Chapter 8
KORMAC
I managed to grab the edge of the ledge, my muscles twanging from the sudden halt to my falling.
Thank the gods I responded in time!
My legs dangled below me, my body feeling heavy. I looked up, Valance’s eyes on me. The prince went to move, then ducked an attack from one of those damn snakes.
“Hold on!” he cried, leaping to the side to avoid another.
Safest route, my ass!
“Careful!” I called back.
Rocks and dust crumbled past my hands.
Hellpiss!
He moved towards me but twisted to avoid yet another snake. Any second now, I’d be gone. This ledge wouldn’t hold. I could feel it longing to collapse.
We’d be free.
Valance’s eyes glazed over, his magic bristling against my skin. A buzz both warm and terrifying. The air around him shimmered like the heat in this gods forsaken place, and he turned his head to look at the cliff wall.
I couldn’t get any footing, my boots just out of reach of the cliff face. But there were burrows there anyway, spreading all the way down to the rocky terrain below.
Fucking snakes! Stupid, hellpissing, slithery hellpissers.
Damn!
Something happened to the burrows. They closed, one by one, sealing over as a curtain drawing across a window. One snake got itself cut in half as it tried to slide back in.
Valance’s magic!
It didn’t take long until every burrow was sealed up, the prince panting as he studied his handiwork.
“I’m slipping,” I said calmly, not wanting any collapsing triggered by a yelp. My hands were slick with sweat, adding to this ledge’s determination to get me off it.
The prince turned to stare at me.
Oh, fuck.
No…