Page 69 of Dawn of Hope

I wonder if anyone ever has.

I tightly grasp the rope on each side, trying to mimic Mara’s sure steps in the center of each plank. The first few steps I take slowly and carefully, doing my best not to jostle the bridge or do anything that will cause me to lose my balance. It takes a second to adjust. The planks are nothing like the stone hallways I walk across every day, and these areeven more flimsy than the walkways back at camp. Plus, there’s no net to catch anyone if they fall.

“Don’t look down!” Mara yells.

I keep moving, one plank at a time, keeping my eyes trained on the patch of land on the other side. I’ve made it halfway. A rush of confidence fills me, and I keep going, keeping my pace and thinking of nothing else but the solid ground on the other side.

A loud creak breaks my focus.

I barely have time to register the sound before I am weightless, falling straight down into the hole where the plank had snapped beneath me.

A scream pierces my ears, and I barely even realize it is my own. I don’t have time to do anything but react, throwing my arms out in front of me and trying to grasp anything that will keep me on this bridge. My fingers claw at the next plank before gaining purchase, and the weight of my body catches up with me as I jerk toward the river.

“Lennox!” I hear Mara scream, but I can’t see her. All I can see are the planks before me and the wood I am so desperately trying to cling to.

I hear splashing below but refuse to look down. I clamp down hard on the splintered wood, begging the gods that this plank will hold. I try to swing my leg up toward the rope and let out a gasp as the pain in my side from being kicked and dragged prevents me from getting anywhere close.

Fuck.

I am totally fucked.

I make the mistake of looking down at the horror that is in the river.

The monsters below that have been waiting and watching are now clambering up, piling on top of each other, snarling and gnashing, trying to get to me. The pile they have created creeps closer and closer to my dangling feet, and I realize their sheer size makes the depth of the canyon a lot smaller than I thought before.

Then they start jumping.

Climbing closer and pushing off with their massive legs, snapping their jaws at my feet with their eyes focused on their prey.

I scream and turn away, focusing back on the bridge and trying to figure out how to get back up. My muscles burn and my fingers start to slip as I try to heave myself up. I fight with every ounce of my strength to get my chest up and over the edge of the plank.

The sound of jaws snapping is right below me, and I feel one of them hit the bottom of my boot. I pull my legs up toward my chest, my ribs screaming at me, my fingers begging me to let go.

No.

It is not supposed to happen this way. I am not supposed to die like this. If I fail, here and now, my kingdom wouldn’t only be without a queen, but my mother’s fate would surely be sealed.

I guess I never thought that someone could die in a magical land like Dawnlin, but I was wrong. Someone could, and that someone could be me. I wouldn’t have a fighting chance if I fall into the rushing river without these monsters, let alone with them. But here I am, dangling by my fingertips above a river I don’t know how to swim in, trying to escape the mouth of a beast that I never would have believed existed except in the depths of my nightmares.

I don’t want to let Edmond or Brynne down. I don’t want to let my mother down. No one in Blackwood would ever know what happened to me, because Dane doesn’t know who I am. He can’t go back and tell any of them, tell the king his daughter fell to her death trying to save the mother she never knew.

I need to try. Another of Edmond’s lessons pops into my head, making me adjust my grip on the board and squeeze tighter.

If I am going to fail, I am going to fail trying.

I take a deep breath and pull with everything I have. I move forward, edging over the plank when I am stopped abruptly.

Fuck!

The end of the bow I have draped over my body caught on the rope, lodging itself between it and the plank and keeping me held down.

I can’t pull myself up with it stuck, but if I let go, to try to get it off, itmight be the last thing I do. I feel another small bump on my boot and a snapping that follows, so I kick my feet wildly, trying to ward off the next beast that gets close.

I’m out of time.

I let go with one hand and quickly reach up and pull the bow over my head, dropping it in the river below. My other hand slips even more, my entire body being held up by the strength of my fingers. I stretch forward, grasping for a knot in the rope, something I can grab and use as leverage. My fingertips brush it, stretch to close that tiny gap. I feel my strength starting to wane and panic washes over me.

This is it. It’s the end.