Page 42 of Sinful Curses
“They’ll be a distraction,” Orin told her.
“No, we won’t,” the single female brownie with a pack retorted.
“I don’t see how they could be,” Sahira said. “They’re asking, and we’re saying yes. They know how dangerous this journey is and that there’s a chance they won’t survive.”
“We do,” the woman brownie said. “We’re very aware we’re less likely than you to survive, but we’ve been here for centuries and want to see our families again. Our children deserve to grow up free to roam and to know our families and friends… if they still live. Our loved ones also deserve answers about what happened to us.”
“All four of us have been here since the beginning; it’s time for us to go,” the brownie to her right stated.
He felt all their gazes on him as he tried to control his temper. This was abadidea, but none of them wanted to hear it. Because of that, they could suffer the consequences of the bad decisions, but not him.
“Fine,” he relented. “But none of you are riding with me, and I won’t do anything to save your asses if you get in trouble.”
“Always the gentleman,” Sahira muttered.
“Are you going to risk your life for them?”
He didn’t know why he bothered to ask; he already knew the answer. And if he was smart, he’d let her do it and not do anything to intervene. She would deserve whatever she got.
Sahira lifted her chin as she stared haughtily back at him. “Yes.”
“You’re a bigger fool than I thought.”
He considered shaking some sense into her. She should be concerned with her life and her life alone, but though she was smart and strong, her big heart made her weak.
He didn’t like it.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Elsa and Sahira bent to help a brownie climb onto their shoulder; Orin bit back a sound of disgust when the demon lifted two onto his shoulders and they settled into the crux of his horns. A bunch of bighearted morons surrounded him.
And it would get one of them killed.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
Over the next five days,they climbed higher into the mountains and scaled cliffs thousands of feet over her head. By the end of every day, Sahira’s fingers were often bloodied and raw from digging into rocks with a death grip that kept her from falling thousands of feet to her death.
Thankfully, they healed overnight, but by nightfall, she was dejected, sore, and desperately clinging to the hope they would make it out of this. That hope faded a little more every day.
Often the tops of the mountains they climbed were impossible to see while hanging onto the sides of them. It was difficult to tell how much further they had to go until they either found the top or a shelf big enough for them all to rest.
Her muscles ached, and her legs wobbled, but she pushed onward. They all did.
As they traveled, they got to know the brownies better. Pipper, or Pip as she preferred, was quick-witted and loved to sing ballads as she sat, cradled on one of Zeth’s horns.
Fath was quiet and watchful. He observed the world around them far more than he commented on it, but he would offer a short opinion when asked a question. Most of the time, he was content to sit on Sahira’s shoulder while his friends talked.
Gior had brought a small flute he often played to accompany Pip’s singing. Settled onto Zeth’s other horn, Gior often swayed to the music as it flowed through the air.
Loth thoroughly enjoyed their exploration of the realm, probably because he didn’t have to climb these awful mountains. He often gasped, pointed, and commented on each new thing they saw.
Because they were usually in the middle of climbing, they didn’t get to enjoy the mountains or the view as much as the brownie, but that didn’t stop him from rejoicing in the wonders around them. Elsa often had to tell him to stop bouncing as he rode on her shoulder.
As they climbed, the conditions became increasingly worse. The air grew colder, thinner, and more difficult to breathe. Since Belda’s town had been a place of nearly perfect temperature, and the brownie town had been a little cooler but still comfortable, they weren’t prepared for this cold.
They’d brought extra clothes, but too many layers slowed them down and made climbing more difficult. Sahira had wrapped some socks around the middle of her hands to keep them warmer, but her exposed fingers were as numb as they were bloody. She couldn’t use them to cover her fingers, though; they hindered her ability to grip the rocks too much when she did.
By the end of their fourth day, they’d climbed so high, clouds floated past them, and ice coated the rocks. Scaling the mountains became increasingly difficult as her hand slipped off rocks or her feet suddenly skidded out from under her.
