Chapter 39
Ava wiped her brow. Her tunic clung to her like a second skin, drenched in sweat, as they continued their journey through the canyon. Though the walls of the gorge had initially provided protection from the wind, apparently today was an exception, almost constant gusts stirring up sand and dirt.
“Is this heat worse than Igneothenia? I fear this is worse,” Raine complained. “I’m sweating in places I didn’t even know I could sweat. And why is it so damned windy today? My skin is itchy. My hair is a mess. And I ripped my pants getting down from that cave.”
“It’s always your pants, isn’t it?” Casimir clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Well, I’d hate to have to buy another pair. Again.”
“I doubt that,” Ava said. “You love shopping. At least it wasn’t my fault this time.”
Raine chuckled. “The trip is still young. Perhaps you’ll ruin the next pair.”
She gave him an amused look. “I’ll try not to.”
“How about when we win this war, you and I go shopping and buy completely new wardrobes?”
“That sounds wonderful. But this time, it’ll be my treat.”
Raine put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Then it’s a date.”
“And,” Ava added, “We must get pastries at your sister’s shop after.”
“Of course. It’s tradition.”
“How did you ruin Raine’s pants?” Maeryn asked, curiosity in her voice.
Raine stepped away from Ava, joining Maeryn in front of him. “Do you not know the story of how we first met our princess?”
Maeryn shook her head.
“Well, I shall enlighten all of you.” Raine gesticulated wildly with his hands, now walking backwards as he faced the group.
He launched into the tale of how they found Ava in the woods, bruised and dirty, after escaping the daemon camp. How she fought back when Raine grabbed her, stabbing him in the thigh.
“You stabbed him?” Jareth asked, brow raised.
“I sure did. I feel terrible about it now. But at the time, I didn’t know who they were. I was scared.”
Jareth tilted his head. “Well now I don’t hate you as much as I hate the rest of this group.”
“Because I stabbed Raine?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m honored. Your approval is exactly what I was seeking,” she deadpanned.
“Yes, she stabbed me.” Raine ignored Jareth. “While she screamed and snarled like a feral little kitten.”
“Little kitten?” Ava balked. “How insulting.”
Raine gave her a grin and continued with his story. “Then, she ruined a second pair of my pants I lent her by going and getting herself bitten by a daemon hound.”
“But Aro killed it. Even though Cas hated me,” she teased.
Casimir grabbed her hand and yanked her close. “I’ve never hated you, love. I was just…wary. Confused.”
She tapped him on the nose. “Right.”
The group continued, telling stories and enjoying each other’s company.
Even Jareth didn’t say anything cruel, listening closely with a hint of something like envy in his eyes.
It was so subtle, Ava had almost missed it.
But when another story that caused them all to laugh was told, there it was again.
He wanted this. Longed for it. The ease of friendships without political pressure or climbing the ranks.
People who loved and accepted each other without any qualms—who would do anything for one another.
And Ava pitied him.
“And then there was the time—” Raine began.
“Stop!” called Imsel, rushing to the front of the group and pulling Raine aside. “Everybody freeze!”
Ava’s heart leaped in her throat as she scanned their surroundings. Nothing looked amiss, the canyon silent aside from the breeze.
“What is it?” someone asked.
Imsel gestured to the path before them. “Jarǒuki’i trap right in front of us. Raine almost stepped on it.”
Raine muttered a curse under his breath, his eyes wide. “Thank you.”
“Story time is over,” Casimir announced. “How do we handle this?”
Imsel scanned the ground, taking in every detail, their eyes moving along the walls of the canyon. “We can scale the walls and climb that way. Or build a bridge.”
“Ava, can you portal us across?” Casimir asked.
“I’m not sure. It might be too windy for me to draw the symbols in the sand.”
Ava knelt, drawing the first symbol when a gust of wind blew it away.
With a frustrated sigh she started again, this time almost finishing the second before it was destroyed.
For a solid five minutes she tried, drawing them as quickly as possible, but even when she’d completed all three, a gust whisked them away before she even had a chance to slice her palm.
