“Down!”

A hand shoots out and yanks me by the collar, hauling me to the ground behind a fallen tree.

Inches from my face, a spear sprouts from the jungle floor where I’m sprawled. I flinch away, scrambling to brace against the rotting trunk we’re hiding behind.

“I don’t think they like you,” she adds.

I spare a grin for my shipmate, a blonde little bird who could probably out-forest these trolls if she wasn’t burdened with me.

Soggy wood rains down on us as another spear thunks into the top of the decaying tree.

“Feeling’s mutual” I quip back.

“It strikes me,” she continues philosophically, “that we –”

We both flatten to the ground again, two more spears whistling past.

“–we, meaning you,” she pats my shoulder sadly, “and only thereby, me, are in a spot of trouble.”

“Less talking. More running.” I nod west. Ship’s gotta be over there somewhere.

“You got it?” Leaf-green eyes drop to the bulging pouch tied to my belt. “Captain won’t be happy we come back empty handed.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got his trinket, Jarathei.”

The spears have stopped. That can only mean one thing. I look up into the trees. That’s where they’ll come crashing in from.

“Go!”

“Keep up, city girl.” She leaps from the ground into a dead sprint.

Cursing, I follow suit. I am much slower. I got angry the first time she called me a “soft aristocrat with the grace of a fatted hog,” but watching her weave through the dense foliage, I can only agree. If I survive this…

I can’t hear them anymore. That bodes ill. They must be closing in above me.

Light ahead. A break in the tangled vines. Jarathei is backing toward me… she looks back once, then she is running… she leaps…

Oh Light, no.

I break from the trees and watch her sailing out into the air, and down… and down…

There are rocks right at the bottom of the cliff, but the river is wide and deep here. Jarathei has cleared the outcrop easily… but if I don’t…

“Keep up, city girl,” I mutter to myself, stepping back from the edge to build up momentum.

A flash of blue and red drops between me and the ledge, but it’s too late. I’m already running full tilt at the edge. I barrel into the troll, and we both fly into the open air.