16. A fucking cliff
16
A fucking cliff
Kaine
T he fucking cliff loomed above us.
“We left them behind,” said Nidori, standing up. “They weren’t expecting us to come this way.”
“They? People, then?” I asked. I’d been on edge all night. I didn’t think it could be Cassandra, not so soon, but why would anyone else be hunting us? And it didn’t help my mood that my Nidori was getting all cozy with Talon. Why didn’t I think of carrying her?
“I guess,” she replied. “All right. We need to get up there.”
She pointed straight up the steep cliff face. I squinted, making out something that could possibly be a cave entrance.
“Question. How do we get up there?” Fuck. I hated heights.
“Hmm. I haven't gotten that far yet. We can fly up, but Kaine can’t,” Nidori said to Talon. “Can you carry Kaine?”
Well? I glanced at him, eyebrows raised. That didn’t seem like the worst idea.
He hesitated. “I can’t,” he said finally. “Fly, I mean.”
In explanation, he unfurled his wings. The delicate membrane that stretched between the long, bony digits was shredded, torn to ribbons. No chance they would make him airborne. They were basically just an extra, cool-looking pair of arms, at this point.
“Oh, Talon.” Nidori gave his head a hug, and I gritted my teeth. He reached up and patted her head, giving her a sad smile. “So, you definitely can’t carry Kaine up.”
“Astute,” I said tersely. Seemed like we were back to option one. Which was climbing the fucking cliff .
Ugh. Curse Talon. And curse whatever had ruined his wings, and thus my easiest way to this cave.
“Hang on. You’re a maoferni. Can’t you just teleport up there?” he said.
I sighed. “No.”
“But I thought—”
“All of us stranded on this side lost that ability the moment Hell was closed.”
It was partly why heights freaked me out so much. I hadn’t realised how scary tall things were until my ability to escape any fall in a blink was just… gone.
“Ah,” said Talon.
Gods, he really must not have talked to a lot of hellspawn.
“Um, all right. Here’s the plan,” he said. “Nidori, you have a big role in this. You up for it?”
Nidori nodded, a serious expression on her face. I felt a flicker of hope. She could just pull us up, right? With her woodweaving?
But that wasn’t the plan Talon described.
I fiddled with my knives as Talon gave Nidori instructions. It was soothing to clip them in. Out. In. Out. Don’t think about the cliff.
“Okay, Nidori. You fly up to the cave mouth.” He peered at her, eyes softening. “It might get windy, so use some vines to keep you near the wall if you need. When you get to the top, send a long, strong vine down, then Kaine and I will use it to climb up safely.”
That was his plan?! I should have just killed him last night. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with this. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. Perhaps he was trying to kill me. Planning for me to have an accident on this climb.
I could solve this now. One command, and Nidori would have to pull me up. The magic swirled within me, the words starting to form on my lips. But I changed what I was going to say at the last second.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” I snapped. “Up there ? I was not picked for being some kind of endurance athlete.”
“Now, I’m curious. Why do you think you were picked?” Talon asked, folding his arms.
I scowled. “That’s obvious, pet. My dashing good looks and charm.” I turned back to the cliff. “It certainly wasn’t because I can climb cliffs.”
“Says the man who’s spent half of last evening up a tree.”
I scowled. There was a big difference between being 20 feet off the ground, surrounded by thick, grabbable branches vs scaling a sheer cliff face that I couldn’t even see the top of.
“Why can’t Nidori just pull us up with her vine magic?” I jerked my chin at her.
“It’s not fair to ask her to do that for us. She’s running herself ragged as it is,” he said. “We can pull our own weight.”
I glanced at her. Shit. He was right. She glanced at me from Talon’s back, still managing to put a smile on her face. Okay, maybe he did have a good reason behind this. He could still be trying to kill me, though.
“All I’m saying is—”
“You’re a maoferni,” he said, cutting me off. He was really getting irritated. “You can manage a cliff climb. ”
I was silent. Fuck. He really seemed set on this. The words danced on my tongue, the magic swirling in me, ready to be used.
Nidori, pull me up there.
I wanted to say them, desperately. But Nidori hadn’t reacted the way I’d expected when she became mine. She was so… happy. I wasn't sure I wanted to ruin that illusion yet.
“So, we’re going with my plan.” Talon continued, taking my silence for sullenness. “Nidori, you ready?”
She nodded and came over to plant a kiss on my cheek. “You’ve got this,” she whispered before launching herself into the air. Somehow, the little action settled my spiraling thoughts, just for a second. We watched as she went higher and higher. Talon had been right about the wind. Her ascent slowed as she took to landing on ledges, growing vines from the cliff to steady herself. I gripped my dagger tightly in my hand as a strong gust blew her into the side of the cliff.
“Can’t we just—” I started.
“Just drop it,” Talon snapped, whirling to me. My whole body seized up at his movement, and I recoiled sharply. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I found my hands raised in defence. No pain came, and I blinked, focusing on Talon again.
Fuck. He was frozen, his mouth partly open, a stupidly hurt look on his face. An uncomfortable feeling twisted in my belly, something I couldn’t quite identify. I lowered my shaking hands, my face heating.
“Look,” he said, pulling back a bit but keeping the hard expression on his face. “I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
“Hurt her?” I said, shocked. There was still a ringing in my ears. I looked up the cliff, barely able to make her out. “She’s the first good thing that’s happened to me in centuries.”
“So, you already have her trapped, then,” he said flatly.
He fell silent after that. We both did .
Way to go, Kaine .
