The hours passed and the sun set, leaving them in darkness and her hands had gone numb, leaving her fairly sure she wasn't going to ever get her arms back down.
Someone had been sent from the camp but she knew they wouldn't be back in time, the portal to Faerie was too far away and they were fast running out of time.
Deciding she was going to make a try for the platform, she let out a breath and tucked her legs up behind her, thrusting them down and she grinned as her body began to sway.
Within a minute she was swinging in long arches, growing closer and closer to the platform, straining to reach it and she felt the eyes of the others on her, intent on her progress.
She reached the balcony and caught the edge with the ball of her foot but then she began to fall backwards and cursed quietly, trying again a second time and then a third time, able to barely touch the platform but not reach it fully.
Something caught her attention as she made her fourth attempt and she watched as the shadowy figure slunk along the bridge in silent intent, seemingly not having noticed her, or so it appeared.
He made his way up to the platform and she cursed, unable to slow her progress but she had an idea.
Planning to wrap her legs around the figure and either drag them out with her, or they would keep her from falling back again.
But the figure had other plans and when she swung into them, arms went around her even as her legs went around them.
The low grunt was male and she looked up to see the dim face of Jagum looking down at her, smiling slightly.
"Clever little thing, aren't you," he purred and she laughed softly.
"Don't suppose you're going to let us go?" she whispered and to her surprise, he nodded.
He reached up and cut her down with a knife, his free hand on her back to keep her from falling.
He turned and she let go of him, her arms screaming as she finally lowered them and she muffled a groan of pain.
Turning to the others, Jagum pointed up and she looked up, barely able to follow the rope up and to the pulley system.
Silently Jagum led the way and she followed after him, her bare feet only a whisper on the wooden boards.
They scaled up to the branch that held the rope and Jagum worked to feed the end of the rope through the two pulleys that added tension and allowed them to easily lower the two cages, but they were noisy and a shout came from somewhere.
Swearing, she looked to Daemon and Uzo, giving them a silent apology and let go of the rope.
The descent was fast but not a freefall and Uzo's cage hit the ground, splintering open and he cursed. Looking to Jagum, she frowned at his pulley that seemed to be a lot slower and she decided to take the risk.
Turning, she backed up and then took a running leap for the cage.
Daemon screamed her name, but she caught the side of the cage just as his fingers caught she sides of her dress.
The cage began to fall faster but it wasn't until a second jerk had them both looking to Jagum as he hung by his fingertips.
Immediately she wrapped her legs around his torso and they went down quicker, their feet touching the ground and Jagum cut the rope to keep Daemon from being pulled back up.
With a strain of Jagum's muscles, the cage door was ripped off and daemon climbed out, groaning at the pain in his muscles.
She went to Uzo who was dazed but unharmed and she grabbed him, heaving him to his feet and they were running as arrows came down on them.
Daemon grabbed her hand and Jagum gripped her shoulder as she dragged Uzo and they fell through the tear and into a field thick with flowers and blinding sunlight.
Four voices cried out in unison at the sudden brightness, and they staggered apart, hands over eyes and trying not to go blind.
"A bit of warning might be nice!" she snarled at Daemon, and he growled his response.
"I thought it would be night, I was in a hurry so you'll have to excuse me if I didn't consider your precious eyes!" he yelled back.
She squinted at him through streaming eyes and found him squinting back at her, his face angry but relieved.
Without a word he pulled her into a tight hug and she hugged him back, just glad they had managed to escape.
"Anyone shot?" he asked over her shoulder and Jagum shook his head, Uzo was still a bit dazed but a quick examination told her he had not been. "Good," he said, his arms tight around her.
"I guess you're joining us on this adventure?" Daemon asked and Jagum shrugged, his eyes barely open and his fur wet from the tears.
"I hadn't intended to, but they know I helped you escape so I can't go back for a while. At least not until after this is done. You weren't lying about the world ending, were you?"
She shook his head, and he sighed, looking a little disappointed by that.
"And the part about you taking the throne?"
Again, she shook her head and he scratched at his cheek.
"We don't have time for this, give her magic and let's go," Daemon snapped.
Jagum nodded once and he stepped to her, bowing his head and his mouth met hers gently.
His magic filled her with warmth and the feeling of rough fur on the inside of her mind, warming her to the tips of her fingers.
Her eyes stung and she felt an odd tingling that started at her scalp, and she shivered at the sensation of movement against her back, the curls falling free and the length extending down against her backside.
As he stepped back, he jerked at the change in her and she lifted a brow.
"You changed," he accused, and she looked down, picking up several long strands of black hair and let them fall free.
"And your eyes," Daemon said, smirking. "Look more like a cat's now," he said, and she nodded.
Her eyes were more oval shaped than a human's and she preferred it that way. Without her eyes being like that, she struggled to see in the dark, but now she would be able to see quite well again.
"Phoenix is gone," Uzo said, and she looked to him, his face pained but he was back to his old self.
"Sorry for dropping you, we were out of time," she said, and he nodded.
"Better that than leaving me behind," he said, his hand touching her cheek where the tiger had clawed her.
She would have scars, but she didn't really care. It seemed to bother him though and he pulled her closer, his arms around her in a tight embrace.
"We're so close," Daemon sighed and she understood his relief. They had been going for so long that she was exhausted, and she knew they would be feeling the same.
"How many have you been through?" Jagum asked and she looked up at him.
"You make forty-three," she said.
He blinked at her, shocked. "I didn't expect it to be so many," he said.
Etani laughed.
"It hasn't been easy, we've had to make a lot of deals and do some pretty bad stuff," Daemon said and she twitched, remembering the Ifrit.
Jagum caught the reaction but said nothing, their grim silence enough of a warning for him not to press the matter.
"What's left then?" he asked.
"Dziwozona, Asrai, Aswang, Banshee, Dominick, the Fae and the Celestrials."
Etani went still at that last one, having not really thought about it until that very moment.
"How are we going to get the Celestrials?" she asked in a whisper that had Uzo and Daemon looking at her.
"Oh, I didn't even think about that…" Uzo said and they both looked to Daemon who was frowning.
"We may have to get violent," he said and she nodded slowly.
"I can get us into the city, but finding someone to cooperate will be difficult," she said and the idea of trying to sneak into Ceress had her shivering in terror. Cain was not the only assassin and while he was a good fighter, he might not have been their best. He wasn't ever part of the elite. It would be exceptionally dangerous.
"We'll deal with it when we get to them. After all that we have Epharis and the twins."
Etani looked at Daemon and frowned, not liking the idea one bit.
"We don't need to get the twins in particular," she said.
His face was dispassionate as he looked back at her.
"Do you really want to risk it after all this?"
"Can we find another set of twins?" she demanded but he shook his head.
"We don't have enough time to find another set of twins on short notice. We're scraping the limit as is."
"Fuck you… whore," she snapped, trying to come up with a suitable insult but coming up short. Jagum looked shocked by her language, but Daemon burst out laughing
"I love you too," he purred, and she growled.
"Come on you three, let's get moving. We're down to the single digits!" he sounded excited and his excitement affected her, making her mood lift with it.