And so she ran. Gripping Finn’s hand tightly, she raced across the rest of the bridge, pulling them into the inferno of iron. The bridge swayed, boards creaking and ancient ropes hissing as their fibers stretched and snapped. Greer worried the entire thing would pull apart, spilling them into the endless depths of the chasm below.
The only thing she could do was clutch Finn tighter, grabbing at his forearm as he tried to fend off an attacking Bright-Eyed. She pulled them through the confusions of bodies, the slicing talons, the poisoned fangs.
The end was so close, only a few planks away.
Greer dared a quick glance back and noted that the Bright-Eyeds were not as close as she’d feared. They hung back, hurling threats and occasionally diving in threatening feints, but never getting more than a few feet from the cliff, unwilling to face the iron ore, even for their queen.
A smile grew on Greer’s lips as she began to hope that favor had found them. The court was too fearful of the iron to blindly follow Elowen’s screeched orders. Brazenly, Greer began to plan her next steps, daring to believe that there would be a life beyond the bridge. They’d have to endure the last of the tunnel, fighting through the waves of pain and heat, but then they’d—
In an instant, Finn was gone, pulled from her so fast that the silk ribbon he wore looped around his wrist, the silk ribbon Greer had unwittingly given to him so many years ago, ripped.
Greer found herself holding on to only the tattered bracelet and turned in confused horror.
Elowen had swooped out of the swarm, daring to go where her court would not, and had seized hold of Finn.
He struggled in her grasp, thrashing and flipping his body as he fought to shift back into his Bright-Eyed form. But before he could, Elowen’s teeth sank into the crook of his neck, snapping at tendons, tearing apart flesh. She drank deeply, guzzling down blood in great, gluttonous mouthfuls, letting it run down her chin as her eyes rolled back into her head. She let out a groan of pleasure, then bit again.
There was nothing Greer could do.
Elowen was too high, well beyond Greer’s reach, and too ruthless by far.
Finn’s gaze landed on Greer—first panicked, and slowly glazing over with resignation. His hand twitched, reaching for her, telling her to run. Then…he stopped and moved no more.
Before Greer could cry out, the Bright-Eyed tossed his small, broken body down into the cavern without even a hint of remorse.
Greer heard him strike a rocky outcrop, landing at his final resting place with a dull thud. She wanted to call out to him, wanted to believe that he was still alive and could somehow answer her, but she was too horrified to move, too broken to make a sound. Sorrow and rage swirled within her frozen body, racing through her veins like a storm. Without an outlet for release, their energies built, growing concentrated and deadly, until, using up every bit of breath left within her, Greer opened her mouth and screamed.
46
It was a screamstrong enough to shake apart a mountain.
A scream loud enough to bury a mine, bury a court, bury its queen.
As Greer’s voice ripped across the cavern, great crumbling rocks fell upon the Gathered, covering them with iron ore. The air turned foul with it, scorching and blistering everything it touched. She could hear other screams blend with hers: Elowen and her swarming court, and the horde of unseen Bright-Eyeds hidden throughout the caves. Their screams filled the mine, filled the tunnels, filled the entire mountain, until there was nothing but a storm of sound, a great crashing wave of noise and chaos, an old world shattering apart as a new one rose.
Greer had intended for the scream to bury her as well. She had accepted the certainty of her death, knowing her sacrifice would ensure that the Bright-Eyeds never left the Severing Mountains, never made it into the wider world.
But, impossibly, she had not died.
When her scream finally came to an end, Greer found herself in a painful heap at the edge of the forest, small and human once more, and staring down a wall of stones and debris. She remembered being thrown through the tumult, pushed by the force of her voice. It had torn apart the tunnels, felling walls and timbers with ease, but thewaves of sound had pushed the destruction away from her, leaving her safe and out of the mine.
Another thundering blast roared from the remains of the tunnel, spewing out a shower of shale and dust, as more rocks shifted, tumbling down to seal the entrance forever. Greer scrambled to avoid the falling chips of stone, and then collapsed in the forest’s undergrowth. She lay on her back, letting the snow numb the worst of her pains as whatever remained of Ailie’s blood began to heal her, knitting together broken bones, mending gashes, healing bruises.
She stared up at the gray sky, watching it lighten by degrees. Sunrise wasn’t far off. Impossibly, she’d lived through the night.
But Finn…
Her hands balled into fists, clutching at his frayed ribbon.
They’d been so close to leaving together, to surviving it all.
She didn’t know what would have come next, how they would have carried on, but to have had the chance ripped away like that, right at the end…
Finn had remained faithful to her mother for so many years, had watched after Greer, had gotten her here, and helped her succeed. And for what? What had been the point of his journey? What consolation could she take hold of?
Greer relaxed her fists, studying the intricate designs embroidered across the ribbon she held. These stitches were here even though her mother was not. They remained when all the other pieces of Ailie—her schemes, her cloak, Finn’s devotion—were gone.
Almost gone,Greer mentally amended, the power of her scream still echoing in her ears.
