I gripped the deer’s legs again and stepped forward. The second my foot hit the ground, the dirt collapsed beneath it. Rocks clattered and banged as they spiraled into the pit opening before me. Cold air rushed out of the blackness as more dirt gave way to reveal an ever-growing hole in the ground. The stale scent of Earth and something feral rose togreetme.
Death. It’s deathbelow.
Time froze for a second as my foot hung suspended over open air, and then I felt myself tilting forward. I tried to yank my foot back, tried to regain my balance, but my angle caused the deer to shift on my shoulders, and its weight toppled me forward before I could shove the carcass off me. There was nothing I could do to stop myself from tumbling into the abyss with the deer still draped around myshoulders.
Corson’s hand enveloped my wrist. He jerked one of my arms up and away from the deer as he caught me. Swinging back, I slammed against the dirt wall, and my breath burst from my lungs with a loud,oomph.
I gasped for air as my feet dangled over nothing. I waited for some hideous monster to surge up and close its mouth over me, to snatch me away with so much force that Corson was left holding only the stump of my arm. I resisted the urge to kick my feet as if I could somehow run out ofthehole.
Is there a bottom to this thing? Is this another gateway into Hell?But then I heard the last of the falling rocks clatter against a distant bottom. The pit did have an end, but it was a longwaydown.
“Are you okay?” Corsondemanded.
Lifting my head, I spotted him above me. His face was strained with worry as his eyes searched mine. “I think I shaved a few seconds off my life, butI’mfine.”
“I’m going to pullyouup.”
“That would beappreciated.”
His mouth quirked in a smile as he looped his other hand under my armpit. Cool dirt fell down my shirt; my back was scoured by the wall as he began to lift me from the hole. Holding my breath, I stared at my dangling feet and tried not to think about what hadcreatedthis.
Corson almost had me to the top when more dirt gave way beneath him. A scream lodged in my throat when I dropped a couple of feet back into the hole. Corson fell into the hole up to his waist before stopping himself. His hands tightened on my arms as the rest of the ground collapsed beneath him andwefell.
The deer dragged me down so fast I couldn’t claw at the sides of the tunnel to ease my plunge. Corson released his hold under my arm, and a scraping sound filled the air. The rate of descent lessened, and I realized Corson was using his talons to keep us from plummeting straight to thebottom.
My other arm remained lifted awkwardly above me from Corson’s hold on my wrist. In the hopes of slowing our descent, I tried to maneuver the deer off my shoulders the best I could, without breaking his grip. Hooves kicked me in the head, and one caught the corner of my eye. I could feel it swelling already, but I’d deserved it; I had shot the animal through the heart, a few bumps and bruises were nothing incomparison.
The weight of the deer sliding to my left, caused my shoulders to pull further down. My neck and back screamed in protest; I feared my shoulder might pop out of its socket as I was pulled in two directions like a puppet on a string. Somehow, I managed to maneuver enough to grab the deer’s front legs and pull it the rest of thewayoff.
I breathed a sigh of relief as its weight eased from me and its body tumbled away. The rate of our descent eased a little more. Craning my head back, I watched Corson tear at the wall in an attempt to halt our plunge. Sparks flew off the tips of his talons as they struck rocks. The muscles in his forearms bulged, but he couldn’t get any traction onthewall.
He’d be able to stop himself if he had both his hands free, but the earth was too loose for him to get only one hand into it. He had to know that if he sacrificed me, he could savehimself.
He’s going to throw me aside, and I won’t blame him if he does. Survival of the fittestandall.
Even as I thought it, his hand clenched on my wrist, and our plungecontinued.
ChapterSix
Wren
“Help!” I screamed and leapt atthewall.
Dirt embedded beneath my fingernails and abraded my palms as I scrambled for purchase. Stepping back, I panted for air while I gazed at the distant circle of light overhead. At least five hundred feet above me, that daylight seemed about as achievable as Heavenrightnow.
“He—aggghh,” my scream for help cut off when a hand slid over mymouth.
Pulled back against Corson’s solid chest, his breath sounded in my ear when he pinned me firmly to him. Too stunned to move for a second, I leaned against him as his lips brushed my ear. “Quiet!” hehissed.
Lifting my hands, I tugged at his wrist as I twisted to break free of his hold. Releasing me, he strolled away, his boots crunching the debris we’d toppled into the pit. His casual demeanor seemed entirely out of place considering where we now stood. I didn’t have to see the creature to know we’d fallen into the trap of something awful. Seeing it would probably only make itworse.
I strained to follow Corson as he disappeared and reemerged from the shifting shadows while circling the pit. He stopped before another tunnel and rested a hand against the dirt wall. Leaning forward, his head turned back and forth as he inspected theopening.
I strained to hear anything coming from that tunnel as I reached over my back. My heart sank when I realized a familiar weight was missing even as my hand connected with my shirt instead of my quiver and bow. Glancing around, I spotted my bow half hidden inthedark.
Striding over, I bent and drew it toward me. When I lifted it into the air, the bottom half of the bow clattered onto the ground while the snapped string floated in the air before me. “It took me a week to find the perfect branch, whittle it, and smooth it to get this where I wanted it,” I muttered. “I’ve had it for five years, and onestupidmisstep snatched it awayfromme.”
“We will find you another,” Corsonmurmured.
