Page 69 of Monsters of Air

Or he did, until there was a sound like rock hitting rock that echoed from high above us. They all twisted, face to the sky.

I didn’t need to look up, I already knew what was coming.

My body ached, my breathing was ragged, and I was frozen to the mountain for much longer than was needed for such a small rock fall.

“Rayna?” I looked up to meet Lander’s worried expression. He glanced behind me and then back to me. “Just keep moving slowly toward me.”

There was another thud, this time the side of the mountain shaking. Okay, this was not small. What was going on?

“Rayna!” The command in Landers’ voice made me look back at him. The back of my neck tingled at the way he sounded, demanding I listened to him. “Keep moving.”

I tried, staring at Landers, trying to not become bothered by the anxiousness that grew as he kept glancing behind me.

“Cut it out!” Philit snapped out, but then something all too much like a whip hit my legs and any little bit of balance I had went out the window.

“No!” Someone screamed out as I toppled over and felt weightless.

More yelling broke out as my heart went up into my throat. I was falling. Again.

This time, however, I only dropped a few feet before someone grabbed my arm, squeezing tight enough to bruise. I yelped as my body hit the side of the mountain, the jagged rocks slamming into my skin as I bounced off them.

My bag was slipping. I tried to shrug it back on and grab it, but I was too slow as it fell just past my fingertips, hitting the side of the cliffs before falling into the trees way below us. The impact echoed over the clearing with a hollow thud.

There was more swearing before another hand came into view.

“Grab my hand,” Zilon said.

I looked up at the two of them. Philit’s face was completely white, his fear for me thrumming through me, only amplifying my own fear.

“Rayna,” Zilon said. “Grab my hand.”

He was so calm, his voice snapping me away from my pancaked backpack and I reached up and grabbed his hand. The two of them pulled me up carefully, placing me on the ledge next to them. Philit stretched his wings out, the long breadth of them pressing me against the stone face like a seatbelt. Philit’s arm twisted around me, pulling me closer as he breathed heavily into my neck. I froze. Half of me was waiting for some proclamation of devotion, and the other half was waiting for him to push me away.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, his voice soft.

I nodded into his chest.

“Good. I told you I wouldn’t let you fall.” He almost sounded like he was crying, but when I pulled away, so did he.

“Now keep going,” he spat, any softness in his voice was gone and all the tension in my neck wound itself into coils. He was already shuffling forward, leaving me back with Zilon.

“Rayna,” Zilon whispered from behind me, I didn’t even turn. I just stared at Philit’s back, the pain of his rejection cutting deeper.

“Keep going, Rayna. I won’t let you fall.”

I knew he told the truth, but it didn’t stop my heart from trying to throw me off anyway.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“This spot will do,” Philit said, looking around the small clearing on the other side of the cliff face that we had just scaled. I was sure there were other spots, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to reach them. I was exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally.

Worse, my legs felt like all of the bones had been removed. I needed to curl up in a ball and sleep, but first, a fire.

“I’m going to go get food,” Philit said in a tight voice as he watched Zilon and me gather sticks the way we always had. “Landers, come with me.”

“Me?” Landers laughed and tossed his feet forward from where he had settled himself on a rock. “You know I can’t hunt.”

“You can’t sit on your ass, either. Come on.” Philit didn’t really give Landers a choice as he left. Landers swore and chased after him, giving me yet another glare as he did so.

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