Gilded Serpent by Danielle Jensen (top 10 novels txt) 📕

But he could still hear Teriana’s voice begging for him to keep moving. Not to stop.

Then he was falling.

 67TERIANA

She caught him by the front of his clothes, jerking him forward right as he started to fall, only the rope tying him to the baggage line keeping him from knocking her over.

“Marcus?” She caught hold of his head, lifting his face. “Marcus!”

But he was still. Unconscious. Barely breathing.

“No.” Hot tears ran down her face, soaking into her scarf. “Don’t you dare do this.”

He couldn’t die. Not now, after everything they’d gone through to survive. Not like this.

And there was nothing she could do. No tools that would help him breathe. No healer she could run to find. She was all he had, and that meant he had nothing.

Sobbing, she shoved her fingers inside his scarf, feeling his throat for a pulse. It was weak, but still there. Only his skin felt like ice beneath her hands, and she suspected if she had good light to see by, his lips would be turning blue.

She needed to find shelter. Get him warmed up. Give him a chance to survive.

Unfastening the harness, she dragged him away from the edge of the ravine, laying him down behind two boulders that would serve to keep the worst of the wind off of him.

Then she ran.

Her feet flew over the plateau, the last glow of sunlight fading in the horizon as she raced to the copses of trees.

Darkness fell, the only sound the creak of the scraggly trees around her and the howl of the wind.

She slowed to a crawl, afraid of falling. Of losing her sense of direction and her ability to find Marcus again.

Please let there be a shelter.

Then she heard it. The snap snap of cloth flapping in the wind. Moving cautiously, she followed the sound, using the same tricks they used to sail the Quincense in heavy fog. Covering one ear. Then the other. Listening and then taking a few steps.

She found the flag when she collided with the pole, her cheek aching with the impact. Feeling around in the dark, she let out a shout of triumph as she found a gap between two tall rocks. Inside, she crawled on her hands and knees, finding a small pile of wood, a rusty axe, and a box of kindling.

With shaking hands, she retrieved her flint and knife, knocking sparks into the dry bits of grass and twigs until one of them caught. The flames revealed she was in a chamber that had been formed by slabs of rocks falling against one another. Other than the wood, there was only a single pot and a heavy piece of canvas that was weighted down by a stone.

After building the fire, she cut a strip of the canvas and wrapped it around a piece of wood to make a torch. Then she ran back out into the night.

“Marcus!” she shouted, squinting up at the few stars, orienting herself. “Marcus, can you hear me?”

There was no response but the wind, and dread filled her chest. If he died …

“Don’t think about it!” she shouted at herself. “You can’t afford to think those thoughts. Marcus!”

She reached the edge of the cliff, moving along it in the direction of the bridge. Please be alive. “Marcus!”

In the flickering glow of her torch, she caught sight of the boulders where she’d hidden him, and Teriana broke into a run. “Marcus!”

Skidding around them, she slid to a stop.

He was gone.

“Marcus?” Teriana turned in a circle, searching the darkness for any sign of motion even as she listened for footsteps. The sound of him breathing. Anything.

But there was nothing.

“Marcus!” The shriek that tore from her throat was shrill, her heart battering the inside of her ribs as she searched, her ears filling with a dull roar. Where was he? Where had he gone? Had he moved himself, or was there someone else out there?

Or something?

Pulling her knife, Teriana held her dying torch low to the ground, searching for tracks. But the bare rock yielded nothing. “Marcus!” She winced even as she shouted his name, knowing that if there was anything out there, her voice would lead it straight to her.

Her torch flickered and flared as the wind gusted. It wouldn’t last her much longer.

She needed to go back to the shelter to get more wood. More canvas. And then …

“You’ll keep looking,” she told herself between sobs, heading back down the cliff line. “All night.”

But even as she spoke the words, Teriana knew if she didn’t find him soon, the only thing she’d be likely to discover come dawn was a frozen corpse.

Tripping and stumbling, she found her way back, aided by the faint glow of the fire she’d left burning, a heavy weight settling upon her chest. This wasn’t supposed to be how it would go. This wasn’t supposed to be how it would end.

Her torch guttered out as she approached the shelter, and she dropped it to pull off her mittens. To scrub at her burning eyes. And when she opened them, she saw a shadow.

“You jackass!” she shrieked. “I thought you were out there freezing to death, but here you are warming yourself by my gods-damned fire while I stumble around in the dark.”

Marcus lifted his head, revealing a face that was ghastly pale and drawn, and he blinked once. “I came to and you were gone. I thought—”

“Do you really think I’d leave you?” She glared at him for a heartbeat, then flung her arms around his neck.

“If it comes to it,” he said, “you need to. Sit down. I need to sit down.”

They both sat cross-legged next to the fire, Marcus taking a few shaky breaths before he continued. “I need to give you some information. Some codes, so that you’ll be able to prove your story when you reach Celendrial.”

“Piss on your codes,” she snapped. “You keep them and use them yourself when we get there.”

Shaking his head, he pulled