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I cling to my spit of land. It snarls and leaps again, falling just a precious few feet short of my perch.
Lysandir and Galen are up the first ledge but not high enough. The beast follows my gaze and drops back to the ground.
Oh, heck no. I slide another dagger from its hiding place.
“Fur ball!”
It twists back to me and growls at the insult.
I hurl the dagger. It twists through the air and glances off its leg to clatter on the ground.
The monster leaps at me with another roar, its steaming breath nearly choking me where it wafts up in a stinking cloud. I grab up stones and chuck them down at the beast, ignoring the bloody cuts and dirt marring my hands.
“Wren!” Galen shouts.
The tension in me uncoils when I spot them in front of the tunnel. Safe. Finally.
The ground below me rumbles and cracks. My heart leaps into my throat as I wobble, trying to regain my balance. Claws as long as my arm dig into the ground not a foot away.
“Shit!” I clamp my hand over my mouth on instinct. Oh, frickety frick frack.
I scramble along the narrow path as the ground spiderwebs with cracks and fissures. Hot breath shrouds me.
Don’t look back. Can’t look back.
The crowd is wild, their screams drowning out whatever Galen and Lysandir say as they reach for me from the edge of the main wall.
Just a few more steps. A few—
Another rumbling shake nearly brings me to my knees. A horrible, rending crack grates against my senses, overpowering the roar of the crowd.
My ledge is coming down.
With a final burst of strength, I leap into the air.
Not enough.
I’m going to fall and be shredded to ruins.
A gust of air wraps around me, fierce as a tornado. Breath is sucked from my lungs. Terror grips me tighter than the wind, urging me to run, to flee, but I’m as helpless as I was as a child. Tears stream down my face, sobs racking the last of the air from my lungs.
Suddenly it stops. Strong arms are around me, settling my feet on the ground.
“We've got you,” Galen says.
I blink, but the tears don’t stop. I’m still sobbing, shaking.
“You okay?” Lysandir asks.
Humorless laughter bursts from my chest. Okay? I’ll never be okay. Not where tornadoes are involved, monsters either.
“Wren?” Galen’s hands are on me, searching for injuries, something strange tingling under my skin. Maybe it’s residual fear making me so unsteady.
Eventually, I croak out, “I’ll live.”
He gives me one sharp nod before turning toward the tunnel. “Let’s move.”
Right. I wipe my eyes with the heels of my palms. We have a game to complete. There are worst dangers here than my memories.
