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Chapter 83

Figures, that my guardian angel would be large and smelly and remarkably reminiscent of a great flying mountain goat.
"What the..." I hear the voice of my capture, which jerks me out of my bout of self-pity, and forces me to look up at the Airship.
At first, I think it's being eaten by a giant cloud. Then, as the Servant's fingers loosen in disbelief, and I suck a little bit of clean air into my lungs, clearing my head, and I see the writhing white mass that completely covers the heavy metal craft is actually made up of hundreds of the furry, flying Beasts that live atop the mountain.
Now that's what I call pretty freaking lucky.
But the ratio of good luck to bad luck in my life is like 1:100.
So just as I'm getting all happy and triumphant like, the Servant sneers one last phrase into my ear.
"Oh, and, if you live through this, thank you're boyfriend for me. We couldn't have found you all without him. I like a good ol' traitor."
Traitor.
That one word bounces around the inside of my skull as I try to make sense of it. Coal... A traitor? Okay, so, maybe he has lied a little before. A lot. But he always did it with the right intent... I can't imagine him turning us in...
How did they find us, then? The fires, of course, but we're so high up, there's no way they would penetrate the gloom. What if, the entire time, Coal had a tiny radio on his person, had been relaying information to the Rulers throughout the whole ordeal?! What if- Whoa!
So, predictably, if you know the pattern by now, the Servant lets me drop. Maybe on purpose, maybe in shock, whatever. But the point is, I'm dropping, unsupported, over the edge of a cliff.
It's all so sudden, I only know this must really be the end. I don't even have time to blink, my stomach dropping sickeningly, with the sudden urge to cry out, and barely time to think.
Traitor.