Page 85 of Skalterra By Nightmare
“Across?”
I took off at a sprint, and Fana laughed as she chased after me. The edge of the walkway approached quickly, and I slowed down just enough to let Fana jump first. Her hood flew backwards, her robes billowed out, and her laughter, trilling and infectious, echoed across the boardwalk. A bit of pastry fell from her arms and into the river as she leapt, but she didn’t seem to notice.
She spun to face me after landing across the gap, and I sped up to leap after her.
“See?” She bounced up and down. “That wasfun!”
“Great!” I prodded her forward. “Then don’t stop now!”
A group of fishermen stepped aside as we sped past. An old man grumbled at us, but we were running too fast to make out what it was he said.
“Clever,” Ciarán said. “Make it a game. I like that.”
“Shut up,” I growled.
“I especially like playing games withyou, Blue.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Are you? My wounds that you so lovingly cleaned for me say otherwise.”
“What did you say?” Fana slowed to look up at me.
“Just talking to myself. Keep going, we’re almost at the next jump!”
She grinned and sped up to hurdle over the next stretch of river. A group of nearby children cheered for her, and I hurried to catch up.
The steam-lamps became farther apart the closer we got to shore, but swirling lights spilled out from the windows of cabanas and the cabins of small, moored boats. The people were more sparse here as well, which only made our sprint easier.
My footsteps must’ve been echoing, because as we hurried forward, I could’ve sworn I heard an extra set of foot falls, but every time I glanced behind us, it was to an empty boardwalk.
“Stop looking,” Ciarán said. “He’s still there. Keep going.”
The rolling hills of the riverbank loomed ahead. We were almost there, but we hadn’t lost Titus yet.
“Faster!” I said when Fana’s running strides faltered at the sight of the next gap in the boardwalk.
“It’s too wide!” she protested. “I can’t jump that far!”
“I can!”
Stronger, I willed my muscles. Galahad would have to understand.Stronger. Faster.
I scooped Fana into my arms without breaking pace as I sprinted towards the dark water at the end of the boardwalk. The walkway that ran parallel to this onewasa bit farther than our last jumps had been. I’d never make it in my real body.
I willed my legs one last time as I hurled us out over the water. Once in the air, there was nothing I could do but hope I’d managed to inject enough strength into my Nightmare form to get us across.
My boots slammed into the wooden planks of the parallel dock, and Fana shrieked in delight.
“Well done, Nightmare,” Ciarán chuckled. “I thought you might be taking us for a swim there.”
I dropped Fana in a mess of cloaks, and she staggered back into a run beside me, laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I wheezed.
“You’re right. You are more fun than Tiernan!”
We seemed to have lost Titus after that final leap, and I pulled our hoods up to better blend in with the dwindling crowds. Campfires dotted the riverbank, and townspeople gathered around them to sing and roast fish on spits together. The river city glowed on the water behind us, and I glared at the trees that loomed ahead.
