Page 58 of The Sea Witch
He almost suggested that he take the lead, in case the bridge didn’t hold, but Alys shot him a cautioning glance.
Without hesitation, she climbed onto the bridge. His breath came shallowly as he watched her walk across. She darted from one end of the vine bridge to the other.
A moment later, she was on the far side. Only when the quartermaster looked at him sharply did he realize that he’d let out a rough, loud exhale.
“Move fast and light,” Alys called across the crevasse. “Don’t give the bridge a chance to throw you off.”
Ben took a step toward the vines, but the second-in-command elbowed him back. Her face was drawn and tight, but she gamely climbed onto the bridge. She cursed her way across. When she reached the other side, she crouched down on her haunches and brought a handful of dirt to her lips.
“The bridge is growing less balanced the more people cross it,” Ben said to Susannah. “You go while it’s still stable.”
The woman nodded, and mounted the bridge. It rocked beneath her, and she gripped a vine for balance. Then, before the bridge could collapse beneath her, she ran its length, and arrived at the other side. Susannah leaned against Alys for a moment, catching her breath.
It was Ben’s turn.
He strode to the bridge, and as he stepped onto it, it shivered and trembled. The witches on the other side of the ravine were pale and shone with sweat from the effort of keeping the bridge intact and anchored.
God knew if it would hold him. Far below, the stones at the bottom of the ravine jutted up from green darkness.
It was no different from climbing a mast in a storm. Or so he told himself as he took a step and then another, pulling himself along by clutching a loose vine. The bridge quaked under him. His boots slipped. He fought to remain standing, even as the bridge shuddered.
The vines groaned. All three women let out a cry. The glow abruptly disappeared from the anchor point on the near side of the crevasse.
Ben had just enough time to grab the vine before the bridge swung free, gripping it. As he swung toward the far wall of the ravine, he braced for impact against the pointed rocks.
Vines knitted around him. They formed a cage, sheltering him, as he slammed into the rocky wall. He grunted from the collision, yet without the vines surrounding him, he would’ve been smashed to a pulp.
Gripping a thick vine, he hauled himself up. Hand over hand, he pulled himself higher. The lip of the crevasse loomed, and sweat dripped into his eyes.
Finally, he reached the rim. He grabbed it and heaved himselfover the top. A moment later, the bridge collapsed. It fell into the crevasse, landing with a crash that sent birds wheeling into the sky with alarmed cries.
Ben splayed on the ground, panting, clutching the solid earth beneath him as the cage of vines that surrounded him fell away.
Fuck.He’d come close to dying before, but that was during wild storms, when his mind had been too hazed with the need to keep the ship afloat and on course. This, though, hollowed him out.
Alys, Susannah, and the quartermaster gathered around, peering down at him.
“I’ve never thanked anyone for using magic before,” he rasped.
“Her.” The second-in-command jerked her head toward Alys. “She did it all.”
Ben stared at Alys. Her face was taut, her hazel eyes bright in her ashen face.
“You—”
She held up her hand. “Would’ve done the same for any of my crew. And we’re losing daylight the longer we stay here, kissing our own arses.”
Beneath her sharp words there was relief, curling like feathers on the wind.
He’d leapt in front of her without thought, protecting her from an unknown threat. And now she’d saved his life. The vines that had woven across the ravine were less tangled than whatever bound Alys and Ben together. No matter what lay ahead.
Chapter Thirteen
“You are white as paper,” Stasia said in a low whisper.
She trotted to keep up with Alys, who had again taken the lead. Ben was just behind them, with Susannah keeping a close eye in the back, in case anything decided to attack from the rear. Though the creatures that inhabited this island had been peaceful so far, at any moment they might see Alys and the others as a threat.
“I like to think of my complexion aspearly.” Alys slashed through the dense underbrush, using more force than her body had to give. It had been taxing enough to create the vine bridge with the help of Stasia and Susannah, but to create the cage and hold the end of the bridge on her own had completely drained her.
