The current threw Aylin shoulder-first into the side of the world.
Stone vanished from beneath her hands. Rope burned across her ribs as the living wound bent with the Bellmother's turn, changing a short passage into a dark throat that pulled toward Skykeel's ceiling.
She had entered with one breath.
Half of it escaped when her injured forearm struck a root.
Far behind her, Hest dropped his weight across the Red Aeries bar. Valea fed rope around the stone lip instead of fighting the new direction. Their work kept the line from sawing into Aylin, but neither could see where the water had taken her.
Kesta and Beras felt the turn through their separate roots.
Beras lowered his intact wing and let the water load its frame. Kesta hooked the opposite root, wrapped the strap around her wrist, and leaned until her damaged shoulder shook. The opening stayed wide enough to trap Aylin without crushing her.
It did not show her which way led out.
Jiang entered the wound.
