Reece glanced back over his shoulder, and saw the army of Faws on the horizon, closing in. They had no choice.
“You can go first,” Centra said to Reece.
Reece shook his head.
“I will go last,” he answered. “In case we don’t all make it in time. You go first. You brought us here.”
Centra nodded.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” he said with a smile, nervously watching the Faws closing in.
Centra grabbed hold of the vine and with a scream he leapt off, swinging quickly over the waters as he hung low on the vine, lifting his feet from the water and from the snapping creatures. Finally, he landed on the far shore, tumbling on the ground.
He made it.
Centra stood, smiling; he grabbed the vine as it swung, and sent it back over the river.
Elden reached out and grabbed it, and held it out to Indra.
“Ladies first,” he said.
She grimaced.
“I don’t need pampering,” she said. “You’re big. You might break the vine. You go, and get it over with. Don’t fall in—or else this woman will have to save you.”
Elden grimaced, unamused, as he grabbed the vine.
“I was just trying to help,” he said.
Elden jumped off with a shout, sailed through the air, and tumbled on the far shore beside Centra.
He sent the rope back, and O’Connor went, followed by Serna, then Indra, then Conven.
The last ones left were Reece and Krog.
“Well, I guess it’s just the two of us,” Krog said to Reece. “Go. Save yourself,” Krog said, glancing back over his shoulder nervously. “The Faws are too close There isn’t time for both of us to make it.”
Reece shook his head.
“No man left behind,” he said. “If you won’t go then I won’t.”
They both stood there, stubbornly, Krog looking increasingly nervous. Krog shook his head.
“You are a fool. Why do you care so much about me? I wouldn’t care half as much for you.”
“I am leader now, which makes you my responsibility,” Reece replied. “I don’t care for you. I care for honor. And my honor commands me to leave no one behind.”
They both turned nervously as the first of the Faws reached them. Reece stepped forward, beside Krog, and they slashed with their swords, killing several.
“We go together!” Reece called out.
Without wasting another moment, Reece grabbed Krog, draped him over his shoulder, grabbed the rope, and the two of them screamed as they set off through the air, a moment before the Faws stormed the shore.
The two of them sailed through the air, swaying across for the other side.
“Help!” Krog screamed.
Krog was slipping off of Reece’s shoulder, and he grabbed the vine; but it was now wet with the spray of the rapids, and Krog’s hands slipped right through the vine as he plummeted down. Reece reached down to grab him, but it all happened too fast: Reece’s heart plummeted as he was forced to watch Krog fall, just out of his grasp, down into the gushing waters.
Reece landed on the far shore and tumbled to the ground. He rolled to his feet, prepared to rush back to the water—but before he could react, Conven broke from the group, rushed forward and dove headfirst into the raging waters.
Reece and the others watched, breathless. Was Conven that brave, Reece wondered? Or that suicidal?
Conven swam fearlessly through the gushing current. He reached Krog, somehow not getting bit by the creatures, and grabbed him as he flailed, draping an arm around his shoulder and treading water with him. Conven swam against the current, heading back to shore.
Suddenly, Krog shrieked.
“MY LEG!”
Krog writhed in pain as a Fouren lodged in his leg, biting him, its shiny yellow scales visible over the current. Conven swam and swam until finally he neared shore and Reece and the others reached down and dragged them out. As they did, a school of Fourens jumped into the air after them, and Reece and the others swatted them away.
Krog flailed and Reece looked down and saw the Fouren still in his leg; Indra pulled her dagger, bent over and dug it into Krog’s thigh as he shrieked, prying the animal out. It flopped on shore, then back into the water.
“I hate you!” Krog seethed to her.
“Good,” Indra replied, unfazed.
Reece looked at Conven, who stood there, dripping wet, in awe of his fearlessness. Conven stared back, expressionless, and Reece noticed with shock that a Fouren was lodged in his arm, flopping in the air. Reece couldn’t believe how calm Conven was, as he reached over slowly, yanked it out and threw it back into the water.
“Didn’t that hurt?” Reece asked, confused.
Conven shrugged.
Reece worried for Conven more than ever; while he admired his courage, he could not believe his recklessness. He had dived headfirst into a school of vicious creatures, and didn’t even think twice about it.
On the far side of the river, hundreds of Faws stood there, staring out, infuriated, chattering their teeth.
“Finally,” O’Connor said, “we’re safe.”
Centra shook his head.
“Only for now. Those Faws are smart. They know the river bends. They’ll take the long way, run around it, find the crossing. Soon, they’ll be on our side. Our time is limited. We must move.”
They all followed Centra as he sprinted through mud fields, past exploding geysers, navigating his way through this exotic landscape.
They ran and ran, until finally the mist broke and Reece’s heart was elated to see, before them, the Canyon wall, its ancient stone shining. He looked up, and its walls seemed impossibly high. He did not know how they would climb it.
Reece stood there with the others and stared up with dread. The wall seemed even more imposing now than it had on the way down. He looked over and saw their ragged state and wondered how they could possibly scale it. They were all exhausted, beaten and bruised, weary from battle. Their hands and feet were raw. How could they possibly climb straight up, when it had taken all they had just to descend?
“I can’t go on,” Krog said, wheezing, his voice cracking.
Reece was feeling the same way, though he did not say it.
They were backed into a corner. They had outrun the Faws, but not for long. Soon they would find them, and they would all be outnumbered and killed. All of this hard work, all of their efforts, all for nothing.
Reece did not want to die here. Not in this place. If he had to die, he wanted to die up there, on his own soil, on the mainland, and with Selese by his side. If only he could have one more chance to escape.
Reece heard a horrific noise, and he turned to see the Faws, perhaps a hundred yards away. There were thousands of them, and they had already skirted the river, and were closing in.
They all drew their weapons.
“There’s nowhere left to run,” Centra said.
“Then we’ll fight to the death!” Reece called out.
“Reece!” came a voice.
Reece looked straight up the Canyon wall, and as the mist cleared, there appeared a face he at first thought was an apparition. He could not believe it. There, before him, was the woman he had just been thinking of.
Selese.
What was she doing here? How had she arrived here? And who was that other woman with her? It looked like the royal healer, Illepra.
The two of them hung there, on the side of the cliff, a long and thick rope coiled around their waists and hands. They were coming down quickly, on a long, thick rope, one easy to grasp. Selese reached back and threw the rest of it down, dropping a good fifty feet through the air, like manna from heaven, and landing at Reece’s feet.