The laughing God's Gambit

CHAPTER 2: The brink.

Yeah, well, burnt eyebrows are about as good as it gets. Ferris hugged himself, shivering. And now I’m gonna die because Miss Goody-Two-Shoes went all hero on us.

Don’t call me that. She wouldn’t meet his eyes just stared out at the floating islands, looking miserable. I knew what I was supposed to do. I screwed up. This is what happens.

Oh, come on, spare me the martyr routine. Ferris laughed, but it sounded forced. We’re not dying for some noble cause. We’re dying because a bunch of suits couldn’t file the right paperwork.

She clammed up after that. The silence just stretched. Sun hung low, a gold coin rolling toward the Sky-Spire.

There’s gotta be some way out, Ferris muttered.

No one gets off the Brink. Magic’s solid here.

Nothing here is solid. He glanced around at the empty platform. Nothing but the drop. He felt a truly terrible idea forming. Okay, new plan.

There’s no plan.

The cuffs stop you using magic, right? But not just… being connected?

She finally looked at him, suspicious. What are you babbling about?

Ferris lifted his cuffed hands. My power. Ghost Fingers. I grab a bit of the Ghost-Realm, punch a hole. The cuffs stop me from steering it. He edged closer to the brink, wind tugging at his jacket. But they can’t stop the Ghost-Realm from being right there. Always is.

Lyria’s eyes went wide. No.

If I jump, he said, voice shaking, and phase right before I hit… the realm could grab me. Spit me out somewhere else.

That’s the stupidest, most suicidal.

Got a better idea?! he shouted. Because in ten minutes, we’re just space dust!

The sun brushed the spire. A low hum started vibrating through the stone. Warmth crept up from the platform.

It was starting.

Lyria stared at the vanishing door, the humming stone, Ferris teetering at the edge. She looked like she was doing math in her head.

The hum got louder.

Fine! she snapped. But if we die, I’m haunting you forever!

Deal! He thrust out his cuffed hand. We have to be touching, or the phase won’t take both.

She eyed his hand like it might bite. The platform started glowing, thin white cracks racing across it.

With a dramatic sigh, she grabbed on.

On three! Ferris yelled. One… two.

He never said three. He just yanked her with him over the edge.

They dropped. Wind howled in their ears. The platform shrank away, just a glowing coin. Lyria screamed.

Ferris focused on his hands. Not on casting on letting the other side bleed in.

The world didn’t go black.

It flipped.

Suddenly, the sky turned into smeared gray. Clouds whispered. Instead of falling, they slid through shadows and faces, half-formed things.

Lyria’s grip crushed his hand. He could feel her panic pounding through his bones.

Then something else hit him a pull, but not from the realm. From her. Pain, old and sharp, someone else’s memory. Falling stone, a broken crown. Hers. And it surged into him, pouring through their joined hands.

What is? But it vanished.

A light flashed up ahead, rushing at them.

The realm spat them out like garbage.

They crashed onto hard pavement, tangled in a heap, right in front of a street-sweeper.

The guy gawked. You two ain’t from around here, huh?

Ferris sucked in a shaky breath. Lyria climbed to her knees, white as chalk.

Their hands were still stuck.

A silver chain of light wrapped their wrists, pulsing once before fading.

But they both felt it.

Lyria stared at Ferris, then at where the chain had been.

What, she demanded, did you do?

I didn’t do anything! Ferris snapped, tugging at his hand. She wouldn’t let go. It’s backlash, or the cuffs, or… I don’t know, but you’re crushing my fingers!

Lyria jerked her hand away like she’d touched a burner. The chain was gone, but Ferris still felt a buzzing wire connecting him to her. Her fear shivered under his skin.

The sweeper cleared his throat. You gonna pay for that? Scared my donkey.

Ferris patted his pockets. Nothing. The Tear, his tools, his last coin Skyhaven took everything. We’re, uh… busy. It’s free.

It’s trespassing, the guy grumbled, shuffling off with his broom, muttering about weirdos.

Lyria had already started scanning the alley. The buildings pressed in, brickwork filthy, pipes leaking, everything reeking of fish and old smoke. The Gutterworks District. Bottom of Port Helios, she said, deadpan. She knew this place, and she hated every inch.

Okay. A port. Boats. We need a boat. Ferris stood, flinching as her nerves zinged through him felt like gulping down raw terror. We get a boat, go somewhere they can’t find us.

You’re a wanted man. And I’m… stuck with you. She looked at her wrist, then at him, unimpressed. This thing. Can you get rid of it?

Lady, I was using it to pick locks, not cast spells. I’m not a wizard, just unlucky. He rubbed his wrist. There was a faint mark, same as hers. I think… when we jumped, our magic tangled. My ghost trick, your sun stuff. Now they’re fused.

A bind.

A bad bind.

Ferris felt a sharp hunger hit him. Not his own. He glanced at her. She kept her face still, but her whole body was tight.

“You’re hungry,” he said.

She shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“My stomach says otherwise. And that’s on you.” He could feel it her nerves, her hunger, all of it tangled up inside him. “We need to eat. Then get out of here. Skyhaven’s going to start hunting the second they realize the Brink didn’t kill us.”

“They’ll think we’re gone.”

“They’ll think you’re gone. And that I finished you off. I’m the thief, remember? I look guilty as hell.” He ducked into an alley, putting distance between them and the main street. “We need somewhere to hide. I know a guy.”

She eyed him. “A criminal?”

He grinned. “A businessman. Runs a bathhouse. If you’ve got coins, nobody cares who you are.”

She raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have coins.”

He shrugged. “I’m charming.”

She shot back, “You’re a dead man.”