She shook her head, but I pressed on. “I’ll be safe in the Celestial Kingdom, as long as they don’t realize who I am. I promised Mother I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I won’t. I’ll find someplace to hide. Maybe you can outrun the soldiers without me?” My words fell out in a rush. In a moment it would be too late, the decision wrenched from us.
Fire blazed through the night, streaking toward us. It struck, our cloud shuddering as it swerved sharply. Heat flashed over my skin as Ping’er raised her hand, gleaming with light which extinguished the flames. With a cry, she fell beside me.
“They’re attacking,” she said in disbelief, even as she pressed her glowing palms into the cloud, speeding it along.
Terror gripped me but I could not succumb. Not now, when every second mattered. “Ping’er, it’s the only way. We can’t let them catch us.” I spoke firmly, urgently—no longer a child pleading to be heard. “This is my choice, too.”
Something hardened over her face then, a grim determination. She pointed to a thick cloudbank in the distance. “Over there—I’ll drop down as low as I can. I’ll shield you from the fall.”
Despite her reassuring words, something unsettled me. Her breathing came harsh and labored. Her skin was damp to my touch. Was she sick? Impossible. Immortals did not suffer such ailments. “Ping’er, are you hurt? Did the fire—”
“Just a little tired. Nothing to worry yourself over.”
I rolled on my side, peering over the edge as the cloud hurtled on. My mind leapt to the perils ahead—beyond the emptiness beneath, to those glittering lights weaving across the darkness. Beautiful. Terrifying. Scrambling up, I threw my arms around Ping’er, hugging her tight. Wishing I did not have to let go. Wishing for so many things, none of which would ever come to pass.
She clutched me with a raw desperation as we dove into the cloudbank. Droplets of icy water brushed my skin, the moisture clinging to my clothes. As we plunged lower, the chill bit deep, right into my bones. My legs quivered as I uncoiled them to stand. Ping’er’s skin was like ash gone cold as she wrapped an arm across my shoulder. The air shimmered as a feathery tingle glided over me.
“The shield will cushion your fall. But you might still feel pain and you must be careful at all times.” Her hands shook as she slung my small bag over my arm.
“Will you try to return? Once the danger passes?” I clung to this frail hope, trying to gather the scraps of my courage. Trying not to fall apart.
Tears pooled in her eyes. “Of course. But if I don’t—”
“I’ll find my way back. One day, when it’s safe to,” I said quickly, to assure us both.
“You will. You must, for your mother.” She drew a sharp breath. “Are you ready?”
I was wound so tight I thought I might snap. No, I would never be ready . . . to leap into this unknown, to sever this final cord to my home. But if I didn’t leave now, if I yielded to my clawing panic, if I let myself sink into the shadow of doubt—what little resolve remained would vanish. Facing her, I forced my stiff legs to take a step back to the edge. I would rather see her a hundred times over than the gaping hollow below.
“Now!” She cried out in a sudden burst of strength, her eyes blazing.
My legs staggered back—just as Ping’er’s head rolled to the side and she collapsed into a crumpled heap upon the cloud. But I was falling, too, through the black void of the sky. The wind struck all thought from me, swallowing the cry that erupted from my throat, whipping my face and limbs until they were raw. My clothes sucked forward in a cloud of silk. I could not breathe through the air slamming against me, my lungs afire. A roaring in my ears blocked out everything except my pounding heart.
Yet ahead of me, shrinking to a speck was Ping’er’s cloud, gone still. Her body was huddled where she had fallen. Had she fainted? Move! I screamed in a soundless cry, as the soldiers raced toward her. Terror shriveled my insides as I stretched out my hands—a futile gesture—grasping wildly at . . . at something within me. My skin tingled, hot then cold, as a glittering surge of air hurtled across the emptiness toward Ping’er’s cloud. It shimmered brightly, before bolting away, vanishing into the distant horizon.
I crashed into the ground, pain erupting across my body. The air knocked from my chest, I could only lie there as tears flowed from my eyes, mingling with the sweat that slicked my skin. A weariness gripped me. As my fingers grasped soft grass beneath me, I drew a trembling breath, the scent of flowers filling my nostrils. Sweet, yet I was numb to it. Pressing my palms to the ground, I pushed myself up—sore and aching—but otherwise unharmed. Ping’er’s enchantment had shielded me from the worst of the fall.