I climbed back up, keeping my grip knuckle-white tight and ready to recover from a fumble at any time. Every two inches forward, I slunk one inch back. My nails ripped back from the bed, rivulets of red rolling down my fingers, from how hard I fought to keep what I gained.
Splinters dug into my hands, digging like glass each time I held on for dear life. It was a soft reminder that I was alive.
I couldn’t give up. Not when I’d finally chosen myself.
Every muscle in my body worked, and I scaled the cliff up to the top, but now the ceiling of the ledge would force me to go across to pull all the way up.
My eyes travelled down. The distance between here and the ground was a lot bigger now. I tested the first major root I could reach, and it snapped like a spaghetti noodle. I recovered, scraping my arms. Tears pricked my eyes, blurring my vision.
I took a deep breath.You’ve got this, Talia.
I aimed for a fatter root hanging slightly out of reach. One I knew I wouldn’t recover from so easily if it snapped. The muscles in my arm screamed as I dangled there. My stomach clenched, preparing for it to snap.
My lips shook as I carefully reached for the next root thick enough it could actually hold me. It reminded me of the first time I went across the monkey bars. How nerve wrecking it hadbeen, and I tried to think of that memory instead of about what would happen if I failed.
With that thought, I swung forward. The previous root snapped, making my stomach lurch. I clenched my hand onto the next root and was sent swinging back and forth. My hand slid down to the bottom. My other hand barely got a grip before the first one slipped.
I forced deep breaths out as I continued forward.
There was no going back now.
A spike of protective fear made my hands shake. My grip grew painful as I forced my hand to remain steady.
I finally reached the edge, and got my hand around the lip of the ledge. When I went to pull myself up, the earth oozed through my fingers and crumbled.
The earth melted away, leaving me with nothing to anchor onto.
My heart lurched into my throat and a shriek left me. There wouldn’t be a recovery this time.
Damn it.
My stomach dropped as I flew through the air.
Worth it.
I only fell two inches when hands grabbed my wrists. My wrists screamed from the pain and popped as the rest of my weight dropped, but I wouldn’t complain. New blood oozed from the bullet wound in my shoulder as the muscle ripped.
Shannon.
She came back for me.
My eyes went up and instead met Gale’s eerie gray gaze with a grim set of his mouth.
Oh, come on!
He pulled back, grunting with my added weight. Rot’s anger rumbled inside me as if Gale’s touch incited a fury, but I wasn’t in a position to fight someone literally saving our life.
The ground under Gale shifted like a gelatinous slime that made my pulse race. Panic took over, and I kicked my feet to help get up the ledge. Land fell away as he moved, and the realization that he might run out of strength before I was out of this made my heart thunder in my ears.
“Keep going, Talia,” Gale’s voice echoed the same thing I often told myself, and the sudden unease made me want to let go of him and plummet below.
Why?
Was it Rot that was reacting to Gale? Or was it me?
Once I was over the edge, I sat on my bottom, taking a few breaths. Cracking made me scramble backwards, and Gale grabbed me by my pits to drag me back. The ground fell away like the fall was hunting us. I gracelessly made it to my feet to help, and we backed up until Gale’s back hit a tree. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight to him as the ground crumbled, until all that was left was two inches in front of my boots.
The sound of the thick slop of dirt hitting below rang loudly even against the raging storm. It was close. Too close.
