The Wizard's Desire by Anna Wineheart

Author:Anna Wineheart [Wineheart, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

#31 - Falling

Kei

It happened in heartbeats. The gust that threw him off, balloon wobbling under his feet, the sickening jolt of his stomach as he fell.

Kei shouldn’t have brought the ax along. Sure, Orion had said it would be easier to get past magic when its physical anchors were broken. It would’ve been okay if they weren’t standing on a fucking balloon. He’d slipped, rolled onto his ax, and its blade sliced as easily through the canvas as his mother’s scissors did through fabric. He swore, grabbing at the torn edge of the envelope. The hole gaped wide under his weight. By the time he twisted the ax away, the rip was twice the length of his shoulders, and the damage was done.

He threw his hand out, grabbed the other edge of the fluttering canvas. Below, fire roared at the mouth of the balloon. Hot air rushed out around him, propelling the balloon sideways. Kei’s palms sweated. He lost his grip on the canvas. The balloon tore again under his weight, and he plummeted three feet down.

The rope around his shoulders jerked. He glanced at it. It led back to Orion; Kei’s weight would drag him down. They were anchored to the balloon, too—all of it was going down. Kei swore, oily fear spilling through his gut. Orion had magic, but—

The rope jerked again, pulling taut on his shoulders, and Kei realized he wasn’t falling anymore. The balloon drifted away, canvas sagging, and the ground was so far away, snow-covered pines a painting at his feet. He looked up.

Orion had three fingers splayed against the glass dome. He swung his other hand up, missed the dome, and swung again. He missed it by a foot. His face ashen, Orion flexed his arm, the entire limb shaking as he drew them both up, enough for his other hand to slam against glass. His lips moved. He stopped shaking. There were maybe five yards of rope between them, and Orion—Orion’s eyes glowed bright turquoise. He dangled by his hands, and Kei couldn’t believe that the wizard was holding them up, just like that, eyes glowing. He was tied to a goddamn wizard for his life.

But the balloon would soon deflate completely, and Orion would be holding up all its weight as well, provided the canvas didn’t burn.

Kei gritted his teeth. He pulled himself up the rope, one hand over the other, until he was next to Orion’s dangling feet, until he could grab the rope attached to the balloon. Already, the balloon was losing buoyancy, drifting below them.

Kei caught a loop of rope with his anchoring hand, grabbed his ax, and began to hack away.

“What’re you doing?” Orion hissed. His face was a mask of concentration, his skin pale, his jaw tight.

“Getting rid of dead weight.”

Kei didn’t look up. He swung his ax hard at the rope, and the sharp ozone scent of magic filled his nostrils. The balloon pulled down on the rope, on Orion, and Kei released the loop when the balloon grew too heavy.

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