He turned his head to provide instruction. “Dig yoour heels under my ribs,” he said. “And doon’t be afraid to grip hard.”
As I complied, Mari walked past us, waded straight into the water, and vanished. A trail of bubbles marked her passage.
Sebastian might be pretending I was team leader, but he hadn’t waited for us. He was already on the third platform. Even in two-legged form, the Bellati had superhuman abilities, leaping between the floating stepping stones with ease.
“Ready?” Matt asked.
“Ready,” I said.
He leaped.
I gasped and clung for all I was worth. He landed on the first platform and bounded immediately to the next one.
When he landed on the third one, I gave a small shriek and almost slid off into the water. He froze as I scrambled to stay on his back.
A burst of bubbles drew my attention to the water in time to see Mari break the surface. Her eyes blinked at us—and I saw a clear membrane drop to the side, then slide back over them. She took a big gulp of air and vanished again. The rapidity with which she sank made me realize that she’d pushed off the bottom to bob for air, and had allowed herself to drop back down to it.
Ahead of us, Sebastian had made it to the other side and turned to watch.
“Ready?” Matt asked.
I gritted my teeth. “Yes.”
He leaped again, and this time I focused on moving with him, holding my body up off his, my arms stretching forward while my legs absorbed the impact of his landing.
Feeling my improved balance, the Dire kept going until we stood beside Sebastian.
Mari stomped out of the water, trailing bits of aquatic vegetation.
“No big fish in there,” she said with some disappointment.
“The pond was natural,” Sebastian stated. “But we didn’t add any wildlife. Although it might enhance the obstacle.” His tone was, if anything, condescending.
I did my best to ignore it as I slid off Matt, and we resumed our jog. Two obstacles completed, and it hadn’t been Mari slowing us down. It was a sobering realization that I might still be the weakest link on the team.
The third obstacle was an almost vertical rock ridge. I was beginning to appreciate the rope’s value.
Mari threw it again. It was more difficult to find a solid anchor this time, but she got it on the third try.
Sebastian stood with his arms crossed, watching. Saying nothing. With that damned superior look on his face.
I turned my back on him and faced Matt. Without being able to do partials, he couldn’t use the rope. “Can you jump it?” I asked.
“I’ll try.”
His first leap carried him about thirty feet straight up. His claws scrabbled for a hold, but ended up sliding back down, where he paced back and forth, eyeing the cliff.
“No partials?” he asked the Bellati.
“No partials,” Sebastian said, confirming the hole beneath his nose wasn’t just there to stuff his face.
The ogress turned to Matt. “I can carry you.”
Matt’s eyes widened. “You can? Maybe if I was human...”
Mari shrugged. “Can carry your beast too, if you are on my back so I can use my arms.”
Matt cast another desperate look at the rock wall.
