The cliff responded as if familiar with his voice. Cracks split beneath our boots like lightning etched in stone; slow, deliberate, and lethal. Shards trembled loose from the ledge’s edge. I saw the magic crawling through the rock itself, glowing faintly. A sickly, unnatural green pulsing into jagged veins. The cliff began to cry out a low, building rumble, escalating into a growl that vibrated through the air.
Then everything shifted.
The stone beneath our feet lurched with a violent crack, like ribs splitting under pressure. A deafening groan echoed through the cliffs as the ledge buckled and split. Chunks of shale exploded outward, clattering down the ravine like shattered bone. I just about threw myself sideways as the earth dropped out beneath us. I tried to hold on tight to Wyn in an attempt to pull her with me, but her fingers slipped through mine. “Wyn!” I called, eyes snapping to the spot where she’d been moments ago.
But she was gone.
I turned in time to see her silhouette vanish along with the crumbling edge, her cloak flaring like a dying flame. She fell, tumbled, skidded, and scraped down a steep slope of stone and brambles before disappearing entirely into the mist below.
A scream followed. A single, sharp cry of terror that cut through the chaos like a blade. It wasn’t loud, but it struck something primal in me. Something cold and profound. It wasn’t fear; it was knowing, being aware that she was falling. Knowing I couldn’t see her. Knowing I might never again.
It hit me harder than it should have.
And it terrified me more than the drop itself.
“No!”
I didn’t think. I ran.
Branches clawed at my arms as I tore through the underbrush, boots skidding over rain-slick roots and tangled brambles. My breath sawed in and out of my chest, each gasp a spike of panic. The world narrowed to sound and motion, the slapping rush of leaves, the distant roar of water growing louder with every step.
She had fallen. Gods, she had fallen.
The ravine opened up in front of me like a wound in the world. Jagged rocks lined the river’s edge, and down below, the current surged, white-capped and violent, snarling like a thing alive. My boots hit wet stone, and I skidded to a halt in time to see her.
A blur in the water. A pale smear of lavender cloak. Arms flailing.
“Wynessa!”
Her head broke the surface. “Erin!” she screamed, voice raw with terror.
Then she went under.
I tore off my cloak, yanked the buckles of my chest armor so hard they nearly tore loose. The metal hit the rocks behind mewith a thud. My sword belt went next. I didn’t care. She was in the river. And I would not let her die.
I crashed down the embankment, slipping on slick moss and jagged stone. My foot caught on a root. I fell, rolled, and hit the edge hard, but I had to keep going. The river loomed, a churning beast.
I dove.
The biting cold blasted me like a wall, numbing fingers and toes instantly. This was no ordinary water. It was ice, a living, furious entity that devoured me whole. The current seized me instantly, spinning me, pulling me under. My shoulder slammed into a submerged boulder, sending a jolt of pain through my body. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I ignored it, fighting on as I kicked and struggled against the current. Where was she?
My eyes burned. My lungs screamed. I came up for air and there, out of the corner of my eye, was a flash of lavender.
Her cloak.
She surfaced again, choking. Her mouth opened, and she said my name. A gurgled plea. Then the river dragged her back down.
No.
I forced my arms forward, slicing through the water. A shape. A hand.
I caught it.
Her skin. Cold. Slipping.
I locked my grip around her wrist and pulled her to me. Her body hit mine; slack, breathless, but not gone. I wrapped her against me and kicked as hard as I could for the bank.
It took everything I had.
