Page 79 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
“Drop the coils!” Vetle bellowed, his voice barely strong enough to carry over the wind. “Don’t let her grab you yet!” Hisbody shuddered against mine. His wings drooped slightly before he forced them back up.
The draining had intensified, pulling at something deep inside me—not just my magic, but my very essence. Everything felt distant, muffled, like I was sinking underwater. My eyes slid shut. Then something coarse and hard struck my face, cutting my cheek. The pulling loop. The rope scratched against my face, rough fibers grounding me to the moment. I forced my eyes open, the world swimming.
Vetle’s fingers were already moving, working the rope despite the vines constricting around us both.
My good hand fumbled with the coarse fibers as I kept my broken hand tight against my chest. Together, we looped and pushed, our movements clumsy and desperate as another wave of draining energy pulsed through us. My knees buckled, but Vetle kept me upright. The eels shot out around the pulling line and shoved it over the column’s side facing the palace.
The rope caught, held. The guards circled back, fighting against the gale. Another coil dropped, this one thicker, and I grabbed for it with my good hand. The rough hemp bit into my palm as I helped guide it over the column's edge. My arm trembled with the effort, muscles screaming in protest.
“Tell the others!” Vetle shouted hoarsely to the airborne guards. “Any who are winged and willing—cross here to the column and let the vines grab hold. Together, we pull her toward the portal!”
One of the younger guards nodded sharply and wheeled midair, the second already following. They surged back toward the gathering survivors.
Gehn and Lou dropped down. Lou hit first, his boots skidding across the cracked stone, and Gehn landed a heartbeat after him, teeth gritted, wings folding tight against the pull of the gale.
"Don’t get on your knees for me again, sweet thorn," he murmured, his breath ragged against my ear. "We have to stand a little more."
The vines squeezed tighter, and I screamed as the draining sensation intensified. It felt like something inside me was being torn free, ripped away strand by strand. Vetle's shadows exploded outward again, giving us a moment of respite.
Again the wind surged in a shrieking blast that mirrored the wails of the eidons. More of the chasm’s edge gave way, tumbling into the abyss with a sound like bones splintering. The voice above bellowed, agony and rage rippling through every syllable. A strange chittering rose on both sides of the chasm and within the fog.
My legs gave way. Vetle caught me, his arm steadying me before I could fall. Gehn and Lou were beside him, bracing the ropes.
I tried to push myself upright, my legs shaking so badly I could barely keep any footing. The draining sensation pulsed again, and I gasped. I shoved myself forward, fighting to drag the vines with me.
It took everything I had left to force my legs straight beneath me. The world tilted sickeningly, black and grey eating at the edges of my vision. Vetle's arm was the only thing keeping me from collapsing completely as we took that first trembling step toward the edge of the column and the bridge.
The vines pulled taut around us, writhing and clenching. Two more fae landed on the column, the vines wrapping around them. The crushing draining sensation eased with each one.
I took a step toward the bridge, my legs threatening to give out again. Vetle's arm tightened around my waist as we moved together, dragging the vines with us. The weight was immense, like trying to haul an entire forest behind us. Each step sent joltsof agony through my broken hand, and the draining sensation pulsed in waves that made my head spin.
The bridge stretched before us, impossibly narrow, a thread of stone over hungry darkness.
"One step," Vetle rasped beside me. "Then another. Don’t look down."
I forced my foot forward. The vines resisted, pulling back toward the chasm's depths. Behind us, Gehn and Lou braced themselves against the column, gripping the ropes as they leaned back with all their weight. Two more fae landed, their boots hitting stone with sharp cracks. The vines lashed out, wrapping around their legs and torsos. They cried out but held their ground, adding their strength to ours. This time though the vines didn’t bind their legs as tightly.
Another step. The world blacked out, then came back.
Lightning flashed, and I was staring down into Aerithyn’s terrified face. The wailing desperate screams from above and below intensified.
Vetle dragged me forward, my feet fumbling to keep pace. One of his eels shot up beneath my foot and steadied me.
The bridge groaned beneath us as cracks spiderwebbed.
More fae crossed to help. I heard their wingbeats, heard them landing behind us on the column. Heard their gasps as the vines seized them. The pulling eased incrementally with each new body, distributing the terrible weight.
The earth rumbled beneath us, a low warning growl that vibrated up through the stone and into my bones. I felt it before I heard it—the grinding, splintering sound of rock giving way.
"Faster!" Gehn's voice rang out behind us. "The column's breaking!"
Screams erupted on the other side by the portal. I forced my head up, then my heart snagged in my throat.
My gaze searched once more for Osric.
I spotted him, Rasoul still holding him fast. But then, near the portal, spindly-legged forms loomed up from the mist.
No! Maker, no!
