“The forest all looks the same from up there, and I was too excited about the water to notice the road stopped.”
“What are we going to do?” Alba asked, concern in her tone.
I fought the urge to snap, to yell that this was all her fault, to say she should be the one to figure this flaming pile of shit out. Instead, I inhaled deeply and breathed out. “Braxius, can you see how far the road is blocked?”
“On it!”The tiny dragon sped fast as an arrow above the road’s path before darting out of view. While he went to check out the scope of our predicament, I climbed atop the felled trunks and grimaced at the barren landscape beyond the trees where the quarry sank in the distance. Of course, adding to my continual good luck, the water level was too low to access easily.
There was no avoiding we’d have to scale down the rock quite a ways to reach the cerulean pool. However, one positive was the rock hosted many shelves and ledges—nature’s stairs. A blur of blue raced back toward us.
“The road wraps around to the other side, but the entire thing is littered with fallen trees. It’s only clear at the other end.”
I placed my hands on my hips and sighed. “Well, first things first. We need to get to there.” I pointed to the water.
It was no easy feat to traipse through the dense, strategically layered foliage. My skin bore many new scratches as we maneuvered the road block, but eventually we made it. Scanning the edge, I mapped our best route before descending the rockface and landing on a sturdy ledge. The cliffside was a labyrinth of stone steps that led to a natural ramp feeding into the water. When I reached it, I sank to my knees, cupped my hands, and splashed the cool refreshing water on my face. “Ah, a true gift from the gods.”
The sun rudely positioned itself dead center in the sky. This would most likely be the last chance to fight against the heat today. I withdrew the waterskin and submerged it, waiting until the bubbles ceased streaming to the surface. As much as I wanted to take a swig of the crystal clear water, I wouldn’t risk getting sick. Our timeline wouldn’t allow losing even one day off from our still unknown amount of travel. Plus, I held no interest in shitting my brains out on a forest trail. Tio made that mistake once, and it wasn’t a lesson I needed to learn for myself.
This quarry might very well be the last saving grace we got on this trip. With no information on what we were walking into, I had no idea what to expect or how to prepare. An incessant, nagging thought that continually pricked my mind was that this might be a one-way trip. But what other choice did I have? I had to do my best to find this camp, somehow infiltrate it, figure out the knowledge Taja wanted since he gave me no specifics, and return without getting caught.
Then hope by some gods blessed miracle the king didn’t kill me. I ignored how unlikely that seemed.
The quarry’s blue surface shimmered like solid glass aside from the ripples Braxius and I created—his when he dove in and out. After each plunge, he performed air spirals that spit water on me from above. Despite the day, he still made me laugh, that little rapscallion. After he’d gotten his fill of bath time, he flew off to dry in the sun on the other side.
The restful pool before me was serene. Simple, beautiful, undisturbed. I’d never envied a body of water until today, when a heightened desire for a life with those attributes bloomed withgreedy fervor. One day, I wouldn’t carry the burden of so many fates in my hands. My shoulders sagged through my sigh as I rose to my feet.
Alba slipped on one of the more narrow ledges leading to the ramp. She shrieked for all of one second before realizing she still remained steady on the ledge. But she glanced at the slashes on her palms courtesy of the jagged rock and hissed in pain.
“We need to move,” I said with no remorse for any injuries she acquired on this trip. I stepped aside, giving her space to lower onto the ramp. Usually I’d guide her through each step, but I chose not to give her my attention. “Don’t slow us down,” I spat the words while trying to hide the snarl on my face. She didn’t deserve my empathy, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to waste my breath coddling her.
Without waiting, I began scaling the wall again, heading toward the northern lip. The first couple steps were daunting as I rose higher and higher from the water. I did my best not to focus on how far the drop became and what would become of my body if I landed on one of those sharp rock points breaking through the water’s surface. Once I reached the first steady series of ledges to the other side, I relaxed a bit. The jut outs were wide, giving my feet plenty of purchase.
Things were easy until I reached a point of debate. Any direction was more than my leg span apart. I could attempt to jump up and across, continuing along the clearest trail, or down and hope a new path would lead me to the top. I weighed the options. The sun’s heat began searing my dampened skin, like the water was now a lightning rod to the burning rays, and I could feel the energy in my limbs draining.
Releasing a deep sigh, I made my decision. Down it was. “Follow my lead,” I said to Alba, emphasizing the path, without looking back. A quick glance at my projected trajectory told methat missing this jump would be painful, to say the least. Many ankle breaking opportunities.
Before my palms became any sweatier from trepidation, I planned where to grab after the jump. With hopefully more nimble grace than I’d ever been able to pull off before, I leapt.
My feet connected as my fingernails dug painfully into the unyielding stone. I wobbled, the impact nearly causing me to stumble. Somehow, with a stroke of luck, I steadied. A rush of heat unrelated to the blasting sun flooded my body.
“I-I don’t think I can.” Alba froze. Her muscles were taut, her posture rigid. She hadn’t moved this entire time.
I battled the rising wave of annoyance to say, “Just do what I did.” Honestly, I hadn’t been all that confident in my own jump, but showing any uncertainty wouldn’t help us make progress now. She had to borrow confidence from me, or she wasn’t going to even attempt it. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
No reaction.
“Alba.” Her name was soft on my lips. She finally brought her gaze to meet mine. “You can do this,” I said, ignoring the struggle she’d likely face when she attempted my route.
She blinked a few times, gathering determination. With a hard swallow, she assessed the jump before nodding subtly, more so to herself. Her face glistened with sweat, definitely more than mine. “C-countdown for me?”
I would have scoffed if the pleading in her voice wasn’t so gut wrenchingly pitiful. “One…Two…Three!”
She hesitated, her face contorting into an uncomfortable scrunch, but then she jumped. By the time I blinked, she landed on the ramp. One obstacle down. She could cool herself off and then—her feet slipped. Her arms scrambled and clawed for something to grab onto, but gravity had already intervened. The flash of fear across her wide eyes was slightly amusing. Oh,she was going to cool off, alright. In fact, maybe I should have jumped in when I was splashing my face.
When she submerged under the water, a small smile twitched on my lips. Tilting my head back to hide my amusement, I gazed upward at the cloudless blue sky. A lone bird flew overhead, a sparrow if I wasn’t mistaken, and I huffed a tiny laugh at the comforting familiarity.
Glancing over my shoulder, I peered down at the water. Alba hadn’t broken the surface yet. Odd. Her form remained under the clear, blue-tinted surface, arms flailing, feet kicking, bubbles rising—but she made no progress. Horror gripped my stomach with slimy awareness.
She couldn’t swim.
