Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene IX

"Blood, mud and falling skies," she muttered in barely audible tones, unaware that the words were even leaving her lips, her speech and thoughts so mangled with delirium. The wet linen sail once again becoming a makeshift dress around her warm body. She then dragged the rowboat further up onto the shore; the dark black sand, heavy with water, more like a cloggy clay field than a beachy coastline.

Picking up a stick she then began to draw a large circle around the boat, but the sand being so heavy the stick snapped under the attempt. Not thinking to find a replacement she simply dropped to her knees and continued to etch the circle with her bare hands. The ring complete she then uttered more mumblings. The wet wood of the boat - which few would've believed could've made such a perilous journey, failing some act of supernatural benefaction - then burst into flames. The licks of fire sparkling and crackling against the damp mist.

She then headed further up the beachhead and into the nearby forest, out of sight. She lit a smaller fire, then sat down to wait.