Page 94 of A Trial of the Heart

The clouds became thick, and visibility dropped to only a few feet in front or behind where you stood. I had to admit, the ropes were a good idea.

“Last jump is up ahead!” Gunnar shouted from behind a veil of clouds. “That’s the summit.”

Daxton quickened his strides to meet me at my side. “It replicates the final obstacle atop the Ice Gauntlet.”

“That giant twenty-foot inverted wall?” He nodded, and my stomach churned a little. “I’ll need a running start, I imagine.”

“It helps.” He chuckled.

The rope on my waist slackened, indicating Gunnar had cut through his own end and began his assent up the face of the massive wall of stone and rock. “Your turn,” he called out.

“Fantastic.” I scoffed. “The added layer of fog makes this so much more fun…”

“It wouldn’t befunif it were easy, Spitfire. Easy is for simple people. You and I are far from simple.” Daxton leaned against a nearby rock face, giving me a taunting look. “Are you saying you’re unable to do this? Are you admitting to failure before even attempting to try your hand?”

“Well played, Princey.”

A victorious grin spanned across his face. He knew exactly what to say to get me sprinting along the rocks and up the wall.

Ignoring his gloating, I untied my rope and pushed it firmly into his chest with a harder-than-necessary shove. The fog lifted just enough to see the edges of the boulders stacked on top of each other, with the final rock stretching out into a smooth, flat surface that I had to jump and reach in order to pull myself up. Gunnar stood at the top, waving hello, helping seal in the taunting, enough to encourage me to stop thinking and just… run.

I propelled my aching feet forward, keeping my balance centered as I ran across the rock faces to the base of the stone cliff. Pumping my arms, I willed myself to sprint faster, turning my horizontal momentum into a vertical leap and reaching my arm out for the ledge at the very top. My hand found the stone corner, and I latched on. My other hand joined the first, and using my legs, I was able to climb up to the top of the wall.

Daxton ran the same route and joined us at the top.

“I did it!” I said with a bright, beaming smile, catching my breath.

“Why was that even a question?” Daxton asked, pride swelling in his eyes. “You’re ready for—”

Daxton’s entire body tensed and his sword, Valencia, materialized in his hand. Gunnar unsheathed his blade strapped to his waist, with a dagger in his other hand. Not good … Something was very, very wrong.

The two males silently scanned our surroundings, searching for any sign of danger they both could feel but not yet see. Daxton’s jaw flexed with unease as he signed for Gunnar to stay with me while he investigated the rocks below.

“Take this,” Gunnar whispered, slipping a long dagger into my hand.

I didn’t know what was out there, but if Dax and Gunnar were this worried, I knew I should be, too. The whole area surrounding us seemed to settle into an unnatural silence. A loud thump was followed by rocks tumbling along the opposite side, where Daxton jumped down to investigate.

“Wait here,” Gunnar commanded in a low voice. His humor and carefree personality had flipped, and I was now with the commanding general of the Silver Meadows armies.

I nodded, moving to place a section of rocks at my backside.

He crept silently toward the mountain’s edge, peering off into the fog but failing to find anything below. My heart thundered rapidly in my chest, and my animal’s awareness fueled my body with her power and heightened abilities. I was in fight or flight mode, all my senses kicking into high gear.

A faint scraping caught my attention, followed by a slither that reminded me of a long snake hiding in the tall grass. Gunnar didn’t seem to notice anything, so I turned away and decided to investigate it myself. Leaning over the edge, I crept forward, trying to pinpoint the oddsounds coming from the array of tangled boulders just off the trail. I needed to get closer to figure it out.

Sheathing my dagger at my hip, I rose to my feet and scouted a pathway down from the top. A stable, solid platform just ten feet below me looked like the perfect place to land, so I squatted down and jumped, but the platformvanished.

I screamed as I plummeted through the fog, helplessly falling and colliding into the jagged mountain rocks. My vision blurred. My body bounced off the cliffs like a child’s ball dribbling across the ground. My right arm bent sideways as it smacked into a sharp rock, slicing it open to the bone as I continued to fall. I desperately tried to stop my momentum, but I couldn’t manage to grab onto the cliffs.

I fought to keep my consciousness, but I somersaulted once more and hit my head hard against the mountainside. My world turning black.

Chapter Nineteen

Groaning, I tried to move my body, but shooting pain along my arm and the back of my head forced me to stop.At least I’m still alive, I thought. Pain meant I wasn’t dead, which was a fucking miracle.

“Spitfire?”The concern in Daxton’s voice was enough to make my heart shatter into a million little pieces. Without even opening my eyes, I knew who it was. I knew … he would be waiting at my bedside.

“Alive … Somehow,” I grunted, slowly shifting toward Daxton’s voice. “And thankfully mending. Even though it feels like my body’s seen better days.”

---