Anger and shame burned within me, and I clenched my jaw, trying to push it away. It was crawling up my throat, trying to form a lump.
Fuck off , I told it.
I had more than enough to deal with right now, besides some idiot trying to make me feel bad. My brain was on the verge of shutting down, and I couldn’t afford that right now.
A long, thick vine grew down from above, landing on the floor with a thump. A cold sweat broke out on my back as I looked at it.
“We’ll attach our packs to the bottom and pull them up after. Do you want—”
“Don’t. Touch me,” I snapped. He looked hurt. Was he just pretending? Perhaps this wasn’t an assassination attempt.
Talon stripped down to his light underclothes, attaching his armour to his pack and securing it to the bottom of the vine. I waited until he was done, and secured mine as well.
Would it be easier for him to kill me if he was above me or below me? He could cut the rope if he was above me. I stepped forward, making sure I was going first. I squeezed my eyes shut, allowing myself a moment before starting to ascend. I took a breath.
You can do hard things, idiot.
Fuck, that’s all your life has been .
Just go one foothold at a time. Don’t look down. You chose this, after all. Chose not to make Nidori do this, chose to protect her. Stupid.
I was doing this all wrong. She was supposed to be helping me, not the other way around .
I kept glancing down, and to avoid comprehending the retreating ground, I found myself watching Talon instead. My half-formed thought of cutting the rope faded—he wasn’t even using it. It looked easy for him. Natural. His wings were essentially another pair of arms, giving him six places to secure a hold, and if he needed any steadying, his tail flicked out and balanced him. He caught my look, eyes hardening.
I looked up again, and the queasy feeling returned to my stomach. My breaths felt tight, shallow, as if part of me was insisting on holding my breath until this was all over. I didn’t want him to catch up to me.
Reach up, foothold, adjust. Repeat. My hands were raw, arms shaking as I continued up. Sweat was coating my back and my palms.
We were almost at the top when I heard a noise behind me. I turned, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. An erusei was hovering in the air behind us, likely drawn to the magical energy it sensed. It was a large, horse-like creature with two wings that carried it through the air. It was an elemental beast, and currently it was in its weakest form; air. It appeared to be made from mist, its silver eyes glowing. They were territorial from what I knew, but also couldn’t touch us in their mist form. I turned back to the wall, trying to find my next handhold when the erusei let out a horrifying shriek. I jerked at the noise, wound too tight from the terrifying climb, and lost my grip on the wall.
My mind went blank as my heart shot into my throat. I scrambled for a hold, missing the rope, and managed to pull a useless plant up by the roots. Instinct caused me to try and teleport, but of course, nothing happened. The terrifying weightlessness took over, a moment that was a fraction of a second and somehow forever. I smashed into an outcrop beneath me, and the impact knocked all the breath from my lungs, the hard, jagged cliff face tearing up my skin on my chest and legs. I felt like my ribs had been obliterated. The warmth of the blood covering my body was stolen by the cold rush of air that told me I was still falling. Then I crashed into something solid below me. It was hot and soft, vastly different from the cold air and sharp rocks I was expecting.
We swung through the air, and I realised it must be Talon, but I was slipping again, my body trying to continue its traitorous journey down. Something strong, smooth, and tight wrapped around me and drew me closer to the warmth. My hand brushed against the smooth, velvety texture—his tail, wrapped around me.
Shit, shit, shit .
He was moving, wings flapping, and I prayed to the universe that he could grab on to the wall again. His tail lifted me up, drawing me to his torso, and I forced my shaking hand to grip on to him properly. I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but hold on and pray that horrible weightlessness wouldn’t take me again. It lingered, just beyond the warmth—cold nothingness ready to swallow me up.
A strong arm wrapped around me, tugging me up to a secure embrace. I was between Talon and the wall, his body caged around mine. With my eyes squeezed shut, I felt it. Safe. Safe . I wrapped myself around him, burying my head in his neck.
Bless this stupid, strong enferni .
He said something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. He tugged us apart, catching my gaze for a second. Away from him was cold—
—wind tearing at me—
—empty space all around—
—the impossible cliff—
—pain with every breath—
I clawed my way back to him, terrified. Was this it? Was he going to throw me down, end me right here?
“Kaine!” I heard from above.
Please, I begged silently, squeezing my eyes shut again, wrapping my arms around his torso. Please help me. Please get us away from here .
Thankfully, he started moving slowly and carefully, but I could feel us inching up.
You’re pathetic . Useless . Worthless .
A stupid idiot, embarrassing himself by letting a creature made of mist scare him.
I felt vines wrap around me, and thankfully, our struggle was relieved by Nidori’s magic pulling us up the last ten feet.
As soon as my feet hit solid ground, I scrambled away from the cliff edge, my arms wrapped around my waist, deeper into the cave. The adrenaline helped me surge forward, despite the deep pain in my ribs and legs. I lodged myself into a corner, tucking my head into my knees and trying to control my shaking.
I hoped they believed I was sulking; I couldn’t let them see how wounded I was. I couldn’t let Talon see. Why didn’t he just let me fall? He had every reason to. My mind was spinning, trying to come up with a good plan to deal with this. My hand went to my clothes, seeing if I had bled through, onto Talon, if he would notice. A lot of the bruising was internal, only a couple of angry, raised scrapes oozing blood.
Nidori and Talon were busy, pulling up the rest of our stuff. Thankfully, they left me be.
Footsteps approached, and I glanced up to see Talon dropping my pack at my feet.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
He walked away without a word.