Calla's Story

Chapter 17-3

Wait, what? Meet again?

I tear my eyes from the minotaur long enough to glance at Chase. For the first time since I met him, he looks afraid. Which means I should be afraid too. I train my eyes on the minotaur once more, aiming my arrow at his chest and swallowing against the dryness in my throat. Olive’s words are a whispered memory inside my head: You’re going to wind up dead a whole lot sooner than I thought.

From the corner of my eye, I see Chase backing away. “What are you doing?” I whisper. “We can take this guy down. With my illusions and your strength, we can—”

“No,” he says. “We run.”

“But—”

“RUN!”

I release my weapons. Chase pushes me ahead of him. We hurtle along the tunnel with the minotaur’s angry cries and pounding footsteps following us. The tunnel splits and twists and straightens once more. My heart pumps adrenaline through my body. Fear lends me speed. We run and run and run and still the minotaur is behind us. We run and run and run—

And then we fall.

I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t see the abyss until we ran right off the edge. And now we’re falling, falling, falling, flailing limbs and screaming, darkness all around, and a pale blue light far below.

“Slow yourself!” Chase yells.

I know I’m supposed to be able to do that. Send magic out, push against the ground, slow myself to a halt. And I’m trying, but I can’t see the ground, and I can’t direct my magic because it’s whipped away as air streams past us, and all I know is that I’m plummeting to my death.

A hand catches hold of mine. Chase tugs me closer, pulling me into an embrace. We spin through the air together as a whirlwind surrounds us, slowing us. Slowing, slowing, slowing—

And then we strike the ground.