Page 75 of Trapped By Claws
Corvin continued to struggle up the staircase. He was over halfway there.
"I'm not leaving you behind, I promise," I called down to him. "I'm just going to prepare this."
I picked up the reagents from my bag and added them to the basin. Seeds, feathers, and flowers spilled in.
I had enough of everything except—wood.
Where had the other piece gone? Had it fallen out when I dumped the bag?
I scanned the chamber floor, searching desperately for the missing piece of wood. The pounding on the door grew louder, the lock beginning to buckle.
Corvin dragged himself up another step, but he was fading fast. "What's wrong?" he rasped.
"Come on, come on," I muttered, digging through my bag again just in case I had missed it. Still nothing.
My fingertips brushed my broken spoon wrapped in the oil cloth.
My heart twinged as I grabbed it.
It was splintered and jagged, but it was also flammable and dry. Shaking my head, I jammed it into the dying sparks of the previous fire. It smoldered, the smoke curling higher.
The doors shuddered once more. A gap of pale light appeared in a line as the columns rocked. One of the warriors tried to jam his hand through the crack.
I mixed the reagents into the basin. The flames caught. The spoon burned, the wood crackling and popping. I poured in the seeds, the lavender, and everything else. The scents merged in a heady blend. The cuts on my arm had almost stopped bleeding, but I scratched at them to let the blood trickle into the basin.
"Just hang on, Corvin," I said, my voice shaking. I referred back to the book as I traced the symbols onto the beams and the arch. The portal started to light up.
The doors thudded again. The pounding echoed through the chamber.
With a strangled cry, Corvin spasmed on the staircase. The final claw had embedded in his wrist.
"Corvin!" I screamed.
Tagger screeched with me. His high-pitched squeaks filled the air. He circled and pounced on Corvin, his little paws striking his chest and face.
Corvin didn't move.
DESPERATION
Iraced down the last four stairs to Corvin and crouched beside him, not even watching as the portal came to life once more. "Corvin? Corvin!"
I jammed my fingers against his throat. No pulse greeted me. Not even a thready one. His skin was like ice.
Tagger squeaked and cried, thrusting his face against Corvin's.
All I wanted to do was lay down and sob. To curl up on his body and mourn for what might have been. My body ached. Everything was cold. The darkness intensified, suffocating and powerful.
The doors shook and grated, the steady slamming on the door and foul curses sworn with each blow.
The portal continued to form.
Sunlight poured through the portal, mixing with the pale-blue of the runes and the orb. A golden afternoon in a birch forest in the mountains. Birdsong reached me through the hum of the portal over the grunting and shouting of the warriors fighting their way through the door.
Then it flickered.
Wait.
Was this one not stable either? What if Mama was wrong?
