I’d acted on instinct to help him, even though leaving him in the cave with the Sanguir would have allowed me to run in the opposite direction, closer to Lake Mirae. My mind hadn’t gone there before I had rushed toward him. I remembered my promise to myself never to subtract from the efforts of others to try to add to my own selfish glory. Something cold began to thaw inside me.
After years of relying on only myself because I had to, at some point my army of one mentality had stopped serving me. Helping others wasn’t the same, but it was a start.
Realizing at some point my mouth had dropped open, I clicked it shut. “Okay, I’ll go first.” I ran a tentative hand along the rocky wall, finding purchase in a few small grooves.
The rock was even smoother than it appeared, there were barely enough divots to provide the necessary grip and frictionto hold my weight up. Gritting my teeth, I moved one arm, then one leg up after another as I balanced. My ankle was fully healed, but it still complained when I twisted it too far for a specific position.
Moving slowly upward, I waited until I reached one of the larger outcroppings to look down and ensure Izaiah was still climbing behind me. He was having a harder time than me. It didn’t look like he was an experienced climber. Several times, he lost his grasp, fumbling to catch himself. The outcropping I was resting on was too slight to hold his larger size, but there was another ten feet up that he could rest on.
Below, the Sanguir crept closer, just a few yards from where we were. I was too high off the ground for it to reach, but Izaiah’s ankle was treacherously close to the limits it might be able to jump. If the suction they’d had on Rosa’s face was any indicator, it would climb.
“Faster,” I urged under my breath. “Come on.”
“Keep going!” he huffed, throwing a glance up at me. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I turned and continued climbing. Watching him wouldn’t help him, but if I got to higher ground sooner, I’d leave the path clear for him. The sound of his hissing breaths and grunts as he climbed was nerve wracking. Dread swelled with the wet sucking noise of the creature as it drew closer.
Heaving myself over the edge of another ridge, I chanced to look down. The Sanguir had reached the edge of the cliff, and was squashing its body up in preparation to lunge.
Izaiah wasn’t high enough up. A shout of warning built up in the back of my throat.
It jumped.
With a squelching splat, it hit the wall just beneath him, sliding down several feet and leaving a dusky trail of slimebehind. However, it didn’t fall back to the ground. Slowly, menacingly, it began to slide upward.
Izaiah grabbed onto the edge of the first area I’d climbed onto, hauling himself up another few feet.
Screaming at him to hurry would only distract him. Clawing at the rock at my feet, I grabbed a loose hunk and took careful aim. I hurled it at the Sanguir.
It glanced off the side of it, barely slowing its ascent.
Turning to what remained of my own climb, the upper rim of the cliff protruded only another fifteen feet away.
And beyond the rim of the bluff, the gore-stained spikes atop the outer perimeter peeked out.
I made my way up to the promontory, the first fat drops of rain sliding down my face as I cleared the top. Pulling myself up, I scanned quickly to see where the nearest door in the perimeter was. Only a few yards away. I lifted my shirt over my head to hold it out in a feeble barrier against the deluge hitting the cliff as the rain started in earnest.
Izaiah was only a few feet behind me, Sanguir still lumbering upwards behind him. It was climbing faster than he was.
Raindrops flooded the shirt’s fabric. It would start dripping within seconds. Precious seconds that stretched out like caramel.
I reached down to help Izaiah up as he crested the edge, yanking with enough force that I tumbled backwards onto my butt.
“Thanks," Izaiah commented, gaze darting toward my breasts, shielded only by a soaked bra.
I rolled my eyes, pulling my sopping top over my head. “Let's go.” Standing up, I pointed to the nearest door, jogging toward it.
Izaiah slammed the door shut behind me. The wet hissing splat noise of the Sanguir impaling itself on a spike moments later echoed in my ears.
We rushed through the inner perimeter gate, and I breathed more fully once we were safely on the other side of the banyan wall.
Blinking up against the rain, I searched for the sun. “Four pm,” I guessed. We only had a few hours left before sundown, and we were on the wrong side of Mesmoria. “That way,” I pointed roughly northwest. We started to run, mud marking our journey before each footprint was washed away.
The landscape rushed by as we made our way toward Mount Kael. Since it sat squarely in the middle of the island, it was the most notable landmark between us and Lake Mirae.
Within minutes, Izaiah had outpaced me so thoroughly he was no longer in sight. The lack of visibility from the rain didn’t help.
What had been a light drizzle woke itself up and chose violence. Rain began to batter down in thick sheets, thunder rolling between the clouds.