Ava stood, frustrated.
“It’s alright, love. Build a bridge,” Casimir said to Imsel. “Our animals cannot scale walls.”
The fae captain raised their hands, facing the wall to the group’s left. With a low rumble, rock rose from the ground and along the stone face, stretching across the span of the softer surface. A bead of sweat dripped down their brow as they focused to keep it steady.
With a breath, they released their magic. There was now a narrow bridge running along the stone wall of the canyon, just wide enough to accommodate Aro.
The animals will go first, said Luna, leaping up and trotting across the walkway.
Ava held her breath as Sabriel and Aro followed.
Casimir waved the group forward. “It appears secure. Let’s get going.”
The soldiers began to cross, pressing into the wall and keeping as far away from the edge as possible. The tension in the air was palpable as each person ventured to the other side.
Casimir stepped onto the rock, holding his hand out behind him to help Ava up. Raine, Maeryn and the remaining members of their party followed. Ava hugged the wall, trying—but failing—not to look down.
Now that she was above it, she could see the texture change in the sand, the way it dipped and shifted with the breeze.
It reminded her of an antlion trap, where the insect would lie in wait at the bottom for an ant to fall into their pit, only to be devoured.
When she was a child, she would put a blade of grass in the trap, trying to get the insect to grasp onto it with its pincers and reveal itself.
But this wasn’t a tiny antlion. This was an oversized monster that would easily overcome them should they fall in.
A rumble started in the distance, growing louder with each passing second. The entire canyon began to shake.
“Is that another earthquake?” Raine asked from behind her, panic in his voice.
“Yes. Quickly now!” Maeryn called.
It took all of Ava’s effort to stay balanced as the stone trembled beneath her feet. Casimir moved faster, but part of the bridge crumbled and his foot slipped. Cursing under his breath, he regained his balance and continued.
The trembling grew stronger, Ava’s nerves on fire as she kept going.
“Heads up!” someone shouted.
A massive rock tumbled from above, headed straight for the group.
Ava scrambled back. The boulder crashed into the exact spot she had been standing, breaking a hole in the bridge in front of her and cutting off the path forward.
“Imsel!” Casimir shouted above the noise. “Can you repair it?”
“I’m trying. But the earthquake is making it difficult for me to control the rock!”
Ava grew vines from her hands, extending them to the other side, but the edge of the bridge crumbled every time she tried to find something for them to latch onto.
Casimir tried sending his own across, but another small boulder tumbled and broke them apart. “You’re going to have to jump!” he shouted, holding out his hand.
“Jump?” she shrieked. “I can’t! It’s too far.”
Leaning into the wall, she tried to catch her breath, evaluating the distance between where she and Casimir stood. Another tremor and her entire body swayed as she almost lost her balance.
“Come on, love. You can do it. I’ll catch you.”
“Go Ava,” Raine said. “Hurry. Before the rest of this bridge collapses.”
Steeling herself, Ava crouched and faced Casimir. Not allowing herself time to overthink it any further, she leaped forth, landing on the stone with a thud and crashing into his chest.
“Perfect,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist. “I have you.”
The ground released yet another large tremor. They lurched forward, trying to remain on their feet. Another jolt. Ava could hardly stay upright. Casimir gripped her arms. They took a step. Then another.
A massive quake shook the entire canyon.
The bridge crumbled, the rock giving way beneath their feet.
Ava screamed. Casimir hollered.
Ava threw her arms out, scrambling for purchase, for something to hold onto. Anything. She tried using a vine but couldn’t grasp anything. People shouted their names but she could barely hear them over the rumbling.
The breath was knocked from her lungs as she hit the sand with a thud.
Casimir was already being pulled under, only his hand now visible. Ava clawed at the shifting granules, trying to reach him, the sand now up to her chest.
A vine appeared, someone attempting to pull her out. She tried to grasp it but the trap sucked her under quicker than she could move.
Then the earth swallowed her whole.