Chapter 94: Broken

                                    

                                          
I expected to hit the ground the instant I stepped off the ledge; I'd expected a split second of pain and then no more thoughts. Instead, I felt the wind ripping through my clothes, too fast to breathe, too fast to see.
When something slammed into me, I thought for certain that I was dead—yet my thoughts continued streaming. When I dared open my eyes, the world whipped by beneath me. I was lifting, barely, scrappily... then plunging downward once more, spiraling into a bed of lightning-lit soil.
Just before landing, something tugged me upward once more—but not quite far enough. I hit the ground hard, rolling through the mud and rain.
Though I knew I was injured, shock and relief overshadowed the pain, and a laugh bubbled up inside me. I was alive. I was still here.
And better yet, Isalio was here with me.
As always, his arms provided comfort, and for a second, I allowed myself to cling to him the same way he now clung to me. But then my gut continued to plummet as if I were still in freefall. Because as far as I knew, there was only one way Isalio could have saved me.
"You took the Morgabeast's offer," I said.
"No. I probably would have, but you"—he spat up some mud—"didn't leave time for that."
I drew back a little to search his eyes and realized there was no red. Then I saw his wings, and my heart pinched.
"Your wings are still broken," I whispered.
They were bent, horribly, terribly, all disturbing angles and skewed feathers. If anything, they looked even worse than the last time I had seen them.
"Oh, really?" he rasped. "I thought that sharp pain was only a hangnail."
Only then did I realize exactly how much pain he was in—and that my whole body also throbbed. With the overload of adrenaline now ebbing, I groaned. Isalio's broken wings had saved me from death, but the fall had still bruised me all over and probably even snapped a few of my bones.
I thrust lifeforce toward him—and felt his own raging return. Lifeforce swirled between us, spiraling outward, healing us both. The condition of Isalio's wings did not improve, but they retracted as he healed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
When we were both in a little better shape, I finally observed surroundings.
We were in the garden, though I didn't see any of the rest of our team. I prayed that they had somehow escaped. Rain pelted the soil, spraying up from the puddles and pouring into the holes left by the warpers. Beasts circled the area in a strangely uniform pattern, some with tummies slithering through the mud and others with wings beating against the rain, dead eyes aimed straight ahead. Rather than seeking anything in particular, they seemed to be set on autopilot, awaiting their next command. Some Demons also roamed unnervingly close to us, probably less controlled by Danif but apparently equally mindless: they beat bushes and trellises to the ground as if seeking vengeance against a garden-eating rodent.
I was surprised the Demons hadn't noticed us yet. Perhaps the thunder and lightning had overshadowed our landing, but one of them would surely spot us soon. Worse still, a streak of black cut through the moonlight above.
Danif's army was following us.
Gripping Isalio's arm, I raced toward the nearest hole and leapt in.
We skidded through the mud, sliding on our backs into the darkness. As we stopped, my night vision illuminated our surroundings. Damp mud pressed in all around us, a stream of rainwater passed by my side, and Isalio still clutched my arm, blinking blankly.