“Yes, that’s exactly what it was like.”
I felt calmer now, my fear of the darkness fading away under the knowledge that I had friends around me. And the Galinta. We started to walk again. Chase spent most of his time keeping Emma from falling to her death. That girl was seriously uncoordinated, and she complained the entire time about forced exercise and how it was the bane of her existence. I laughed more than once at her.
“I’m serious,” she told me, trying to stomp her foot, before twisting her ankle and almost dying again. “Gym class in school should be banned. Running for fun should be banned. Squats should be banned.”
Everyone laughed then. “So what do you like to do?” I teased.
Before she answered, there was a loud rustling from behind us, and I momentarily freaked until I realized that the trees were just closing the path, making it inaccessible again.
“Don’t stress,” Chase told us. “They’re making sure no one follows us. We’re not about to be crushed by tree branches.”
The Galinta were already on the short list of beings I trusted, so I was not stressed.
“My number one love is reading,” Emma said, picking up the previous conversation. “I used to live my life through books. Fantasy especially. Now I get to live out real life fantasy, and it feels like I have been preparing for this my entire life. I also love cooking, eating, knitting, and cats. Totally not a dog person.”
“What about dragons?” Star winked at her.
Pink tinged Emma’s cheeks, and she narrowed her eyes playfully at her friend. “I can’t lie. Dragons might just be my favorite now.”
She tripped, and Chase caught her again. With a sigh, she called over her shoulder: “What about you, Callie? What do you like to do for fun?”
I had to think about it for a moment, because she’d had this entire list. I’d never done much in my life I considered fun. “I guess … I like to fight – or train to fight anyway. The human body is an incredible thing. It can be honed and focused into a weapon. I can scale rock walls and climb ropes, flip and contort myself into a million positions. I like the power and control of that.”
I heard Emma’s groan. “Always ruining our friendship by liking exercise.”
“I can’t lie,” I said, mimicking her. “I love it. Even running. My mind calms when I am warming up. I usually run five miles before we start training.”
Emma sounded like she was choking. “Five. Miles! Are you freaking kidding me?”
She started muttering then about how I wasn’t human and the only time humans should run was to get away from angry dogs. “Don’t forget I am going to teach you how to fight,” I told her.
Her rambling cut off, and she sounded less annoyed when she replied with, “I’m actually not dreading that as much as I thought I would.”
I had no idea if I was going to be able to teach another person. I knew how to train and fight, but translating that into teaching a newbie was not easy. I had seen a lot of amazing fighters be really terrible teachers. But I would try.
“I also love cats, Converse shoes, jeans with rips in them, and casual shirts.” Because that all had to count for something. “Oh … and romantic movies.”
Her eyes lit up, and she almost died again trying to turn to me. “Hallmark, right? I basically live for the new Christmas movies.”
“Same!” I said, showing more enthusiasm than she’d probably seen from me before.
Then both of us laughed, and I once again thanked the fates for this new family I’d found.
We walked for a long time.The scenery didn’t change much, different variations of the same trees. “Do you walk like this all the time to get everywhere?” Emma asked Chase, sounding mildly fatigued.
“Yes.” His voice was calming. “Walking is the best way to get around. We do not allow transporters in Leights. We also don’t connect to the network except in an emergency. The Galinta are all we need.”
“Great,” Emma groaned. “How much further until we reach your town?”
“We’re walking above Fronza Canyon right now, so it should be another mile or so.”
I stumbled a little, my eyes drawn down to the gap between the branches. I wasn’t sure what a canyon was here, but if it was like Earth, then that meant…
“Holy shit,” Emma gasped, her eyes drawn down as well. “There’s a thousand foot drop below us.”
Chase looked confused, his eyes shifting between me and Emma. “There is no need to worry. We’re safe in the trees.”
“What if the trees decide to release us?” Emma whisper-shrieked, panic filling her voice.
