Page 27 of Trial of Thorns
I hear scuffling and yelling up ahead.
Perfect, this must be the climax.
I stop as I realize the trial ends over a cliff. In the massive canyon below, smoke rises. The inhuman screech of some dark creature causes a shiver to run down my back. I spy bat-like wings flickering into view and then out.Great. Shadow-vyrns. Flying lizard-like creatures, fast and vicious and dumb as rocks.
Across the cavern, there is a metal-wire bridge already half torn to pieces. One side is destroyed entirely, leaving two wires—one a few feet above the other, stretching across the void with bits of metal and scorched wood hanging off of it. This is going to be interesting.
“Come on, Rev!”
I blink, as I notice Brielle standing at the edge, waving at me. I sprint to her, eyes wide. By my estimation, the canyon is half a mile wide and several miles deep, with the viscous creatures swarming the place. We’ll have to inch over this wire while fighting these things. There’s no other way across unless you’re a lucky wind rider. I’m assuming Drake’s already long past. Not that he’d help if he was. He’s as desperate for the crown as I am. He’d enjoy ripping it from my cold dead fingers.
“Come on. We’ll cross together, and I’m going to torch the thing once we’re across.”
I give her a sharp nod. Good, we’ll be the last to cross. No one else will be able to make the finish line in time. Even we’re cutting it close now. This half a mile will take at least ten minutes.
A female fae comes into view behind us, and my stomach drops until I notice her dark skin and curly hair. Not the betrayer. Good.
It’s the webbed girl.
“We could probably use the help,” I tell Brielle, nodding towards the female fae racing towards us.
She sneers but concedes and we pause until she reaches us. “We’ll fight them together,” I shout to the girl. I don’t know her name. I don’t care.
She nods, her eyes wide, but she doesn’t speak.
We begin inching across the wire bolted to the cliff side. It shutters and sways as I step out from the rock-side cliff, all my weight on the small wire. The first shadow-vyrn bolts towards us, and Brielle sends a roaring wolf of flame at it. The wyvern dodges it and squeals, diving down and rising with a few friends.Dammit.
“Move faster!” I shout at Brielle. We need to take the inches we can get before the real fighting starts. We’re only fifteen feet out when the three wyverns attack. I explode with light, and they squeal in pain, eyes closed. Shadow creatures hate luminescent light. They’re not fans of fire, but so long as it doesn’t touch them, they’re able to deal.
My light is from the sun. The antithesis to their magic. “Move!” I shout again as we take long steps. I cover all three of us with light, and the wyverns swarm around, looking for a weakness but not getting close enough to strike.
Brielle’s hands shake, her feet unsteady. Dammit, I should have gone first.
“Stop,” I tell her. My light still shines bright around us. “I’m going to pass you, just stay still.” I carefully step around her, holding her by the waist with one hand, the other only holding tightly to the top wire. She whimpers, but spider girl helps to steady her, and when I’m clear, I move forward. The flying lizards are angrily trying to get past my light shield. It’s taking up a lot of my energy but for the moment, it’s working.
By the time we get across, I won’t have any magic left. But that’s a problem for future-me. I move quickly across the wire, Brielle’s hands on my shoulders. Around us, my blinding white light is all that’s visible. Which is good because it means we can’t seedown.We can hear the high pitched screeching of the shadow-vyrns. We can feel the unsteady wire. But it does help to focus. One step at a time. Big steps, as quickly as we can manage.
A set of shining black teeth suddenly chomp through the light barrier and graze my right shoulder. I jerk and nearly send us all flying off the wire. Brielle screams and bends forward, hyperventilating. The nameless fae shoots a blob of black magic at bodiless teeth and the creature roars, reeling back.
“Keep it up!” I shout. They will break through my shield at some point, but the more we can delay it, the better. I keep taking long steady steps. Brielle’s breathing is shaky, and I wonder if she’s trying not to cry. “Keep walking. Just one step at a time,” I say in a soothing tone.
Another sticky-black blob of magic flies past my ear, into a snout I hadn’t even seen until it was already pulling back. “Good job.” I can’t tell how far we’ve gone or how far we have to go because the light blocks the view, even for me.
It doesn’t matter. We’ll keep moving until we hit solid ground. We will keep going until we don’t have to.
I don’t know how much time has passed. Again, I don’t care. I’ll go as fast as I’m able. Another snapping jaw comes at me, and another shot of web magic pushes them back.
This girl is from one of the lesser courts, a branch from Shadow Court if my history is correct—she’s not someone I’d usually ally with, but at this point, beggars can’t be choosers.
She’s doing well, and I don’t care where she comes from. I need her help. Brielle is surely not doing much for us at the moment. I’d be screwed without spider-girl.
A claw slams through my shield, and my balance wavers. My light splinters, and I shudder as I watch the darkness crackle over the shield. Webbed girl cries out as she shoots everything she has at the monster pulling at the light, peeling it away. Several blasts hit its claws, and it roars in pain, but it doesn’t stop.
My teeth chatter as cold washes over me, my vision blinking black. “I have to let it go,” I shout. “Get ready! One. Two. Three.”
I drop the shield suddenly, and the shadown-vyrn stumbles forward, claws flying. Brielle shoots fire from her hands, raging over the attacking wyvern and tossing it to the side, but there are more waiting. Claws and teeth bombard us until I can’t tell which creature is which. I fall to the wire, hands shaking as a roaring fire covers us. A piercing scream digs into my ears, and I turn to see my new nameless ally topple over, black teeth ripping into the flesh of her bicep. The creature drops her, and she falls into the mouth of another, her screams of agony rippling through the cavern.
“Dammit!” I shout, but it’s way too late to save her.
