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Where is Talon? I want to ask but can’t. I huff out a breath and risk a glance down, but I can’t see him. He’s hard to spot anyway and in the gathering shadows he vanishes.
The gravel beneath my feet slides and tumbles off the edge, taking my foot with it. Michael yanks me up before my foot drops below the level of the path. That doesn’t stop my heart from hammering like it wants to escape, or panic from clawing at my mind.
“Keep going. I need you to be my eyes,” Michael says.
Yeah, no pressure. If we slip and die, it will me my fault.
“I won’t let you fall.”
5
Talon
And if he does let her fall, I will be here to catch her. Though not with my hands, as all I’d end up doing was impaling her, which wouldn’t be very helpful. The notebook between my teeth is getting damp, but I have nowhere else to put it and I can’t climb with it lodged on a claw.
I am with Julie on this; I dislike climbing, and not just because I failed on the spire. There’s something about it…an unpleasant memory that’s trying to haunt me.
Another shower of pebbles makes me duck my head and scramble to the side. It’s only then I look up to make sure she hasn’t falen. I’m too far below to be much use. Once I am on the path, I will be of no use if she slips.
I do not want to climb the whole way to the top when I could walk up the path.
She is moving slowly, one tiny step at a time. I can smell her fear, and I’d be lying if I tried to pretend it wasn’t intoxicating.
Like Michael and Tail I haven’t actively hunted for a long time. One year, ten, it doesn’t really matter. At some point, eating those who are newly arrived lost its appeal, especially when I noticed the changes that were happening to me.
While Michael and Tail scavenged near the puddles, they never brought home an arm or a leg. I still don’t know if I’m glad or not. It would have been interesting to see how they reacted and changed.
They did eat the occasional monster part. I always waited until they were done before taking some for the knot in my stomach.
Michael’s face is grim. He’s too big for such a small path and his horns keep clipping the rocks and sending more my way. That he is relying on Julie to lead him up the path, must hurt him. He is so used to being capable. He’s always the savior and never the one in need of help.
I watch them until the claws I jammed into the rocks start to ache.
Decision made, I move sideways and up to overtake them and get onto the path.
If I can’t catch her, at least I can try to prevent the fall in the first place.
6
Michael
I’m gritting my teeth so hard I’m sure the points are about to break off. I would much rather be the one leading her up the path. If I were at the front, then we’d be there already. I hate not being able to see where I am going, and I don’t trust her not to fall off the path and take me with her. I should be able to trust her, but she doesn’t even trust herself.
I give her hand a reassuring squeeze and she freezes.
“It’s okay. Keep going.” I don’t know where the reassuring words are coming from. Even though they sound gruff in my ears, she seems to find them helpful.
At the moment, I will say and do anything to reach the top.
I force my jaw to relax, and I ease my grip on her hand, and she starts moving again. The way she is so silent is unnerving. I have grown used to the lightness of her voice, and now there is nothing. Only the occasional bark or yip when she forgets herself. It’s like she doesn’t want to use her new voice but ignoring the changes doesn’t make them go away.
My horn slams into a rock I can’t see. The jolt reverberates through my skull and down my spine. It’s all I can do not to jerk forward, tipping us both over the edge.
I mutter a string of curses.
“I’m fine.” I am not fine. Next time, the rock might be big enough to do some damage. “You need to warn me to duck. Bark or squeeze my hand or something.”
She sucks in a breath and gives my hand a hard squeeze. Are there more rocks? I want her to tell me what is going on. I can’t see, and if I can’t see, how can I move forward?
