents or… or… uh… you city cubs go to ‘school’, don’t you? Or… uh. Your friends. Or anything. Anything except--” a wave tried to leap into his mouth and he snapped his jaws shut, ducked his head under the water to get his forelock out of his face, emerging with a gasp-- “anything except this storm.”

It was the purple one who answered, slowly, hesitantly. “My… name is Jophiel. Our parents are… uhm…”

“Katarina! And they’re the ones fighting Danuoc!” the red one announced, yanking on his feathers in her excitement. Ealhhere tried not to wince. “That green lightning is Mama Freyja! The deer-like one is Mama Neve and--”

Katarina and Jophiel. The cubs he was saving were Katarina and Jophiel. He let that information course through his limbs, power him on his way towards the city. To houses. To Rooftops, while Katarina nattered excitedly about how their parents were so cool, so powerful and were going to kick Danuoc’s butt.
It was a distraction from the strain, the shake of his limbs. He could keep going… as long as the kids kept talking.