Page 158 - Fourth Wing

look, it is possible for my heart to beat faster. The damned thing practically

flutters as I wipe my clammy palms on my leather pants.
Rhiannon gets the rope into Tynan’s hand, but instead of using it to swing

to the next ball, he climbs…down.

My jaw practically unhinges as he descends. Definitely didn’t see that
one coming.

“Violet, begin!” Emetterio orders.

Be with me, Zihnal. I haven’t spent nearly enough time at temple for the
god of luck to care much about what happens to me right now, but it’s

worth a shot.

I bolt up the first part of the ascent, coming to the spinning log within
seconds. My stomach feels like it’s being stirred by this balance beam from

hell. “It’s just balance. You can balance,” I mumble and start across. “Quick
feet. Quick feet. Quick feet,” I repeat all the way across, jumping off the

end to land on the first of four granite columns, each one higher than the

last.
There are about three feet between them, but I manage to leap from one

pillar to the next without skidding off the ends. And this is the easy part. A
knot of fear works its way up my throat.

I jump into the rotating wheel and run, leaping over the only opening as it

flies by once, then watching it come around a second time. Timing. This
one is all about timing.

The opportunity comes and I seize it, racing through the opening and

turning back onto the gravel path of the second ascent. The buoy balls are
just ahead, but I’m going to fall on my ass if I don’t calm down and get my

palms to stop sweating.

Feathertail dragons are the breed we know the least about, I recite in my
mind, needing every ounce of my lung capacity as I spring from the edge of

the path onto the first ball, grasping it up top like Rhiannon did. The
immediate strain on my shoulders makes me tense every muscle to keep the