Page 71 of A Promise of Peridot
I could just barely hear her agonized scream of protest, make out her crestfallen face—unruly hair backlit by beams of sun and verdant leaves—as I kept running, deeper into the cavern’s suffocating corridor, tailed by that roaring wave of debris.
There were no corners to duck behind, no turns to make. The narrow passage was endless, growing darker and darker, thinner and thinner, and all the while the avalanche behind me echoed.
And my legs were getting heavy. So heavy. If the flickering iridescent bulb around me was any indication, my lighte was already dwindling. I couldn’t keep the shield up much longer.
And I was so, so tired.
This was as good a time as any to give up. I had saved Mari. I couldn’t outrun the crush forever... My feet slackened—
Only to see the slightest sliver of light, like a crescent moon, glowing in the distance.
And maybe it was the pain I feared. The pain of being flattenedby a thousand tons of solid rock. Or maybe a slice of hope was all I needed to try—to fight to live. But whatever it was that spurred me, I threw everything I had into my final steps, and prayed the light was indeed an exit.
And then I got closer, and saw what it was.
A cliff.
The tunnel led out to a protruding cliff. A chute for all the stones behind me to flush out any of the cavern’s unwanted visitors.
I didn’t have time to think. I raced with all my strength, out into the blinding, pure white sunlight. The air was hot and thick and fresh in my lungs, and before I realized I had come to the cliff’s edge, I threw myself off, the tumbling rock behind me falling down as well, just barely missing my head.
For a single, unbearable moment—suspended in midair, arms flailing, legs wheeling with inertia—I felt an inexplicable itching at my shoulder blades. Like needles buried under my skin, rising to the surface, impatient to stab through.
But then I fell, down, down, down, past the palms, past a soaring parrot, and into a deep pool of green water, the rockslide splashing into the lagoon behind me. The cold rush of water pulled me under, and consciousness slipped away.
21
arwen
The hand on my chest was not one I recognized. Etched in blurred, blue ink that might’ve once been bold tattoos, tipped by fingernails caked in dirt, and missing half a middle finger, the hand rose into the air and slammed down on my chest again, dislodging more water from my lungs. It was all I could do to roll over, gagging and spitting onto the grass.
“Atta girl.”
I hacked again before air flooded my lungs. Humid, and scented with plumeria and algae.
Rubbing my eyes, I pushed to stand from the wet seagrass and nearly tumbled back into the vast expanse of water beside me: a lush, clear emerald lagoon, as deep as it was sprawling, produced by misty streams of water that cascaded down the rocky ravine I had fallen from.
A bird’s squawking pulled my eyes up, past the overrun canyon of verdant green and gushing blue and into a sky smudged with a few angry purple clouds. The sun had slipped behind one, makingthe edges glow. I searched for the ledge I had jumped from, but the limestone amphitheater’s cliffs were all the same and I couldn’t see where the cavern had expelled me.
I glanced back to the man who had saved my life. Scruffy hair framed a kind face creased from sun and wind and dirt, with brows both overgrown and patchy. Leather draped him, as well as colorful beaded necklaces and jewelry on both ears. His wide grin was populated by few teeth.
A pirate.
I crawled backward like a crab, only to knock my tailbone against someone’s boots. I flicked my gaze up.
More men. About seven or eight of them. In tunics and pants that had once been vibrant, with hats to block out the unforgiving sun on an open sea. Some had intricate tattoos so often seen in Peridot, others obscene piercings I hadn’t ever seen before through their noses and lips.
Where had Mari ended up? Not in this rocky clearing, evidently. I could only hope she had fared better than me and wasn’t lost in the jungle somewhere.
I scrambled to my feet and said, “Don’t touch me,” with as much strength as I could manage. My head pounded.
“That’s one way to thank a fella,” the first man replied, standing as well before stalking closer.
“I’m serious, come any closer and I’ll kill you.”
Half-hearted male laughter echoed against the cliffs.
“Leave her, mate,” someone called.
