Page 88 of The Unseen Hour

We made quick work of emptying our water supply and filling the skins with Charon’s glowing water. Once we had everything packed tightly in our satchels, we walked hand in hand to the entrance of the cavern.

The animals went quiet, perhaps sensing we were on the precipice of something.

Orion looked at me, the grey in his eyes eclipsing any blue.

“Ready?”

I gave a firm but shallow nod, worried that if I opened my mouth a sound of terror might escape.

“Now!” Orion yelled, charging forward. The two of us ran for everything we were worth.

All gods help us. We just have to make it to the rapids.

We ran along the very edge of the shallow water where it met the sands, sprinting south and following the rushing sound of churning waters in that direction.

A heavy body splashed into the shallow waters behind us. I turned and saw a great bear, charging at us. To each side of it ran multiple slycats.

“We’ll never make it.”

Orion charged on as if he hadn’t heard me.

The tree hoppers swooped down, pecking at a few of the slycats and clawing at them. The cats yowled, breaking off and batting at the loyal birds.

Please let them be all right, I begged as I kept running. I just had to trust that they were in better shape than us, since we most certainly couldn’t fly.

I heard a snarl, closer than before. Two slycats leapt for us. The first was blocked by a charging brush boar, and the two creatures tangled and tumbled in the sands. The second slycat was headed directly for me.

“Hold on!” Orion screamed, flinging me toward the deepening waters. My feet slipped underneath me, and I fell back. I sputtered and flailed, trying to keep my head above water as I was pulled farther from the shore and into the increasingly violent rapids.

My plan no longer seemed like a safer option. I might well get us both killed.

“Orion! Ori—” I yelled, coughing and sputtering whenever my head surfaced. The waters were too deep, and too strong. I’d lost sight of him. I was moving faster than I’d anticipated, and it was all I could do not to drown.

I twisted and was pulled under again.

The next time I surfaced, I spotted his head over the waters. His mouth was open like he was shouting, but I couldn’t hear him over the rapids.

I tried to swim for him, but the water forced us apart.

Yowls and roars faded into the distance as we were washed away.

CHAPTER 37

My eyes burned from all the water that had assaulted me. I hacked and coughed, feeling like I’d ingested more of the river than was possible.

The waters had slowed again—not as gentle as those in the cavern, but tamed to a soft flow instead of raging rapids. The high canyon walls had fallen away, and we were in a hilly area with trees along the banks.

I tried to swim for shore, desperate to grab onto a long branch or a downed log. My muscles were screaming, exhausted and numb. I could only imagine how they would feel when, or if, full sensation ever returned to them. I had to be seriously bruised from bashing against rocks in the midst of the rapids.

By some miracle of the gods, my satchel was still twisted around me, but who knew what state the contents were in, or whether they’d been pulled out of it by the current.

“Orion!” I attempted to yell, but my voice came out a hoarse rasp. I waved my arm, but my hand drooped feebly.

Tears threatened to spill from my aching eyes as the water continued to pull me along.

The rapids had been my idea. If anything had happened to him, it would be my fault. I might have made it down to the Ether by following a plan, but nothing since then had gone as expected.

Meeting Orion had erased any disappointment in that. He was worth the year in the Ether, worth the risk of Charon, and worth facing any predators the forest could throw at us. But if he was gone, and if it was because of me, I’d never forgive myself.