NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: The Adventures of the Creeping Bam (BOOK 1: The Job)

CHAPTER TWELVE: SHAYLINE

Cru's gasping and choking on the rough ground nearby as he coughs up bright, bubbling blood, the arrow still in his jugular notch quivering as he struggles to catch breath that's got nowhere to go. He's drowning in blood and we can't do anything for him, Nill's knelt by him trying her best but what medical skills she has can't fix a wound like that, he's good as dead already but it'll take him a little while to go yet. Roe's squeezing his hand tight on his other side, kneeling close and whispering to his friend as he tries to ease him out, knowing there's nothing he can do and it's killing him, determined that Cru feels some love and kindness before he dies. I hate this as much as the rest of them – there's times I really do lament the fact we don't have a cleric in this crew.

The rocks have finally settled, a great shattered mess of broken rock filling the gully now and sloping up to the cliffs on either side, at least from what I can see through the almighty cloud of dust that still hangs in the air. Tarrow's stood down there on the outermost verge of safety with a few of the others, dancing on his toes a little, clearly itching for the chance to get stuck in now, but he won't move without my say-so. We still can't be sure it's safe to go yet, I want them to wait. He looks up at me now, and I curb the urge to yell him down seeing it. I'm not quite in my right mind about this yet. Not after the casualties, light as they are.

"What do you think?" I ask after a few moments, looking sidelong at Garnon. They're frowning down at the mess, barely moved from the spot they 'ported to, arms folded across their chest, staff stuck in the ground to their side. Thoughtful, wary. I wonder if they're a little sorry about the loss of life too – I can never tell.

"Probably. It seems to be safe. I doubt there'll be any more rockfalls to worry about, not now. I was careful."

I laugh, but it's bitter. "This is careful? That's bloody charming." I sigh, then look back down at Tarrow and give him a nod. "All right then, better let them get on with it."

Tarrow grins altogether too widely for my liking right now, but I let him off. He's been stewing for days about that anticlimax at the bridge, it's been a bitch trying to keep him from flying right off the handle, and now he's got the opportunity to actually do something I'm reluctant to curb his enthusiasm. He's still so ridiculously young.

Scuttling down the ridge with his friends, he reaches what was once the track at the bottom of the gully, skirting sideways so he doesn't have to climb up again once he hits level ground, then jumps down into what's essentially to new bottom of this particularly barren valley. Then, as we watch, the ground a little ahead of them gives off a great gasp of dust and they all drop into crouches or throw themselves behind the nearest boulder for cover, and for a moment I think this is some trick in response to our attack. Then a long trench collapses in on itself throughout most of the length of the fresh debris, and we hold our collective breath to see if anything else happens.

After several moments, it seems safe enough to breathe out again, and I take a few steps forward, frowning down at that long puff of dust slowly fading in the air. "What the bright blue fuck was that?"

"I really couldn't say." Garnon shrugs as they step to my side, cocking a brow as they stare. "It was very peculiar."

This time I turn to look at them straight on. "No shit, professor." As they scowl I wave my hand, a little dismissive, and turn back to the others behind me. Cru seems to have gone in the short while I was distracted. Roe's standing up slowly, head down, shoulders slumped, while Nill's quietly sobbing as she slowly doubles over, pressing her face into his chest as she shakes. Damn it.

Turning back, I bite down the urge to let out a howl that I know will be half grief and half frustration, and start to clamber down the slope, Garnon grabbing their staff before scuttling after me. "You're sure it hasn't been destroyed?"