Sam cursed low under his breath, and let go of Gwendolen's hand. The wild woman didn't seem to mind now. She had spotted the path and was already darting forward. She moved so quickly that she was at the bottom of the mountain before Natalie had blinked twice.

Her mouth dropped open as she watched Gwendolen ascend, using her hands and feet to climb. She was up half of it in seconds, moving so fast it was unnatural.

"I forgot you're human," Sam said, and he didn't look at all happy about it.

Natalie glared at him. "Well sorry, but there's no way I can climb like that. I'm just not..." she gestured helplessly down at herself, though she wasn't sure if she meant her legs or her shoes. Yes, she was wearing high-tops, but even if she'd been wearing the world's best hiking boots there was no way she'd make it up the mountainside. She'd fall to her death the moment she tried.

"Alright you can't climb, I get it." Sam worried his bottom lip between his teeth, and Natalie darted a furtive glance at him, trying to see if she could spot any of the needle-sharp teeth. His teeth were normal, though his right canine was the slightest bit crooked.

"You can climb with me."

She only stared at him blankly, not sure what to say. Was she meant to cling to his back like a monkey? She couldn't help glance at his broad shoulders, and then she felt her face go hot immediately. She was being stupid. All that mattered was getting out of here.

There was a sudden, sharp barking sound from the row of shanty houses over, and Sam whipped around, his entire body going tense. The bark came again, and he turned back, golden eyes glittering.

"You're going to have to hang on."

"What?" She yelped as Sam darted forward, seizing her around the waist. Then she found herself lifted effortlessly off her feet and into the air.

"Arms around my neck," he barked. "Grab the leather harness above the blade sheaths. Grip hard and whatever you do, don't let go."

"Oh my god—" she bit back a scream as he lurched forward, and found herself pressed into his chest. Frantically she grabbed the back of his harness, just above the weapons' sheaths on his back, as he'd instructed. It was more out of reflex than anything else, as he broke out in a full sprint toward the mountain path.

His movements were surprisingly fluid, but as soon as they hit the mountain side and he began to climb, Natalie found herself clinging desperately to the back of the harness. Curling her fingers tightly around the leather straps, she tried to ignore the hilts of the weapons digging into her arms.

She had a clear view over his shoulder, and when she looked down her breath caught in her throat. Men were poring out of the village, men covered in black veins. With them came the dark creatures, the sinewy nightmares she had seen earlier. They were making the barking noises as they dragged their owners to the base of the mountain.

Sam was climbing even faster now, so fast that the wind whipped through Natalie's hair, sending it across her face, blocking her vision momentarily. She wanted to brush it aside, to make sure to keep her eyes on the horrible figures at the bottom of the mountain, but she didn't dare loosen her grip for even a second.

Then the wind shifted and she could see them again. The pirates had stayed behind at the cliff base, tilting their heads to look upwards. But a few of the creatures—what had Sam called them, Threshers?—were struggling to climb up the mountain path.

It was at this moment that Sam jumped from one ledge to the next, and Natalie felt her fingers slip on the leather. She gasped, tightening her grip. If she fell right now it would be straight into the jaws of those creatures. She would either die from the fall or at the mercy of the razor-sharp teeth. Either would be a painful way to go.

"Just a few more feet," Sam's voice was startlingly close to her left ear, and she could feel his breath tickle her neck. This close he smelled like a strange mixture of peppermint and campfire smoke. The latter prompted a memory, and in spite of the tense situation Natalie was brought back to her dream. To the strange voice she'd heard on the wind. And to the field of lavender she'd found herself standing in. But this place was not that, it couldn't be. Here everything was polluted air and black rocks. Here nothing green seemed to grow.

They'd reached the top of the mountain now, and the wind hit them full force. Natalie's eyes watered and stung, and when she went to loosen her grip Sam grabbed both her hands, forcing her to hang on. "Don't let go," he said, and this time he had to raise his voice over the howl of the wind. "No time to stop, we're heading down the other side."

Natalie nodded and shivered. Her thin sweater was no match for the temperature at this altitude. She'd been dressed for fall, not hiking up some insane, otherworldly Mount Everest. Here the top of the mountain was completely covered in snow, and Sam moved more slowly, though Natalie knew they were still traveling faster than they would be if she were on foot.

There was no sign of Gwendolin up here, so maybe the wild woman had already started down the other side of the mountain.

Somewhere far below came a dismal howling sound, mixed with barking growls, and she shuddered. The threshers, if that's what they were called, weren't her only concern though. The cold was biting at every exposed inch of skin, and her fingers were starting to go numb.

She could feel Sam moving downwards now, and she shut her eyes and concentrated on holding on as tightly as possible.

His breath was warm on her neck. "Just a few more minutes. Hold on for a bit longer."

Their descent was so fast that she could feel the temperature change on her skin, and her fingers began to burn the minute they warmed up. She clenched her teeth, ordering herself to hold on. Her eyes were still shut, and though the howls and barking growls were fading slightly—a good sign—there was no way she was going to open them while they were still plunging down the cliffside. If she got dizzy and lost her grip...

A violent lurch, and Natalie's hands were ripped away from the leather tunic. She screamed, her eyes flying open...and then her feet hit the ground hard, and she stumbled, crashing into the dirt on her backside. Her entire body ached, but she hadn't actually plummeted to her death. Natalie's eyes were still watering from the wind, which was probably good because she found her eyes swimming with tears. It really had felt like she'd been about to die.

When her vision cleared she found Sam standing over her. He looked maddeningly unruffled. His hair was slightly tousled, his cheeks flushed from the cold. He was straightening his leather harness with a frown, as if he were miffed she'd stretched it.

"Why didn't you tell me we'd reached the bottom?" she snapped.

He only raised a brow at her, and she felt her face grow hot.

He'd saved her and she was grateful, but she'd still thought she was about to fall to her death. Natalie staggered to her feet, feeling weak in the knees, and...well, all over. If the monsters did appear on the other side of the mountain she wasn't sure she'd be able to actually run.

She glanced back up at the mountain, her breath shaky and uneven. "What were those things?"

"Threshers. I already said that." Sam didn't follow her gaze. He seemed more concerned with their immediate surroundings than what might be coming down the mountain.

Now that the mountains were mostly behind them, they appeared to be standing at the edge of a forest. If 'forest' was applied in the loosest sense of the word, that was. It was hardly the green forest of Natalie's dreams. The trees here were blackened with rot, some of them leaning and tilting crookedly, jagged branches stretched toward the bleak sun. Other trees seemed to have died off entirely, and here and there trunks layered the ground, rotting into a grey, diseased looking mulch.

And it was dark. It didn't look like the thin, watery sunlight was penetrating the ruined forest at all.

Natalie stared at it in horror. He didn't expect them to go in there, did he? It was almost worse than the black mountains, certainly it appeared more grim. While the mountains were merely foreboding, this forest felt...dead. It was unsettling, like being in the same room as a corpse.

"We don't have to go in there, do we?" Her voice was a whisper.

gs the moment sp'