“Let’s just get off this cliff and deal with that next.” Before someone reported us.
We almost made it.
Only a few feet from the ground remained when I heard a sound above. I swung around and horror filled me as I saw one of the Vorazyr’swarriors flying toward us.
“Run.”
My knees wanted to buckle, but I forced myself to run, taking two stairs at a time as I raced toward the bottom, Jaron and Tatiana hot on my heels.
We’re not going to be faster than him.The thought repeated in my mind like a bad song.
The instant my feet touched the ground I sprinted for the nearest thick jungle cover.
A whoosh and grunt let me know what happened behind me and without halting my momentum, I spun, releasing my backpack from my back and using it to connect with the face of the vorpyr who had gotten ahold of Tatiana. It startled him, but he didn’t let go until Jaron wrapped the straps of his pack around the vorpyr’s horns and jerked, throwing his whole body into it. The male spun from the pressure on his head and stumbled. It was all we needed. We ran.
Minutes passed, sticky bug webs and lush foliage smacked me across the face as I blindly plunged through the jungle.
I gasped for breath. My lungs ached in my chest. I glanced back and found the other two pouring sweat, also wheezing. “We have to keep going.” I told them as we slowed, out of breath from the wild race. “They can cover much more distance than we can in a shorter time, so we need to get further away before the warrior reports that we got out.” I knew nothing about this planet except what I’d hypothesized from the little I’d seen. That left me clueless as to the geography and where we could safely find shelter to hide.
“There are caves we could hide in along the cliffs.” Tatiana said. “Kyvar said they would use them during the war to surprise their enemies.”
I thought about our options. There weren’t many. “It’s as good a plan as any.” I nodded at Jaron. “What did you take from the city?”
“Some tech. I’m hoping I can retrofit this to get a message out, but I’ll likely need more equipment.”
I winced. “Which means we either have to sneak into the city or a nearby town to steal it.”
“It would be better if we didn’t go back toward the city. Let’s try to make our way to the village by the celestial waters. They have good tech and are located in a westerly direction, from what Thyra said. I also estimate that it’s three and a half to five days of heavy hiking to get there.” Jaron looked as grim as I felt.
“We have no supplies. That many days isn’t an option if we don’t have a way to purify water or anything to eat.” I said, regretting that we’d lost our packs. After getting the vorpyr to let Tatiana go, it was impossible to do anything except run like the devil was on our trail. And soon enough, he would be.
“Um.” Tatiana held up the pack she’d miraculously managed to keep. “There's a water purification bottle and a few ration bars in here.”
Trust the assistant of the team to have the essential equipment everyone else didn’t.
“You’re the best.” And I meant it.
None of the caves we came across were at the base of the cliffs where those without wings could take refuge, so when the sun started to cast streaks of gold and pink across the sky and darkness was a short time away, we updated our plan.
We would stand on Jaron’s shoulders and get into a cave, and then Tatiana and I would pull him up together. It was one of those plans that sounded much better in theory than it would play out in practice.
Tatiana was the first to pull herself over the lip of the cave, then Jaron lowered to one knee so I could get on his back. I grimaced, looking up. What if we weren’t strong enough to pull him up? In the distance something made a noise that was between a chitter and a howl. It sent chills down my spine. Instinctively, I knew it was a predator.
“We can do this,” Jaron said with a half-hearted smile.
“It’s getting dark. Wehaveto do this.” With renewed determination, I got on his back and when he stood I scrambled up onto his shoulders. I was able to pull myself over the lip of the cave, rolling into the shallow space. Tatiana and I both got on our bellies and reached down.
“I’m going to jump and grab your arms, brace yourselves.” Jaron said.
When he jumped, we both clamped our hands around a wrist, but his weight dragged us both forward and I let go, grabbing onto Tatiana’s waistband and hauling her back.
Jaron thumped back down to the ground, thankfully landing on his feet.
“Let’s try again and—” I was interrupted by the same noise I’d heard before, that chittering howl, only it was much, much closer.
Jaron whirled around, looking at the surrounding foliage even as the waning light sent long shadows cascading around him. I looked at Tatiana and she had the same urgency in her eyes. “We have to get him up here.”
I looked around the cave to see if there was something we could brace our legs against, but there was nothing, no big stones or anything we could grip.
