“Wait, no!” Lori’s boots skidded despite the snow spikes.
Lephas pulled himself up out of his sprint just in time, halting dangerously close to a steep, rocky drop. He bent forwards to rest his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Lori wavered on her legs and leant against him as she fought to regain her own breath. They both looked down the steep incline silently.
“We'll never make it,” Lephas panted and glanced over his shoulder. “Fuck, but they're going to find us if we stay here...”
Lori looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before unbuttoning her jacket and hurriedly shrugging out of it.
“Your wings -are they strong enough for us both?” Lephas swiped a hand down his face.
“I won't be able to stop us falling but it may be enough to stop usdyingat the bottom.” Lori hesitated. “Death is certain if we stay here anyway, right?”
“Yes, without a doubt.”
They didn't have time to weigh their options up. Lori removed her fur coat completely and threw it to Lephas. He tucked it under his arm.
The faerie's wings were truly something to behold. She stretched them outwards and fluttered them back and forth a few times. They were magnificent, shining like a golden sun through the snow. Lephas was entranced, just as he had been when she had revealed them earlier that day.
“Ready?” the princess asked and rushed in closer.
“How are we going to–?”
“I don't know, just jump! I–” She paused and looked up at him, unspoken words dying on her tongue.
“What?”
“Oh, fuck it - I'd regret not doing it if we die!” Lori's face deepened to a determined scowl.
She reached up and cupped either side of his face in her hands before roughly pulling him down to her level. Lori pressed a warm, desperate kiss against his mouth.
Lephas’ surprise was fleeting. He instinctively grasped the back of her head and pulled her in tighter. He deepened the kiss and their tongues met briefly. Lori moaned softly against him.
A faint yell echoed through the woods behind them. Without another word they broke apart and jumped over the edge, hand in hand.
∞∞∞
“Ugh...” Lephas coughed. Pain shot up his side and he cracked his eyes open. He was lying, face down, on the forest floor. Stone and bark pressed painful indentations against his cheek.
Sharp spines prickled at him as he fought against the dense bramble bush he was ensnared by. He dragged himself free on his hands and knees.
“Lori?” he called out.
“Over here,” she replied from nearby. Her voice sounded groggy.
Lephas carefully got to his feet, pausing momentarily as his vision wavered. The faerie was sat up, rubbing her shoulder, in a deep drift of snow. There was a large skid mark through the dirt indicating where they had both crash-landed.
“...We lived?” She squinted at him through one eye, confused.
Lephas laughed hoarsely. “It appears so.”
He held out a hand for her, helping the princess to her feet. They both glanced up the steep incline thoughtfully and then to each other. There was a long, heated pause before Lephas cleared his throat and moved away from the faerie.
“Come on, we need to move. If we can get away from here before they reach the edge, they probably won't entertain the fact that we've jumped down.” He bent topick up Lori's now filthy fur jacket and held it out to her.
“I can't believe we did!” Lori laughed, wriggling back into her coat.
“I can't believe we didandwe lived! Come on.”
He instinctively held out his hand for her. The commander flushed with embarrassment when he realised what he had done, but as he was about to retract his hand, Lori grasped it firmly.
