| |
It was slick outside and my crutch lost purchase and slipped along the rock more times than I could count as I hobbled to the first set of ladders. The bench and pulleys from earlier were gone, not that I thought swaying up on a bench in the middle of a storm was a good idea. Ladders were slippery enough. I gripped the ladder as hard as I could in cold, shaking hands. I was wet to the bone already and starting to feel chilled. Water poured over my face, blurring my vision and the endless drumming of rain against the cliff face and on the ledges blocked my ears from navigating by sound. It had been hard to maneuver up the ladders dragging one leg when it was dry. Doing it now in the pouring rain was even worse. The minutes dragged long and twice I slipped, barely catching myself, my breath ragged and laced with fear when I’d caught hold more tightly.
At the top of the first ladder, I collapsed in a heap before craning my neck to look upward. Lightning lanced through the sky, lighting the edge of topside. Along the edge, silhouettes stood inky black. My wave was already at the top and I had three more ladders to go. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking with fatigue and my good leg ached from doing twice the work. If I slipped on a ladder it would be no different than falling off the dragon. I would fall to my death.
I scanned the cliffside for the bench and pulleys. If I kept relying on the ladder I would be too late. There. It was down along the ledge. I fought my way up to my feet, pushing back exhaustion and fear and scrambled towards the ladder, my crutch slipping and twisting over the wet ground. I stumbled, falling hard onto the ledge, my crutch sailing away.
I lay on the ground for a moment, grateful to have stayed on the ledge and not careened over the side. My cheek was burning with pain and when I felt it with my hand it was tender to the touch. It felt wet, but everything did. I could taste blood in my mouth and my good knee and palms were throbbing. I couldn’t let injury stop me. There would be time to tend my wounds after.
I scrambled to my hands and knee and scanned the ledge for my crutch. It was gone. The bottom fell out of my stomach and everything inside me wanted to let loose at once. I turned to the side and heaved, bringing up everything I had, and then wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I shook my head, gasping in the pouring rain, my body shaking and spasming almost uncontrollably as I drew in the scraps of determination I still had. I needed to be courageous. Yes, this was bad. It could be worse. It could be me who fell over that cliff edge.
The bench wasn’t far, so I crawled to it. Slick as it was, venturing onto it felt foolhardy at best, but I swung my good leg over, wrapping that leg around the underside of the board to grip it. I grabbed the rope with both hands, hauling on it like I had before. Wet and heavy, it responded sluggishly, barely moving a few inches instead of the meters it had soared upwards at a single pull before. Despair washed over me. With my crutch gone, this was my last hope. I had to get there with the bench or lose any hope of becoming a Dragon Rider. Tears flowed from my eyes that I didn’t bother to hold back, but I heaved on the rope, again, and again, and again until I was sobbing and panting all at once, my palms raw and sore from the wet rope and my arms shaking and wobbly.
There was no way I could make it.
There was no way I could let myself give up.
All this time, in all of my life, I had never given up. If I started now, then I might as well give up on everything, and then what? Should I just die while I was at it? No. I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes and pulled. I was halfway up when I felt a whoosh of wind that was unfamiliar and I looked up. Our dragons were circling in the sky above, Dragon Riders positioned on either end of the train of dragons. Everyone else was about to take their First Flight. If I didn’t get up there and take mine, then what would happen to Raolcan?
I pulled, fear and desperation coursing through me, my nose and eyes running freely with a combination of frustration, anger, and despair. Why. Did. It. Always. Seem. To. Happen. To. Me? Why?
Where are you?
I gasped, almost dropping the rope and then clutching it tighter when I realized what I’d almost done. Raolcan! I could hear him again!
The magic of the bonding mutes our voices. We come to you completely vulnerable in that ceremony, without even a voice to speak.
That was horrible! Why would they do that to a sentient creature like Raolcan?
They fear our thoughts. We think differently than they do.
I’m so sorry, Raolcan. I didn’t know what to do but I just couldn’t walk away from you. I chose to bond with you but it’s not my intention to make you a slave.
It’s okay, spider. Remember, I chose you.
He did, didn’t he? And why did he call me spider?
A private joke. Don’t ask.
I didn’t have time to ask, anyway. I needed to pull harder. It wasn’t just me relying on this, it was Raolcan, too.
What do you need to pull on? Why can’t I see you with the others? They’re lined up for us.
I’m on the bench trying to get up the side of the cliff. I lost my crutch. If I don’t get there in time to ride you then I miss my shot. I won’t be your Dragon Rider.
Something lashed out, rocking me mentally, so that I had to grip the rope tight and rest my forehead against it, flinching from the agony. Was that a dragon’s mental curse?
Hold tight. I’ll find a way to get to you.
A nice thought but he was a slave and if I didn’t hurry we’d never see each other again. I set back to work, but a scream pierced the sky and I stopped again, gripping the rope, my gaze darting around looking for the screamer.
I caught sight of him for only a moment as he fell past me, arms and legs pinwheeling through the air. His mouth and eyes wide in terror. Good-looking Jael would never flirt with Starie or Savette again. If I hadn’t already lost my dinner, I would now. I bit my lip as my whole body shook, fighting down fear through clenched fists and teeth. The only thing that wouldn’t clench tightly was my eyes. Every time I closed them the image of Jael falling past resurfaced.
I didn’t look up for the second scream. I didn’t want to know who it was. I didn’t want to have to remember their face forever.