Pamela looked at him.
Their eyes met.
Chen Mo was just about to lean closer when the bundle of roots behind her suddenly tightened, dragging them both toward the side wall.
"Mmph-"
One mechanical leg braced against the wall, while another stretched across behind her shoulders.
Chen Mo's back slammed into the brick arch. His vision went black for an instant, and the rest of his sentence was knocked out of him.
Chen Mo gripped the vine constricting his waist and pushed out a little breathing room, lifting his face toward Pamela.
Her gaze remained on his face. Her fingers twisted around the vine, her knuckles white with strain.
"Loosen it a little."
Chen Mo touched the back of her hand.
"We still need this to hang on, so don't let go completely. Think of it like unscrewing a bottle cap. Half a turn back, just enough to breathe."
Her fingertips moved.
The pressure around his waist really did ease.
Chen Mo drew a breath. Pain stabbed through his chest, but he still hurried to nod at her.
"Right, just like that. Can you hear me now?"
Pamela opened her mouth, and a short laugh squeezed out of her throat. She hurriedly covered it, her eyes wide, even her palm trembling.
"I..."
A burning branch fell from overhead.
Her shoulders hunched at the sound of it snapping, and the roots immediately lashed upward. Chen Mo caught her arm, the webbing beneath his feet pulling taut, barely keeping him in place.
The branch passed them and fell into the water below.
Hiss.
The fire went out.
Chen Mo looked down, and the image inside his mask zoomed in slightly. The charred branch floated beside an old stone ledge, a tiny sliver of tender green slowly emerging from its water-soaked broken end.