Page 96 of Skalterra By Nightmare
“I’m not going with you?” I asked as Orla lowered herself over the lip of the bluff to climb down.
“You’ll be with the Sovereign and Tiernan,” Ferrin said. “Orla, Galahad, and I will go our own ways to confuse Tamora’s trackers as much as possible. Keep Skal use to a minimum to avoid being seen.”
I watched Tiernan from the corner of my eye, and I got the sense that he was doing the same to me as he fretted over Fana’s cloak. He added her pack to his and turned to Galahad.
“Use the Nightmare as bait,” Tiernan said. “I don’t need its help.”
“Fana needs extra protection,” Galahad explained while he watched Orla climb down the cliffside. I leaned over to track her progress with him. A small plume of blue pollen floated upwards where she disappeared into the tall grasses.
I pulled backwards to watch the glowing particles drift up past our vantage point on the cliff to join the stars. A metallic click brought my gaze down to my waist where Ferrin was fastening a lead to my belt.
“This will keep you from getting separated in the plains,” he explained, linking Fana’s belt to the other end of my lead. She was already connected to Tiernan on her other side.
“Galahad,” Tiernan growled, “as the only Riftkeeper to a living Sovereign—”
“You don’t outrank me, boy. The Nightmare goes with you,” Galahad asserted. “Now move. Remember the rendezvous and protect the Sovereign. And Wren Warrender? Control yourself. Take too much magick from me, and I’ll make sure it hurts.”
Ferrin and Galahad watched us clamber down the bluff. I took solace in the fact that as long as I was attached to Fana by the lead, Tiernan wouldn’t try to knock me off the cliffside. Unfortunately, it meant I couldn’t do the same to him, though I let myself fantasize about it as we descended.
Fana proved a skilled climber, and my Nightmare body made the task easier than I would’ve thought. Wind pressed us against the rock face, and the unpredictable gales pulled on my cloak and hair.
I wondered if Liam was back at home keeping his promise to carry me upstairs as I maneuvered down the cliff face in Skalterra. Maybe someday, if I knew he’d believe me, I would tell him about Skalterra and the tiny role he’d played in saving both realities by taking me to my bed each night.
The grasses had tall, broad stems that fanned out in tufts of fluff that reminded me of dandelions at their heads. I bumped against the tufts as I descended past the tops of the grass, and bits of fluff broke off to rise overhead, glowing blue.
Tiernan reached the ground first and helped Fana down after him. I took stock of our surroundings as I followed and quickly understood why Ferrin had linked us together with leads.
The grass wasn’t just tall, towering twice my height, but it was also dense. Tiernan craned his head back far enough for his hood to slip from his dark locks, and I followed his gaze to the two silhouettes that looked down at us from the lip of the bluff.
“Keep up, Nightmare,” Tiernan growled. “I’m not waiting for you if you get lost in the grass.”
“I’m pretty sure Ferrin made that impossible to happen.” I tugged on the lead, and Fana giggled between us. Tiernan yanked on his end, and Fana stumbled after him.
A haunted, bugling cry sounded in the distance to our right, and I froze.
“What was that?” I asked.
“A ramstag?” Tiernan looked back to glare at me. “Don’t you have those?”
“I’m pretty sure we don’t.”
Tiernan tried to scowl at me, but a sneeze racked his body, and he sniffed loudly.
“Allergies?” I asked, looking up at the blue spores.
“I’m fine,” he said through a stuffy nose, and then turned to forge forward, pushing grass out of his way. Our leads and the density of the grass stalks made it difficult to move too quickly, and more than once Tiernan would bat a stalk out of his way just for it to spring back and smack Fana or me.
The poor girl stumbled between us, struggling to keep her footing on the uneven ground. A bit of pollen fluff had drifted down to stick itself in her hair, and it glowed blue in her curls. Tiernan sneezed again.
“We made it to the Umberdust Plains, I see.”
I tripped at the sound of Ciarán’s voice in my head, and Fana and Tiernan both looked back.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“I told you to keep up.” Tiernan continued the path forward, and I held back a sharp quip. It wouldn’t be fair to Fana if I picked a fight with Tiernan while she was between us.
Besides, his battle with pollen allergies kept his attention off me as we made our way through the plains. He was forced to resort to using the hem of his cloak as a tissue and couldn’t go farther than a few yards without sneezing.
