Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Author:Josephine Angelini
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250079381
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

CHAPTER

9

Lily had a vague sense that she was moving. She felt a steady flow of air rushing over her singed skin and the occasional jolt of a misstep. She was having trouble catching her breath and, as she wiped away the cobwebs still connecting her mind to Lillian’s memory, she realized she was having trouble breathing because she was slung over someone’s shoulder.

“I think she’s coming around,” Breakfast whispered frantically.

Lily peeled her eyes open and saw a chaotic mix of upside-down limbs and woodland landscape bouncing around as if someone had thrown her in a dryer. She propped herself up against Rowan’s back and saw Breakfast’s panicked face huffing and puffing as he ran through the milky light of a snowy dawn.

The world righted itself as Rowan swung Lily around and looked in her eyes. “There you are,” he said, relieved. He was still running and he suddenly ducked, careening to his knees as he clasped Lily painfully to his chest. “Everyone down,” he ordered.

The little group huddled together against the rocky side of a cliff. The trees were bigger here, and the air crisper, but even with these differences Lily recognized this cliff. They were at the Witch Caves—they just weren’t at the Witch Caves in Lily’s world. It always stunned Lily how quickly a memory exchange could happen when the memory itself seemed to last ages. She felt like she had been inside Lillian’s memory for at least half an hour, but only minutes had passed.

“Shh,” Rowan breathed. His eyes went up to the treetops. Lily huddled close to his chest and looked at the faces of her coven, wild-eyed and bleached white with cold and terror. Rowan’s head snapped around, and then Lily heard it—a hooting, bellowing sound echoed through the forest. “Woven,” he whispered. “Simians.”

Lily saw the trees shake. She heard the crack of brittle branches as the animal calls rose to a frenzied chorus. They were surrounded.

“Breakfast, get a fire going,” Rowan said. There was no point in whispering now. “Lily, we need your strength. Can you handle this?”

“I’m okay,” she lied. “Light the fire.”

Rowan nodded once and looked at Tristan and Una. “Take off whatever clothes you don’t want torn to shreds,” he said, shucking off his jacket and shirt. Too confused and frightened to question him, Tristan and Una did as he said.

Breakfast led Lily back into the boulders strewn about the bottom of the cliff. He tucked her among the stones as deeply as he dared, trying to provide as much cover as he could without hemming Lily in with so much granite that it would block her connection to her mechanics. Tristan, Una, and Rowan took position between them and the Woven. Breakfast kicked the snow aside with the edge of his boot and gathered what leaves and twigs he could and put them in a pile. He cussed a blue streak as match after match fizzled in the icy tinder.

“Breakfast?” Tristan said uncertainly over his shoulder as he watched the shadows in the treetops loom nearer.

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