“Hurry!” Elliot bellowed as they bound through the slippery mud and rocky pools baiting them to fall. Trees creaked against the jagged thunderclaps stinging the air. The wind hammered the rain sideways.

​

But they were close.

 

They raced through the foreboding forest of the Tahlen, teeth gnashing at their heels. Beyond the jagged undergrowth, the giant steps of Gideon rose into clouds glowing with hopeful shades of pink and amber. Elliot suddenly realized dawn had reached the horizon and had snuck to the shores of Iyanwa far too quickly, adding to his frantic concern.

 

“Get off!” Elliot kicked a jaw full of sharp teeth off his ankles.

 

There was no time to stop. Before entering the Tahlen—a forest suffocating in the grim, rotten stench of decay, demise, and the curse of the Aygar—Elliot and his adventurer had decided that she would sprint through while he would become the distraction. Their strategy would conclude with him meeting her, as she would patiently wait for him at the steps of Gideon.

 

“Ah!” Elliot groaned, eyes watering. Every stomp through the spiny undergrowth caused immense pain, but he had no time to dwell, teeth were chomping for his ankles. He looped the same words in his mind, Nearly there and she’ll be at Gideon waiting for me … Nearly there, and she’ll be at Gideon waiting for me. Just got to keep the cursed animals at bay long enough and she’ll be there waiting for me.

 

“Keep going!” Elliot roared ahead, and burst out of the trees and into the open.

 

The hissing and snapping of jaws stopped. He shot a look over his shoulder. The cursed mob chasing him had halted in the shadows of the trees.

 

“Go, go, go!” Elliot trumpeted onward. “I’m right behind you!”

 

The wet clay underfoot soon turned to thick, tall grasses. Sprouts of purple flowers exploded like fireworks as Elliot burst through. The farther he ran, the taller and thicker the grass stood. Soon it was brushing his shoulders. He ran through the rushes that had been parted by his adventurer. He squinted, hoping to see the girl. He realized he was farther behind than he had thought, when he hooted and screeched to a halt.

 

A sheer cliff face appeared in front of him. By his toes, a small, crumpled footprint dusted the cliff edge.

 

But there was no trace of the girl, his companion, his adventurer. On the opposite side, too wide to jump, was a clear path leading upward to Gideon.

​

He peered down from the cliff edge he found himself on. Swirling sea mist blanketed the distant sound of waves crashing far below. His ears sunk.

​

“Where are you?” he shouted as daybreak burst beyond the horizon. “I’m here! Let’s go! We can still make it!”

​

Small, unstable rocks fell down the sharp cliff side, echoing as they ricocheted into the mist.

​

“Where did you go?” he bellowed.

​

He squinted at the opposite side of the cliff face, hoping for a sign of the girl’s footprints. But there was nothing. She must be waiting for me down there. She must've found another way he thought. There were two options for finding her: jump off the cliff or run back through the Tahlen forest to the shoreline.

​

He sucked up a lungful of air, grit his teeth, and puffed out his chest.

​

“We’re not done yet,” he said. “I’m coming!”

​

He hunched his shoulders and galloped back into the shadows of the Tahlen. It was like running into a lion’s den—in no time, the monsters roared back at him.

​

“Maybe not,” Elliot conceded, and made a wild U-turn, racing back toward the cliff edge.

​

Except this time, under the shadows of the cliff, the animals didn’t retreat.

​

He sped through the grass closing in on the drop. His toes felt the cliff edge, and he sprung high into the air. The cool breeze whipped through the tiny hairs across his body. Mid-flight, he glanced back. Ravenous animals, all cursed by the Aygar, poured over the sheer drop, snarling and yapping, hoping to snatch at his feet.

​

Then, a vicious pain cut through his ankle.

​

Dangling wickedly, a ratty hyena had locked onto his ankle and was staring back at him. Its eyes were black as caves. Cursed. But there was no time to think. Elliot smashed against the sheer cliff face, catching his trunk in a tangle of vines.

​

“Get off!” Elliot snarled, kicking his legs.

​

The hyena smashed into the sharp rocks and whined as it dropped, falling into the ocean waves hiding beyond the rolling mist.

​

Seething on the lip of the cliff Elliot had just sprung from, a tank of a polar bear with long, white hair, claws sharp as blades, and eyes that flickered deathly black and red stood cursing at the distance between himself and Elliot. Other rabid animals continued to pour off the cliffside, frenzied, trying to steal a slice of him. They were all cursed.

​

His stomach turned and turned. It felt like failure had set his belly on fire, turning all remaining hope of reaching Gideon to ash. Just a moment ago, he was with his adventurer discussing their future beyond the precipice, staring in awe at the steps of Gideon as the sun peaked over the horizon. Now the dawn felt like despair.

​

“Throw me to him!” a voice snarled.

​

Elliot’s eyes bulged. The polar bear had picked up a small, pink animal with a hard shell and maleficent eyes. The giant bear stood up on its hind legs, lifted its arm like it was about to throw a javelin, when the vines snapped and Elliot fell.

​

As swiftly as the sea mist had swallowed him, he burst out from under it, plunging into the cold, angry waves. Sunlight pierced his eyes as a peculiar round nose thrust him to the shoreline. He coughed up globs of salty water, peeled his wobbling body from the wet sand, and staggered to his feet.

​

He stood, out of breath, peering confused out at the ocean. He could still feel the cold from the wet nose that nudged him to the shallows. But his heart quickly replaced his confusion with fear. He stared up at the giant cliff face that he had fallen from, and yelled, “I can still get you there!” His voice echoed up the cliff face. “I don’t care about the dawn! I’ll do whatever it takes! I can still get you to Gideon!”