As they fell, fast-growing tendrils sprouted in the other direction, scrabbling for purchase between the tight-packed stones. Tiny blind rootlets pushed their way into the cracks, desperately digging in. Alice made the root holding her ankle slow its growth and begin to thicken, taking up the strain of her weight. But slowly. Slowly! Too much would snap it. And even the Swarm isn’t going to save us from this fall. Tough skin or no, we’d just be a smear on the rocks . . .

She banished the thought and concentrated. Her descent began to slow, but she could feel the fibers of the newborn tree groaning in protest. Up at the top, where it held on to the bridge, the roots started to slip and tear free. Alice’s stomach lurched. It’s not going to hold! She tightened her grip on Soranna. Come on, come on! The long root creaked. Almost there—

All movement stopped. Alice cautiously opened one eye.

She and Soranna hung from the end of the root, twisting gently in the soft wind. Below, there was only the darkness of the bottomless abyss. Alice could feel the root still growing, twining its way between the rocks to solidify its hold, but something else had kept it from breaking free, right at the end. Holding Soranna carefully, she looked upward. Far above, a face was visible over the edge of the bridge, holding on to the root with both hands. It was too small to make out features, but the poof of hair was unmistakable. Dex.

Alice let out a long breath and looked down at Soranna. The girl was no longer screaming; in fact, she’d fainted, lolling in Alice’s arms like a dead weight. And, under the circumstances, I can’t say that I blame her.

Even with Spike’s strength, she couldn’t climb the vine while holding on to Soranna. Instead, she directed it to grow around them both and pull them up. This was a slow process, as the energy she’d stuffed into the acorn was beginning to run out, and by the time they had made it back to the edge of the bridge the fight was over. Ant-things scattered in pieces across the path. Dex helped her up, and between the two of them they managed to lift Soranna back onto solid ground. Garret slung the unconscious girl over his shoulders, and they hurried across the bridge to the next tower, where Isaac and Ellen were waiting.

“Come on. This is exactly what we were expecting. Something got loose from a book, that’s all.”

“I have to disagree, Brother Garret. What are the chances such a creature would attack us at the first tower we reach? This was a deliberate ambush.”

“Then those things were placed here before Esau died, and they haven’t wandered off yet. It’s still no reason to panic.”