With a long, shaky breath, Miranda sat up and held out her hand for Durn. The stone spirit was still hanging from the remains of the broken bridge. When he saw her reaching, he pulled himself up and rolled to her.
“Thank you,” Miranda said, patting the stone with a smile.
“My pleasure, mistress,” Durn said, his gravelly voice smug with pride.
Miranda grinned. It wasn’t often the stone got to play hero. Gin would never hear the end of it. She held her hand steady as Durn broke down and returned to her ring. When he was finished, Miranda let her eyes drift back across the ravine. The Shaper Mountain rose above her, as cold and enormous as ever. Its slopes were smooth and snowy with no trace of the hole Sparrow had punched or the tree he’d used to punch it. Two jagged edges at either side of the ravine, the remains of the broken bridge, were the only signs of the mountain’s anger or their narrow escape from it. The ground, however, was still rumbling.
“Come on,” she said, standing up. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What a wonderful idea,” Sparrow said. “Little help, please?”
Miranda walked over and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet. He grimaced as he stood, bending slowly, like his ribs hurt him, but he didn’t say anything when Miranda finally got him to his feet.
She left him to get his balance on his own and hurried to catch up with Gin, who was already making his way down the pass.
“Don’t ask,” the ghosthound growled, moving to walk so close Miranda couldn’t take a step without bumping into him. “He’ll hear.”
Miranda nodded and kept her mouth shut.
“He showed up about two hours ago,” Gin continued. “They had me chained in the front hall with the carriages. I would have eaten him, but I didn’t know where you were. He kept saying he was going to get you next. I didn’t believe him, but it’s better to be out than in, so I let him spring me. If you hadn’t shown by noon, I would have hunted him down.”
“Thank you for the sentiment,” Miranda said, glancing back at Sparrow, who was limping to catch up with them. “How did he get you out?”
“Picked the lock,” Gin said. “Impressive bit of work, actually. He’s almost as good as Eli.”
“That’s saying something,” Miranda grumbled, looking back again. Sparrow was falling behind. His face was set in a smug smile, but his body was moving in jerks, and Miranda realized that he must be really injured.
“Stop,” she said, turning around. She caught Sparrow’s eye before climbing onto Gin’s back. “Get on. We’ll be walking forever if we wait for you.”
“How kind,” Sparrow said, walking over to the ghosthound.
“Kind nothing,” Miranda said. “Practical. We may owe you our freedom, but that doesn’t mean I want to take a hiking holiday together. I just want to get to Sara and discharge my debt as soon as possible. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that horrible abuse of a tree spirit. I will be making a full report to the Court about that.”
“I’m sure you will,” Sparrow said, pulling himself slowly onto Gin’s back.
Miranda glared, suspicious. “How did you get so injured, anyway?”
“Bit too much excitement for me,” Sparrow answered, finally sliding into place behind her on Gin’s back. “I don’t usually get out this much.”
Gin snorted. “Lies. He’s a born sneak. I saw your crazy ride down the mountain. Mellinor cushioned you, but bird boy was bouncing all over, probably because Mellinor couldn’t see him.”
“See who?” Mellinor said, sloshing in Miranda’s head.
Miranda tightened her grip on Gin’s fur. “Don’t do that,” she whispered. “It makes me dizzy.”
“Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the sea grumbled.
“Don’t blame the water,” Gin said. “I can’t see him unless I look with my eyes. He doesn’t even have much of a smell. You can’t trust a man with no smell, but at least he’s not flickering so much anymore.”
“Would you care to explain any of that?” Miranda said, poking Gin in the back.
“I’ve already told you,” Gin said. “Weren’t you listening all those times I said he flickered?”
“You didn’t explain then either!” Miranda cried.
“It’s not something that can be explained to a human,” Gin said, lashing his tail. “Right now, for instance, I can’t see him at all unless I look with my actual eyes. Otherwise, he’s like a nothing, a blank. I would say I’ve never seen anything like it, but I wouldn’t know if I had, so forget it. You’ve thrown our lot in with his already. Just watch yourself.”