24. Follow the Fey
He was right, of course. This was indeed a very bad idea, and Isaac dared say he’d even underestimated just how frustrating it would be to try and keep up with a tiny, quick fey child who kept disappearing behind trees and branches and reappearing way farther away than she should have been able to move to in that period of time. Isaac would think Gloriana (she’d finally told them her name after they’d been traveling for half an hour) was doing it on purpose to be difficult, if not for the deathly serious expression she wore that hadn’t shifted once since he and Mortimer had agreed to be her temporary minions.
The trees of the Woodlands grew considerably denser the further they traveled, and it became increasingly difficult to navigate around towering bushes and thick curtains of leaves. Gloriana had no issue moving about and seemingly no intention of slowing down. The one saving grace was that her red hair stuck out easily among the green and brown surroundings, otherwise Isaac was sure they’d have lost sight of her a long time ago.
Isaac cursed as he was hit in the face by a swinging branch and stumbled backwards, almost falling over. Somehow, despite supposedly doing this to make sure the fey wasn’t hurt, he got the distinct impression that he was actually the one most in danger here.
Mortimer, for his part, was equally clumsy and graceless in his navigation, but he brushed off any falls and branches without a second glance. High defense would do that to you, Isaac supposed. He was grateful at least that the man seemed to be deliberately slowing down so as not to leave him behind.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the fey child paused. Isaac tripped through a final large bush, blinking when he saw the reason why Gloriana had halted.
Ahead of them, the ground abruptly split into a wide ravine that extended far below what Isaac could see. Neither the moonlight nor the glow of the leaves made it down far enough to illuminate the inky darkness below, and he could only make out the faint outlines of sharp, jagged rocks jutting out from the cliff walls. He frowned and looked over at the fey child, who was staring at the ravine intently. Isaac took a few steps forward, close enough to grab her if something happened.
“I’m guessing we have to go over this thing.”
Gloriana nodded, pointing to the left. Squinting, Isaac could make out a very narrow, very rickety rope bridge that was missing about half of its planks and looked like one strong breeze would be enough to topple the whole thing.
“That doesn’t look safe. At all.”
The fey child frowned and started walking towards the bridge. Isaac sputtered and hurried after her, cursing himself for always underestimating how fast she moved.
Dashing forward, he planted himself in front of the bridge, which somehow managed to look like an even worse idea up close. Gloriana took a step forward while Isaac remained firmly rooted in place. “Oh no, we are not doing this.”
The fey narrowed her eyes, holding Isaac’s gaze firmly despite their height difference. “You said you would accompany me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and we’re doing that so you don’t get hurt. Look, we’ll find another place to get across.”
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“There’s no time.”
Isaac released an exasperated sigh. “And I’m telling you I don’t know what that means.”
The two stood in a silent stare down, neither one willing to budge. Isaac certainly didn’t plan on getting intimidated by a fey child half his size, and Gloriana was exhibiting an impressive level of stubbornness. Finally, the fey shifted, and for a moment Isaac thought he’d won their little glaring contest.
He was proven wrong when, in a flash of speed, the girl darted forward and vaulted over Isaac, soaring up into the sky before landing onto the rope bridge, which creaked and swayed from the impact.
“Shit!” Isaac spun around and attempted to grab her, but Gloriana was already too far away, jumping over the gaps in the wooden planks with agile speed and dexterity. Isaac’s eyes darted about. There was no way the bridge would be able to support both of their weights, that much was clear from how thin and frayed the ropes were. He clenched his fist as he watched the fey, once again shouting for her to come back, but to no avail. His gaze wandered to the creaking bridge again, silently praying it would hold up.
Of course, because things never went how he wanted, in the next instant he heard a loud snap. Isaac’s eyes widened as one of the ropes holding the bridge broke apart and the entire thing began to fall apart. Without thinking, he dashed forward, as though he could somehow reach where Gloriana was in the center of the bridge if he just tried hard enough. He felt his own foot slip and managed to think what a fucking idiot he was as he prepared himself for the sensation of falling.
It didn’t come. Instead, a sharp yank on his shirt nearly knocked the wind out of him, and he had just enough time to process Mortimer behind him before they were soaring over the ravine as long white bones extended behind the half undead man in an arc that flung them across. A second bone shot out from the man’s arm and looped around Gloriana, who was clinging desperately to one of the ropes.
An instant later, Isaac felt the hard impact of earth as they landed on the other side of the ravine. He rolled around a few times, coughing up dirt, and immediately stood up, looking about wildly. He released a sigh of relief, shoulders relaxing, when he saw Gloriana get up, her own fiery hair messy and covered with specks of mud. A little ways away, Mortimer slowly retracted the bones back into his flesh.
“Thank fucking god,” Isaac muttered. He hurried over to Gloriana, who was inspecting her clothes and dusting off the grasses and leaves that had gotten stuck to her dress. Her expression was flat, but her large eyes were a little wider than usual. “Are you okay?” Isaac asked. The girl pursed her lips and nodded. Isaac sighed and turned to the other participant in the crash.
Mortimer, anticipating the question, said simply, “I’m fine.”
“Thank you,” Isaac said, equal parts sincere and weary. “You really saved us back there.”
“It wasn’t a big deal.” The man’s eyes drifted over to where Gloriana was. The fey child turned her head away, refusing to look the man in the eye. Isaac frowned, about to say something, but Mortimer just shook his head. Isaac grit his teeth but nodded.
Now that he’d confirmed the girl was safe, he could feel his former irritation bubbling up again. “I told you not to go on that bridge,” he said, keeping his voice as steady and calm as he could manage. He tried to channel as much authority as he could, mimicking the mannerisms from all the times his old teachers would scold him. (He kept any anger resembling his parents tightly locked. The way they spoke and acted always used to make him freeze up when he was younger; he refused to imitate them.) “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Gloriana looked down at her feet, and for a second Isaac thought she was going to apologize. Instead, she turned away and dashed into the forest.
“Hey, wait!” Isaac hurried after the fey, and he could hear Mortimer running behind him. “I told you not to run off!”
“There’s no time!”
Isaac blinked in surprise. He hadn’t heard Gloriana’s voice at such a loud volume before; somehow she sounded even younger when she yelled like that.
They ran after her for a few more minutes, then, in a smooth leap, the girl jumped through a thick curtain of leaves hanging from a low branch and vanished from view. Cursing, Isaac ran through the leaves himself, getting more than a few scratches from the branches and a collection of dirt and stray leaves falling into his eyes before he managed to stumble through to the other side.