“Little shit,” she grumbled.
Haros, who was at the head of the group, turned to face them. He made an ambiguous hand gesture to Lephas, who simply nodded.
There was a steep ledge that ran alongside the road. Lori watched on, alarmedwhen Haros turned and crouched, jumping off and disappearing from view.
“We're leaving the track?” she asked, trying not to sound too concerned.
Though visibility was poor through the storm, they were travelling along a significantly flatter, more open section of snow, which Lori assumed to be a wide, well-travelled lane.
“There’s less chance of an ambush if we get off the road,” Lephas replied matter-of-factly
The group approached the edge and watched as Haros clambered out from the deep snow below and walked a little way ahead into the woods. With a thumbs up to Lephas, he turned to wait for the others to follow. It was a long drop. Lori was sure he wouldn’t have made it down safely if it hadn’t been for the deep drift below.
The demon soldiers over-took them, taking it in turns to jumpdown to Haros. Lori shifted nervously at the edge. The dark forest ahead swayed ominously in the blustering winds.
“Sit yourself down. We need to jump together. The manacle won’t be long enough to reach otherwise.” Lephas instructed.
“I really don't think we should leave the main road.”
“Just as well I'm not asking what you think then,” the demon retorted, pushing her down by her shoulders. “Just slide off the edge. The snow is plenty deep enough to soften the landing – okay?” Lephas leant forwards, bringing his head down to her level.
“Not really, no.” Lori felt her brows knit with concern.
“Great. Let's go.” Though she could only see his dark eyes over his scarf, Lori knew Lephas was smiling. He lowered himself into a crouch and, like Haros and the others, carefully dropped down over the ledge.
“Wait, I’m not—"
The slack in the manacle's chain disappeared and Lori was tuggedforwards. She yelped and twisted onto her stomach, scrabbling for a hand hold as she slid precariously through the snow. She slipped away over the edge.
As she fell, the manacle caught on a dark root that was protruding from the ground. Lori screamed in pain as she jerked to a stop and the iron cuff sliced into her skin.
Lephas’s weight pulled the chain tight and she heard the demon grunt as his arm met with resistance.
“Shit, she’s caught!” Haros yelled from below.
Lori panicked and squirmed against the manacle’s hold in an attempt to free herself. Her wings fluttered beneath her jacket, instinctively trying to open to save her. Lori winced as they pressed painfully against her restrictive clothing.
The princess hung over the ledge, suspended only by her wrist. She threw her legs out but failed to find anything to use as a foothold. She was well and truly stuck.
She could hear the commotion below her, but ignored the demons’ shouting. If she could just get a little momentum…
Using her teeth, she hastily pulled the glove off her free hand and spat it out. It fluttered down to the snow below. With shaking fingers, Lori hurried to undo the buttons on her fur jacket.
“What are you doing?!” one of the demon soldiers called out.
“Hold on, Little Dove. We’ll get you down!” Haros yelled.
“Just give me a minute!” She cried
The more she moved, the more the manacle cut into her flesh. Her arm ached and her muscles began to shake with exhaustion as all of her weight pulled against her shoulder. Lori grimaced and clenched her teeth.
She shrugged her unchained arm out of her jacket and was instantly assaulted by an icy blast. Lori squirmed, shaking free of the heavy fur. She quickly pushed the other shoulder off as far as she could.
It was enough to free her wings. They burst open and Lori pushed her body forwardand up, using their momentum to aid her. She managed to free the chain, unhookingit from the root it was stuck on.
The tension in the chain released immediately and she felt blood, hot against her chilled skin, pooling beneath the cuff.
With her large, golden wings spread to their full capacity, she glided gracefully to the floor, landing on one knee.
