Page 88 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood
With a great suckingPOP, the unicorn foal came free, and I fell hard on my butt. It stumbled up the stone embankment. The sky swam above me, and I gasped in another shallow breath.
The unicorn trotted up beside me, its hoofbeats light and shaky. It thrust its head under my arm and jostled me. Its breath whooshed against me, and it whickered in my ear.
“Have to—have to go.” I struggled to stand.
I managed to get one foot under me and pushed hard, using the unicorn’s surprisingly sturdy neck for leverage. Then I was up, but barely, hunched over and reeling as the world continued to shake around us.
Rock dust fell in stinging showers, and the rumble built from a shiver to a growl. My teeth clacked as the mountain convulsed. The unicorn whinnied, high and terrified, as water geysered from the cracked well like an erupting volcano, turning the entire far slope into a landslide.
Mud, boulders, and broken slabs careened down the mountainside in a red-black river. The far end of the mountain sheared away, an entire segment breaking off and plummeting toward the entrance sigil.
“Go,” I rasped, pushing the unicorn away. “Save yourself.”
The foal shook its head, keeping its position against me. I gripped the venom-tipped arrow just as the ground under my feet dropped, pitching me sideways. Still, the unicorn went with me, helping me to keep moving forward.
Shoving the foal ahead of me, I dodged the first volley of falling rocks. The pendant bounced on my chest as I ran, and its energy thrummed into my skin.
A massive crack split the ground ahead. The foal skidded to a halt as stones tumbled into the new abyss.
“Jump!” I hurled myself at the unicorn and hooked one arm around its neck, and together, we did.
We landed hard on the other side. My knees screamed with pain as they hit the stone floor, and I whimpered. The mountain behind us peeled away in a roar, a shelf of clay, sand, granite, dirt, and slate crumpling as the well at the top caved in. Now-red water and debris rained down, sliding toward the chamber entrance.
Adrenaline spiked in my veins, urging me forward. We had to keep moving.
The ground heaved with every step, and the air thickened with dust. Down the other side of the mountain, to the left of the base, I saw an alcove similar to the one at the entrance. Stone jutted out on either side of it, providing possible shelter.
Or a tomb.
Slim chances are better than none.
I cut left, and the unicorn and I lunged onto the next shaking ledge below. I held the arrow tight as its hoofs clattered. We skidded down to the next one, and the ledge we’d just been on split open and cracked apart on either side.
“Move!” I gasped, tugging on the foal’s mane. My voice came in shreds now. My lungs were raw. Each breath scorched and tasted of copper and grit.
The foal balked before stumbling with me toward the alcove. I didn’t dare look back as the earth vibrated harder beneath our feet. I knew what was coming. Just because it was smaller than the main landslide didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill us if it hit us full on.
The embankment steepened into a high shelf, but there wasn’t enough time for us to reach it, and there wasn’t anything to hide behind up there if the debris rose that far.
With a pained grunt, I fisted my hand in the foal’s mane and dragged it into the alcove. The space was barely big enough forus both, but its back curved over our heads like a thick stone shell.
One arm wrapped tight around the foal’s neck, I crouched beside it and turned our faces toward the wall. It sounded as if a freight train was barreling down on us, the whole world shaking.
Rock, soil, clay, and marble struck the alcove and shot in alongside us. I could scarcely breathe as the foal screamed again and pressed hard against me.
Sand and soil, hot and coarse, poured onto us from the side and shoved me against the rough wall, my cheek grinding against stone as I struggled to catch a breath.
Then everything went still.
Light from the golden orbs highlighted heavy dust. My vision blurred. Though my lungs pulled hard, I struggled to get a full breath, and my limbs felt like lead.
Somehow, I was still alive. Somehow. That counted for something, though I felt pretty damn miserable.
The foal nuzzled into my side, its heart thudding fast and frantic.
Slowly, I took in the state of the place. We were mostly buried in the runoff of sand, dirt, silt, and small rocks. The slide had shot all the way up to the top of the embankment, covering some of it with debris. But if an exit was going to form back there, it should still appear.
My eyes grew heavy, and I struggled to lift my head.We have to...have to get out.
