The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 43

Falling was never my favorite thing to experience.

Especially when it was my "ally" that made me fall, and even more when it was involuntary.

The first moment I felt none of my skin cells touch anything solid, I froze. My stomach felt like it was turning inside out with fear. My rational side was immediately replaced with my anxious one, looking up at the heavens to see If I would be fried by Zeus.

But then, a few seconds later, I unfroze when I started plummeting toward the ground. I began to fear death—not by Zeus' lightning bolt, but by splattering on the ground at high speeds. 

The wind tore at my face, making my skin turn red and my eyes water—coupled with the furious snowfall that seemed to be aimed at my eyes, I could barely see. It also burned my lungs as I inhaled big gasps of air—I needed to sustain my scream.

It wasn't a high-pitched, girly scream that—for some reason—was accustomed to my name. Instead, it was deeper, like an 'I hate my day' kind of scream. Except with a lot more emotion.

I was screaming with anger for Psi betraying me, just when everything was looking up; anxious at the thought of dying in an environment I couldn't control, which was—in my opinion—the worst way I could die; and fear at what Artemis would do to my poor, poor soul in my next life.

You might think that this was a useless waste of my time—and you would be right. 

But it allowed me to curl up my emotions into a ball and chuck it as hard as I could out of my system, which allowed me to concentrate.

I looked down toward the ground. It took a few precious seconds—and furiously wiping at my face to clear my vision—but I finally found ground.

It was a grove of trees a small distance beneath me, that only had a hint of green peeking through the snow that built up on them.

My hope sunk. I had counted on the ground I was going to be falling on filled with just snow. Given a large amount of snowfall, the snow would've built up to the point where there was a decent chance it would act as a pillow, cushioning my fall to where I could survive. 

The trees were the main problem. With their spindly—but strong—branches extending everywhere, there was no question about it—I was going to hit a lot of branches. Because of the speed of the fall, I could easily break multiple bones—or split my skull open. And even if I only got minor injuries (which, let's face it—there's no chance. It's me we're talking about) I would still be stuck in a cold, huge forest that I had no idea how to get out of. I had no provisions on me and I would die within the hour.

That meant I needed to save myself. 

I looked around.

On three sides, there was only snow and air.

On the fourth side, behind me, was smooth, snow-covered rock.

First, I tried grabbing it. The only thing I got in return was a yelp of pain and a burned hand; apparently, you could get friction burned from smooth surfaces if you travel fast enough.

So now I had to save myself with nothing but a burned finger.

But there was no chance. I had only about twenty seconds left, and it was getting harder and harder to move my limbs in the cold. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.

Fifteen. At this point, I was so cold that I couldn't even shiver anymore.

Ten. My body was fully numb and it see—

With a jolt, someone grabbed the collar of my shirt, and suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore. It felt as though I had just been in a high-speed car accident; it was a miracle that my shirt hadn't torn.

I felt myself being lifted up a few feet. "Hold on," Rosaline said gently. "I got you."

At the sound of her voice, my eyes flew open and I was filled with hope. I was still alive, and I had found the person I had been looking for.

A few seconds later, I found myself standing on a narrow road that seemed to be leading up to the mountain.

Rosaline was right next to me, supporting me with her arm. I immediately flung my arms around her, afraid that she was just an apparition I was seeing due to my near-death event.

"Whoa there," Rosaline laughed. "I won't leave. How about you let me go and I can focus on warming you up?"

I muttered an unintelligible reply and just hugged her tighter. Truth be told, hugging her was warming me up. Even though she had more than three layers on (which she had made magically appear—she wasn't wearing these when I last saw her), I was so cold that her snow-caked outer layer was warmer than me. It was freaky, to say the least, but I wasn't going to risk letting go of Rosaline to save myself.

A few minutes after, however, Rosaline was able to pry me off of her and wrap me in a bundle of clothes she had magically made appear for me. Still, I was so cold that my teeth were chattering audibly. "W-what a-are y-you d-doing h-here?" I asked.

Rosaline still seemed to understand me, though. "I decided to climb this mountain to get a vantage point on the surrounding terrain since I had no idea where I was. I managed to save you, so I guess it wasn't a waste of time." She started up the trail to the top of the mountain. I immediately followed her, not wanting to lose her again.

I was astonished at how calm and collected Rosaline was. In retrospect, however, she'd been in part of things that had been worse than this. Me, on the other hand, while also participating in other, more dangerous things, was still shaken up by this experience.

"Why were you falling down a huge mountain, by the way?" Rosaline asked. "It seems as though it wasn't an accidental slip. Though I could be wrong. It's you we're talking about."

"No." I felt anger bubble through my veins as I remembered what happened. I was warm enough now to support myself. "Psi pushed me off for no reason."

Rosaline cursed under her breath. "That idiot." She doubled her pace up the mountain.

I struggled to match her speed; my limbs were still frozen solid. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching Psi a lesson." Rosaline glanced at me. "Nobody hurts my family."