Page 76 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
Tanith had left him here, but I wouldn’t.
Don’t look down.
Another foot forward. Then another. My left palm was raw now, scraped bloody against the rough stone. The bridge stretched endlessly before me, each inch an eternity.
How much farther?
Sixty feet? Seventy?
Just keep going.
The column loomed ahead, dark stone jutting up from the depths like a broken tooth. Vetle swayed, his head dropping lower. The vines constricted higher and wrapped around his chest.
Damn Aerithyn! My stomach soured as I tried to move faster.
She was going to strangle him!
Something wailed from the darkness below. My gaze snapped down, and I froze.
The darkness was infinite, a void that went on forever. My vision swam, and for a horrible moment I thought I might faint. Terror froze me as I knelt there, suspended over endless darkness by only a sliver of stone.
"Sabine!" Vetle's voice reached me, weak but desperate. "What are you doing? Get back to the portal!”
His voice dragged me back as my attention snapped back to him. Thick dark blood oozed from his stitches. Desperation flared in his amber eyes as he watched me in horror. The wind died down, and I heard stone grinding in the distance. It sounded as if chunks were falling, but it wasn’t from the bridge, so I put it out of my mind.
I forced myself to smile as I eased myself forward, shaking. “I just wanted some fresh air, and I wanted to see your kingdom.”
“This isn’t funny, Sabine!” He growled at me, his wings tensing and flaring against the vines. “The last thing I want is for you to die.”
“Well, that’s funny.” My breaths came in gasps. One of his eels shot over to me. It dove under my arm and steadied me as I shook. “The last thing I want is for you to die too.”
"I'm not going to let you save me by sacrificing yourself!" His voice cracked, raw with emotion. "That's not how this works, woman! Now turn around and go back. These vines will snare you as soon as you touch the column."
"I know!" I shouted back. The wind caught my words, but I knew he heard me. "We're both stubborn, Vetle. But I'm more stubborn than you are! And Aerithyn is scared. She’s drawing on us to escape."
“Aerithyn is dead. This is a sacrifice to sate Chaori’s rage,” he bellowed back. “She died, and he will raze this world for her. And even if what you say is so, it's still dangerous for you to be here. You've been injured so many times in such a short span. How much magic can you even have left?”
“No. She’s not dead. She’s trapped. And I've got enough magic left.” I inched forward. Talking was making it easier to focus on him, but my heart still raced, my palm slick with sweat. Whatever magic I had, whatever life I had, I'd spend it here. “But the Witheringlands isn’t about getting even or inflicting suffering. Chaori is trying to help her! And Aerithyn is trying to reach him!”
Vetle wrenched to the side, struggling harder against the vines. His jaw tightened as he fought harder. One of the vines pulled taut and snapped. His eels dove in and pushed out against the ones around his chest. He struggled, fighting to reach me. “If you can hear us, eidon, then do not keep me from my wife. If you have any decency at all?—”
The wind picked up again, whipping my hair across my face and threatening to drag me over the edge as a great wailing screech rose from the chasm.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The wailing screech vibrated through me, jarring me. I cringed forward, bowing against the narrow stone bridge, my head ringing. The voice echoed off the stones as the wind whipped around us stronger. Lightning flashed. The sky above churned with clouds as the blood moon reddened.
Another bolt of lightning struck the chasm’s edge, sending up a sharp burning scent.
A chill ripped down my spine as that instant flash of light revealedher.
She wasn’t fully materialized, her form hazy, made of stones and plants as well as translucent flesh, her body ethereal and yet twisted. The kind of being that was wondrous and terrifying to look upon. And the column Vetle stood upon was at the center of her torso, pinning her as she lay on her side. The vines writhed along her upturned side, grasping up along the chasm’s palace side and the column.
Then the light vanished, hiding her once more as the scream ended. She remained emblazoned in my mind.
“Sabine!” Vetle wrenched himself partially free with a roar that echoed across the chasm, his shadows exploding outward ina violent wave. The remaining vines recoiled, writhing back into the depths as if burned. Only a few held onto his waist, and his eels began biting at them to free him.
I pushed forward another few inches, my knees screaming in protest. “Vetle! Vetle, you have to get off the column!”
