Page 72 of The City Of Fractured Memory

My head swims dangerously as my vision doubles and my stomach lurches as I look down at the perilous drop. “This is insane,” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Utterly, completely insane.”

Stryx, already halfway over the lip of the wall, gives me a crooked grin. “This is the only way. That door has been shut for a hundred years, and it’s not opening for anyone. Besides, you were the one that asked for a way of getting in without being seen.”

“I said subtle, not suicidal.”

“Semantics,” Stryx argues with a smirk, then begins her descent.

The wall is sheer, its smooth stone slick with condensation from the ever-present mist. I swallow hard, following Styx’s lead and lowering myself over the edge, my boots scraping against ancient, narrow handholds. Every gust of wind feels like a shove, every flicker of light above like a reminder of how far we could fall.

My pulse roars in my ears mercilessly. “Remind me again why we live on a floating deathtrap?”

“Because mortals like drama?” Stryx calls up from below, her voice echoing faintly. “Now stop complaining and move your hands, or you’ll find out what the lake looks like up close.”

I mutter a curse under my breath and keep going, my fingers aching already, my breath quick and shallow. The drop stretches endlessly beneath me, dizzying and dark, threatening to swallow me if I stare too long.

Halfway down, Stryx shifts slightly to the side and points with her chin. “There—see that shadow in the wall? That’s the opening.”

I squint, spotting a narrow cleft in the rock face, barely visible through the drifting mist. It looks far too small to fit through, let alone crawl into, but I’ve come too far to argue now.

We reach the ledge beside it, but as I take the last step, my knee gives way and my boot slips. A cry tears from my throat as my grip loosens, and for a heart-stopping moment, there is only the rush of air and the gaping black below.

“Stryx!”

In a blink, blue light flares around us. Ribbons of silver-blue magic shoot from Stryx’s hands, wrapping around my body like living threads, halting my fall as I lose all contact with the wall. Pain lances up my leg as I dangle, gasping.

“Got you,” Stryx says tightly, straining with the effort of pulling me up. “Try not to flail so much next time.”

“I’ll try not to die next time,” I snap, breathless, clawing for purchase as Stryx hauls me over the ledge. We collapse side by side, chests heaving, the echo of my scream still thrumming between us.

Stryx smirks faintly, brushing dust off her sleeve. “You know, for someone who’s half Echofae, you’re not very graceful.”

I shoot her a glare. “Or maybe next time, we could use magic to get down, seeing as that was clearly an option.”

She chuckles. “I was trying to be subtle. But seeing as we are hidden now, there’s no point in me hiding anymore.”

A breath later she shifts into her Irithys form, her size adapting to the tight space we currently occupy. I slowly clamber to my feet and peer round her into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. “Does this really lead to catacombs?”

Her ethereal voice appears in my mind. “Yes, but we won’t be venturing that way today. Or ever. It’s a labyrinth down there, and if you got lost, no one would be able to find you again.”

“Well, that’s comforting,” I mutter to myself, turning back round to gaze out of the tunnel mouth at the inky blackness beyond. “Where do we go from here then?”

She floats past me and hovers over the ledge, her ears twitching back and forth as she grows a little in size. “This way.”

I narrow my eyes. She’s officially lost her mind. “Stryx, I thought we already went over the whole ‘two hundred foot drop’ issue?”

Her laughter echoes through my head as I limp over to the edge, once again regretting my actions the second I peer over at the view below. A breath of cold air sweeps upward from the abyss, pulling at me as I stare out into the gaping void. The city wall we climbed down is now a jagged line high above us, swallowed by the endless dark. My stomach turns as I edge closer, and I instinctively leap back again, anxiety getting the better of me as my Shadow looms too close.

Stryx, however, looks entirely at ease, though I imagine one tends to lose a fear of heights when they have the ability to fly and save themselves from such a perilous death. A trait I’m certainly not envious of. At all.

Blue light ripples over her body like water catching moonlight as she floats gracefully at my side, watching me expectantly.

“You can’t be serious,” I breathe, staring down at the endless drop beneath us. “You expect me to–”

“Trust me,” Stryx interrupts gently, her great head lowering until her blue eyes meet mine. “There’s no other way across. And…this is not something I offer lightly.”

I blink, the weight of her statement sinking in as I realise what she means. To ride an Irithys is not only forbidden in their culture, it’s unthinkable, but the sincerity in Stryx’s gaze silences any protest begging to be wrought from my lips. She floats closer to me, dipping her head, and after a shaky breath, I climb gingerly onto her back, gripping the smooth, cold scales that seem to pulse faintly beneath my hands.

I don’t get time to come to terms with the marvel of riding an Irithys; as soon as I’m settled, Stryx launches herself from the tunnel mouth, my heart nearly stopping as my stomach flips. The air rushes past us in a freezing gale as we burst into the open expanse above Lake Voyd, the roar of wind and distant waterfalls echoing like thunder…or maybe it’s just my pulse pounding in my ears. Far below, the lake glimmers faintly, an enormous mirror of silver mist reflecting the lights of the floating city above.