Page 128 of Crown of Chaos

“And who created this place because I’m pretty sure it isn’t part of the realms?” The question caused Esme to pause, and her brow creased in confusion.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I just know that when something hurts, you shouldn’t stick it in your mouth, idiot.”

A loud, groaning sound echoed through the terrain, and the vibrant greenery was now dreary brown earth. The tree that had been following us had vanished, and skeletal remains scattered the ground throughout the valley. High soaring cliffs had risen, reaching to the heavens to vanish into the cloudy night. Shrill animal noises erupted, forcing us to step closer to one another, scanning the area for whatever threat was coming next.

The skulls on the ground began shaking and added to the already haunting song of the wildlife. Beneath our feet, the earth continued to vibrate, and the scent of earth mingled with musky undertones.

“I don’t like this,” I stated, feeling the sensation of being watched creeping up my spine.

“Yes, me either,” she agreed, stepping back as loud crunching noises tore through the area. We both peered back slowly. A soft breath of air left my lungs, as we discovered eyeless creatures that looked as if they’d had all the moisture sucked from their flesh.

Then we took off running toward the bridge. The sharp scraping continued, and guttural moans began swarming around us. Esme peered over her shoulder, her eyes growing wide as she turned back and picked up speed. I didn’t need to look to know that I didn’t want whatever those creatures were to catch up to us.

Fear shot down my spine as the ground gave way to a bridge, but Esme and I didn’t slow as we hurtled across it. Once we’d made it safely to the other side, Esme spun and cut the old, decayed ropes. We watched as zombie-looking things and other creatures bumped up against those on the ledge, sending them down into the endless ravine we’d crossed.

My legs, chest, and abdomen were on fire from running. Everything ached, and a quick glance at the rising sun had me furrowing my brow in confusion. Either time moved differently here, or we’d been running for over twelve hours already. The ground rumbled again, and I wanted to stomp my feet and pout because I needed a second to catch my breath. The ravine vanished and replaced with solid land once more. Doing a quick scan for threats, I snorted at not finding more monsters already in place to force our exhausted bodies forward once again. What Ididfind was yet another bridge waiting for us.

Esme made a strangled sound and took a single step back from the ancient-looking bridge. The rope was frayed, and the boards appeared to be rotten to the point of falling apart. We both stared at the monstrosity with horror stamped across our faces. Just the thought of stepping onto the thing had my heart thundering against my rib cage. Esme shuffled another step back, as if she were getting ready to brave the acid tree, but the growling sent us both rushing toward the rickety bridge.

Not even five steps onto the thing, Esme lurched forward as the board she had stepped on gave way. I grabbed her, yanking her back up just as the first creature inched its way onto the bridge. I backed up, keeping myself between the creatures and Esme, who was peering back in horror. Her hand pressed to her thigh, and concern pulsed through me.

They were shadows, but they snapped at one another to be the first to feast on our bones. Blood splattered into the air and rained onto the ground, painting it crimson.

“It’s fucking broke!” she snarled.

“Your leg? Or the bridge?” I demanded, still backing up, inspecting the shadowy images of the silky dark nightmare cats moving closer to us. They were taller than we were, which I hadn’t expected. Of course, when we’d seen them the first time, they’d been on the cliff above us.

“The bridge!” She groaned, and the whole thing started swinging beneath the weight of the creatures.

We continued inching backward, but the shadows lunged, ignorant of the horrifying sound of the planks and ropes creaking under their weight. I spun, forcing Esme to move as we rushed over the bridge. I risked a glance back over my shoulder, which I should have known was a huge mistake, and watched in abject horror as first one, and then the other, rope support snapped. The end of the bridge dropped, dumping the shadow cats into the chasm below, and Esme and I screamed.

We held on for dear life as the bridge swung wildly through open air. Wide violet eyes spun toward me as she began to slide, but my legs wrapped around her waist just as we slammed painfully against the side of a cliff.

Grunting, I tightened my hold on to her, staring down. She’d wrapped her arms around me, clinging as if she feared I would drop her. I released a frustrated scream, fear and horror pouring through me as the ropes burned my hands and we slid down, closer to death.

“Don’t drop me, Aria,” she pleaded through trembling lips and chattering teeth.

“If we die, we die together,” I informed her with tears stinging my eyes. My arms burned with the strain of holding us both up, but I would not let her drop. Not unless I dropped with her.

I struggled to hold on, fighting to grip the ropes on both sides as I prepared to climb. I had to bear her weight with mine and get us up to the top or we’d both be falling to our deaths. There was no world where I removed her from my waist to save myself. I wouldn’t do it, and I was beginning to think that was the fucking test. Did they want me to forego saving her? No, Eva had said, webothhad to make it through.

Fighting to remain calm and steeling my spine, I swung my arm up, grabbing higher. The motion jostled Esme, who screamed and tightened her hold until it felt as if she would cut me apart. I gained another handful of inches, and I exhaled an excited whoop until I realized we’d hardly moved. Deflating, I released a slow, deep breath and closed my eyes, praying we made it out of this alive.

“You need to hold on because we have to go up!” I shouted so she could hear me over the howling wind. She nodded against me, her wide, terrified eyes swinging between the dark, endless drop below us and the cliffs that opened to expose a vast ocean of water. The light from a multitude of stars glittered over the water but faded into the light of the sun rising on the horizon. Returning my focus to the climb, I fought for strength to get us both to the ledge alive.

“I don’t want to go up!” she snapped, panic thickening her tone.

“Would you rather we go down?” I inquired, waiting for her reply before moving once more.

The climb felt endless, and my entire body burned from holding us both suspended over certain death. Beneath us was a void. One that looked bottomless. It would be easy to drop her and work my way up without the added burden, but I would never willingly do that. I wouldn’t be able to live knowing I’d dropped her to save myself.

It was that thought that kept my hands moving, but when my head cleared the ledge, I had enough forethought to make sure nothing was waiting to eat us. When I was sure it was safe, I moved higher, using my lower body strength to pull Esme with me. She climbed over me, crawling onto land before she turned to grab ahold of me and hoist me the rest of the way up. The moment we were both on firm ground, we laid on our backs, staring up at the dawn spreading splashes of vibrant color across the sky above us.

“You could have dropped me and saved yourself, Aria,” Esme whispered, her lips trembling.

I looked at her, smiling as she turned her tear-streaked face toward me. I grabbed for her hand, clasping it until it stopped trembling.

“That isn’t who I am, Esme. And I meant what I said. Either we get there together or we don’t get there at all. What kind of asshole would drop their best friend?” Smiling tightly, I lifted, peering over the ravine to where gnarled and misshapen cat-looking creatures paced, making the same horrible noise. One snarled, sending shadowy tendrils into the air. I inched up, bracing myself on my elbows to study the way the wispy shadows moved. “It’s really too bad we can’t fly and make this shit easier.”

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