A Scoundrel's Song

34

He didn't fall. That was marvellous, but worrying because he now tilted back, Herit in his arms, in precarious fashion, his toes a bare fraction of inch still on the parapet. He had closed his eyes due to the fact that he had fallen more than a few times in his life and it terrified him because, one day, his luck would fail him and the ground that inevitably raced toward him on such occasions was a very hard, unforgiving surface to land upon.

One of the Sisters had crossed the distance from where they stood to Niico and Herit so fast, it was almost impossible. But she had, proving it very much possible, and she had grabbed ahold of the mandolin's neck that sat upon Herit's back, trying to haul them both back to the, relative, safety of the roof. Niico found himself caught between abject terror at what the Sisters would do and gasping relief that he no longer had the threat of falling staring him in the face. Or, rather, his back.

The strap that held the mandolin to Herit's back creaked. Niico looked at the Sister at that sound. The Sister of the Lady of Bearing looked at the strap attached to the neck of the instrument. They both swapped views as the strap creaked once more, followed by a snap and Niico felt a release, the worrying feeling of beginning to fall once again overtaking him.

"Oh." He gripped Herit tighter to his chest as the strap slipped from around the child's neck and chest, causing a red burn welt to appear on Herit's throat.

The breaking strap spun Niico and Herit sideways and, before Niico could even think of a way to stop their fall, they began to tumble down the gap between the buildings. The last thing Niico saw before the momentum turned him away was the sight of actual emotion cross the face of the Sister. Horror. Her face paled as she fell backward, the mandolin in her hand.

This was it. Niico had survived much in his life, far more than he had any right to, if he thought about it. He had survived falls before. Survived drowning. Survived eating in the home of a Driadin family. This time it felt like an end. It felt permanent and final. It felt like thin ropes catching him and Herit, bending, breaking, sending him and the child pinwheeling in a different direction.

He lost all sense of direction, not knowing which way was up, which way was down. The air rushing past his face told him nothing as their bodies tumbled even more as they bounced upon more strings of rope, wet clothing slapping against them, the sense of unstoppable movement not diminishing in the slightest. He heard cries coming from Herit, but they were all but drowned out by his own terrified yelling as they hit yet more strings that could not arrest their fall.

Then, something hit them. Or, more accurately, they hit something. Something that didn't stop them as much as the washing lines didn't stop them. But it slowed them down, a slight, before giving way and sending them falling once again. Another thing caught them, broke, and they fell again. Then another unseen thing, and another.

They had bounced and flipped and flailed and tumbled forever with no end in sight. Not that either of them were looking. Niico's eyes had clamped closed, determined not to watch that vicious, hard ground racing toward them. He didn't have any inclination to observe his own death, he doubted it would look all that entertaining. Another jolt jarred him, almost causing him to lose his grip on Herit, but the object they hit didn't break, or give way, it merely bounced them from its surface leaving them falling once again.

Until they weren't. Falling that is. Instead, they had completed falling and were now in the process of landing. Landing somewhere quite soft and forgiving that didn't feel like any ground Niico had fallen onto before. In fact, it felt itchy. Itchy and a little spiky as several parts of his back felt as though a dozen pointed fingers were poking at him with long, bendy but sharp nails. He wondered whether he should attempt opening his eyes but that felt a little to close to taunting Vienshin Kha. Surely his luck hadn't held again?