Rokh again brought the rope to me and I gave it to Ahyana. I wanted to make sure all my adelphia were safely on the other side before I went. She tied the rope to her waist and made her way across. She was so graceful that the bridge barely moved and she crossed quickly.
For the final time, Rokh flew the rope over. He turned back into his human form.
“Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?” He sounded so wounded. It was his own foolish fault for not telling her, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
“For Ahyana, anger is like a cloud passing in front of the sun. She will get over it, probably after you’ve groveled extensively. And after you’ve bought her some pretty things to help with your apology,” I said, and he smiled sadly.
“I would give her the world if she would let me.” He shifted back and flew across the chasm.
I tied the rope around my waist, pulling on it to make certain it was secure. I walked over to the bridge and hesitated before stepping out. The drop was so far down.
“Are you going to cross sometime today?” Xander asked.
“Be quiet,” I told him. He of all people should understand why this was hard. I held on tightly to the rope railing and stepped out onto the first plank. The bridge swayed and it made my stomach lurch. I had to close my eyes for a moment against the sensation.
“I didn’t know you were afraid of heights,” he commented.
“I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of dying.” Was he trying to distract me? It wasn’t working.
There was a high-pitched shriek that for a moment I worried was coming from me, but it was wind rushing through the chasm.
The bridge started to sway harder.
“You need to go faster,” Xander said, sounding worried.
“I swear to the goddess if you tell me to hurry because you’re hungry, I will stab you when I get over there.” I took another step forward, trying to fight off the queasiness I felt.
“You can do whatever you’d like to me so long as you make it over here safely.”
His words were what made me realize how precarious my situation had become.
The wind suddenly surrounded me, pushing from every direction until I felt like I might suffocate. I dropped down to my knees, still holding on tightly to the sides as the bridge started swinging back and forth, hard.
“Lia, you have to keep moving!”
Nodding, I tried to do what Xander said.
But then the safety rope slipped off my waist and fell down into the chasm.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“How did that rope come off the tree?” Xander yelled at someone. I didn’t understand how it had come loose from my waist. I had used the double knot Demaratus had taught me. It shouldn’t have slipped off like it had.
The howling wind became louder, echoes bouncing off the rocks around us. It felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane, being violently swung from one side to the other as the air screamed at me from every direction.
“Rokh, can you fly a rope out?”
I looked up to see him try, but every time he attempted to lift off, he was thrown back.
“Dolion, shoot a rope to her!”
“I’ll hit the plank just in front of her,” he said, tying a rope to an arrow and then letting it fly.
But as soon as it reached the chasm, the wind tossed the arrow aside.
“I’m going to get her,” Xander said, and I saw Stephanos grab him.
“You can’t! The weight will be too much!”
