With a hard shove, he pushed Rell forward onto the path. She stumbled. Her right foot slipped over the edge but she caught herself before she fell. The suffocating presence eased somewhat. She drew in a deep breath and slowly turned to face Gregory—or whatever was pretending to be Gregory.
He smiled, his expression sending a shiver through her. “You see, there is no danger here.”
Jade glared at him. “Why did you do that?”
Before Rell could take a step back toward safety, a small rivulet of water that had been flowing down the wall shifted and streamed across the trail. It spread across her feet. She jumped backward, but the shimmering liquid followed her, covering her boots like a silvery sheet.
The sensation of the ground shifting beneath her sent a rush of panic through Rell. She stumbled toward the ledge but righted herself. “The ground is moving.”
Gregory laughed, the sound maniacal and not like the man she’d come to know.
Jade made to lunge forward but Luc grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. “I don’t think that’s Gregory.”
Rell struggled to keep her footing on what felt like sifting sand. No matter what she tried, she could not gain ground forward or back to safety. She clutched a jutting rocked sticking out of the cavern wall and tried to climb above the water, but it was impossible to lift her feet from the liquid. Deciding it best not to move, she clung to the wall and forced herself to remain still.
Her eyes beseeched Siban to do something. His Tell touched her, giving her comfort that everything would be all right, but she didn’t relax.
Siban gripped Brita’s arm and pulled her to his left. At the same time Ravyn rushed forward. Both she and Siban raised their daggers and in one smooth motion, hurled the weapons at Gregory. The blades buried deep in their supposed leader’s chest. Juna cried out, as if still not understanding the situation.
Gregory’s image wavered. His mouth opened and closed, his now-yellow eyes rounding in shock. He grabbed for the knives, but Siban rushed forward and yanked the immortal weapons from his chest. In an instant, Gregory transformed from Bringer to Bane. Black tattoos covered every inch of the demon’s body. At the center of its chest the Summoner’s symbol extended outward, the points of the star reaching across its body.
Rhys leveled a solid kick to the Bane’s stomach and catapulted the demon over the edge of the trail. A high-pitched scream followed the creature’s descent, the sound of its body hitting the bottom of the gorge abruptly cutting off the screech.
Again the ground shifted beneath Rell. Her grip slipped slightly. She clawed at the wall, trying to get a firmer hold on the icy rocks and pressed her cheeks against the cold stone. The silver water bubbled around her feet, its flow increasing to run across the ground and over the edge. The liquid churned and roiled up her legs.
“Siban!” She attempted a step forward but nearly lost her footing completely. “I can’t move.”
“Hold on.” He crept toward her and extended his arm, stretching his body in an effort to reach her. “I’m coming.”
Rhys gripped Siban’s wrist and then latched onto Luc. One by one the Bringers formed a human chain. Again Rell tried to move toward them but the water welled up, encompassing her legs, as if its single purpose was to drive her over the edge.
A thunderous roar erupted from below her, shaking the ground more violently than before. Wind swept through the cavern, battering each one of them and pushing Siban back toward safety. One of her hands slipped free. Rell cried out, her arm swinging wildly in an attempt to grab the wall again, but the wind and water beat against her. Rocks tumbled from above, sliding downward in an avalanche of water and stones.
Again the screams she’d heard in the corridor pierced her skull, their cries even louder than before. The water surged and lifted one foot completely from the ground. Rell could hear Siban and the other Bringers yelling at her, but the cries ricocheting through her head muffled their words. Her nails scraped along the stones as the force of the water drove her toward the edge. Pain throbbed through her fingers from trying to hold on, but inch by aching inch her grip slipped free.
Time seemed to slow, all movements around her registering at once. The ground shifted and Siban lunged for her. Rell’s feet gave way and suddenly she was falling.
The shrieks inside Rell’s head were replaced with her own screams. Wind beat against her ears as she toppled head first into the black gorge. There was no way to save herself. Her one thought was of Siban and how they’d never gotten the chance to live a life together. She closed her eyes, waiting for her death.
Something hard slammed into her, knocking the breath from her. Intense pain speared her arms and for a second she’d thought she’d hit the sharp rocks jutting from the wall. Her body lurched, her neck snapping backward, nearly halting her in midair. A hard thump of wings sounded above her and she was yanked violently upward. Her stomach flipped, nearly causing her to vomit.
The realization that talons wrapped around her arms sent another wave of panic through her. Had the demon they had thrown over captured her? Her instinct to fight back reared up. But to fight and win would mean falling again. She craned her neck, trying to see what Bane held her, but the darkness and the angle at which she hung made it impossible.
Upward they flew and to her surprise, the demon dropped her, though none too gently onto the ledge a few feet from the group. Siban rushed forward, his sword drawn. He scooped Rell into his free arm, crushing her to him. Though he spoke, she couldn’t understand him with her head pressed against his chest. Stunned that she wasn’t dead, Rell collapsed against him, the tears coming unbidden.
The whoosh of wings and the heavy crunch of stone pulled her from her shock. She pushed away from Siban to see the Bane who had saved her. “Icarus?”
Tall and imposing, Icarus stood a few yards from where he’d dropped her. His yellow eyes glimmered in the cavern’s dimness and his shoulders were squared, as if completely at odds with his noble feat. “Being human has made you rather clumsy.”
Siban shoved her behind him and pointed the sword at Icarus’s chest. “Do not come any closer.”
“He saved me, Siban.” Rell tried to step around him, but he held her in place.
“Why is he here?”
Rhys and Ravyn moved to stand on either side of Siban. Bright orbs of fire burned in the palms of their hands.
“You mean to vanquish me after I saved your friend?” Icarus’s voice pulsed with anger.
Frustrated by the Bringers’ reaction, Rell pushed past Siban. He reached for her, but she dodged his grasp and walked toward Icarus. “Thank you.”
The demon’s brows furrowed when her step didn’t slow, and when she threw her arms around his broad chest his body stiffened, as if shocked by her reaction. Though he didn’t return her embrace, he didn’t pull away.
“Rell.” Siban’s voice lashed out at her. “He can’t be trusted.”
She released the demon and stepped back. “I think he’s proven he can.”
Icarus inched away from Rell. “You have also become emotional.”
She nodded, still trying to reconcile what she’d just experienced. “Perhaps.”
Footsteps thundered from inside the passage and Gregory and Magnus appeared, swords held ready. Both men slid to a stop.
“What is going on here?” Gregory looked from Icarus to Juna.
“Another illusion trap.” She flicked her head toward Rell. “She fell and Icarus saved her.”
The stilted explanation was correct if not brief. Though Magnus’s stance didn’t relax, Gregory released a heavy breath and straightened.