36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter thirty-six
Zenn swings my legs down, not releasing my hand as he bends to grab the satchel.
Then, we're flying through the forest, hardly feeling the pine needles whipping our faces and the scrapes from rough branches as we race to find one of the people I know I can't live without.
Willa screams again, sounding so far away.
My lungs and legs ache, but I manage to keep my feet beneath me as I'm pulled down the steep slope.
Zenn somehow has enough breath to yell his sister's name repeatedly, and the panicked plea for help that responds has pure ice running through my veins.
It's not just Willa, but Xaavi too. Oh gods, what if they came across more of those wolves?
There's no sign of anything and no answer the next time we call out. It takes an age to reach the edge of the forest, light pouring in as the trees start to thin. It feels more like the edge of the world as Zenn comes to an abrupt stop only a few feet before the ground beneath us disappears. He throws an arm out, grabbing my jacket to halt my momentum and stop me crashing into him, pushing us both over the edge. He shouts Willa’s name again, voice raw, breathing jagged.
I'm about to do the same when I hear a muffled gurgling.
Zenn takes two careful steps then drops to lie on his stomach right on the edge of the steep cliff.
He swears at whatever he sees, and I force myself to mimic his actions.
When I make it to his side and follow his distraught gaze, mind-numbing terror consumes me.
Fifty feet below, my best friend lies crumpled in a puddle of blood on a rocky outcrop, jutting from the otherwise very sheer, very flat cliffside.
Leering up at us, one arm around Xaavi's torso and another holding a glinting blade to his throat, is a strange-looking man with long, black and grey hair.
Before we can say a word, he steps backward, falling into the shadowy mist swirling beneath the ledge, taking Xaavi with him.
Zenn shouts frantically, looking between Willa's crumpled form and me in horror.
There's a thump and a short, pained scream, then nothing.
Pale light breaks through the low clouds, reflecting off the growing golden pool surrounding Willa.
"Is she breathing?" I demand. "Tell me she's breathing."
"I can't see for sure, she's too far away," Zenn replies sharply, jumping to his feet, "I need to get down there."
I can't tear my eyes away from Willa. She looks so small, and she's lying so still, her vibrant hair fanning out around her head and flowing over the edge along with one of her arms. If she was awake, she'd pull herself back closer to the safety of the cliff.
Staring at her chest, I will it to move, trying desperately to hear or see any signs of life.
Hot tears trickle down my cheeks. "Please, Goddess, I need to know she's alive," I whisper.
I need her to be ok more than I've ever needed anything in my life.
Blinking a few times to clear tears so murky, they're turning my vision a hazy indigo, I shuffle an inch over the side of the cliff, focusing on the space over Willa's heart, sucking in a sharp breath when I see it rise and fall ever so slightly.
Once, twice, then I'm hauled up onto my feet, away from the edge.
"What the fuck are you doing? The last thing I need is you falling too," Zenn snaps, face furious. Then, he releases his grip and goes back to calling for help with no response.
"She's breathing. I saw her chest move."
He narrows his eyes at me before spinning to look at his sister again. "How can you be sure from so far up?" I don't miss the hope creeping into his tone.
“I know what I saw. Now, how do we help her?"
Zenn curses. “The only way we're getting down there is to abseil, except we don't have any rope, and even if we did, there's nobody fucking here to anchor it.
" He drops to his knees at the edge, staring at the broken body of his younger sister, and my heart shatters when he whispers, "This can't happen again. I can't watch her die."
Forcing myself to look away, I scan the forest until I spot a thicket of supplejacks, and the shadow of a crazy idea unfolds.
I race to the vines, ripping through them for a one that’s tender enough to bend, hacking at it with my secateurs so a length of it comes free.
I have no idea if it will reach, but we can't afford to waste any more time.
I don't let myself think of my best friend alone and in pain.
I have to make this work. Turning back toward the cliff, I smack into a wall of hard muscle.
Zenn must've noticed my absence and followed the noise. He doesn’t say it's a stupid idea.
He just takes the bundle of vine from my arms, following me out of the forest. "I get what you're thinking, and it's clever, but there aren't any trees close enough to wrap this end around," he says, coming up behind me and dropping the twisted pile.
"We don't need one."
"There's no way you're strong enough to hold my weight."
"Obviously. That's why you'll be lowering me," I reply, trying to sound far more confident than I feel.
"Absolutely the fuck not. Are you insane?"
"What, don't think you can hold my weight?" I joke, resorting to humor in an effort to distract both of us, even though I'm questioning that very thing in my head right now.
"It's a vine, Aly. A fucking vine you just pulled out of the forest. We have no idea if it will hold, it's too dangerous, and this definitely won’t reach all the way." He folds his arms across his chest as if that's it, decision made. But his eyes flit to Willa, and I know he's torn.
"Look around. There's no one else here. We have no choice. I'm not leaving her down there. I don't need this to reach all the way, only to that ledge." I point it out, grabbing one end of the vine and wrangling it into a long loop.
"And how exactly are you going to get the rest of the way?" he growls. "Please don't tell me you think you can jump that far? It's thirty feet."
"I need you to trust me." I strip out of my boots and socks, ignoring his protests and the freezing rock under my bare feet.
At the edge of the cliff, Zenn tests the knot work he redid in place of my lousy effort then turns to me, tipping my chin up to meet his eyes. "Are you sure about this? If the vine breaks…" He doesn't need to finish the rest of that sentence. We both know what happens if it doesn't hold.
"I'm sure," I nod, swallowing back the terror squeezing my heart when I look over the edge and think about stepping off it.
"Better to go fast once you're over the edge if you can manage it.
The sooner we get you off the vine, the better.
" He's slipped into full Commander mode, and for the first time, I find it comforting instead of irritating.
I step into the loop, and he pulls it up like a makeshift seat, spinning me to face him, lining my heels up with the very edge of the ridge.
My stomach churns, feeling nothing but open air at my back.
"Now for the fun part, Reyaal." Zenn tries to sound lighthearted, but behind that false bravado, he looks as terrified as I feel.
"When you're ready, you're going to lean back slowly.
No jerky movements, keep your feet hip-width apart and as steady as possible, and don't look down.
I'll let you know once you're at the right angle, and you'll be able to move off the rock wall.
Each time you do, I'll let out the vine and lower you down. "
He wraps the other end of the supplejack around his waist three times, looping the rest of the excess around his leather clad forearm and pulling on his gloves. I do the same before gripping the knot, testing it with my weight one last time.
"Ok, I'm ready," I lie. My body is protesting at the idea of leaning over a fucking cliff with nothing but inky, swirling mist to break my fall.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I force myself to go against every survival instinct and shift backward, a little at a time, hating the sensation of trying to rest against something that isn't there.
"You're doing so well. Keep going. This will be the hardest part.
I'm right here." Zenn's low, reassuring voice is all that's keeping me moving.
It feels like most of my weight is pulling against the vine when my left foot slips, and I gasp, eyes flying open as I scramble midair for what feels like an eternity.
Then, I make the mistake of looking down through the gap between my knees, and I freeze, completely unable to move as I take in the vast expanse of absolute nothingness.
If I fall, I'm well and truly fucked.
"Aly, look at me." I'm vaguely aware of Zenn speaking, even though all I hear is the blood pounding in my ears.
Is it me, or is that black fog swirling in very unnatural ways?
What the hell was I thinking? I can't do this.
Why did I think I could? I should've told Zenn to use his speed to go find one of the others.
And a vine? A piece of a plant so flimsy, I hacked it apart with my gardening scissors.
Looking down again, I see Willa through my hazy vision.
She needs me. I can't fail her. I have to be strong enough to do this.