The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 29

                                                                        Aaron

"INDIGO!" I yelled, forgetting about my plan to stay quiet. Her wide eyes bulged with shock and fear as she fell into the chasm.

I lunged out and stretched my arm as far as it would go, trying to grab Indigo's hand. Her fingers latched onto mine at the last second, and I felt a giant yank on my arm, nearly pulling it from its socket. The momentum sent me falling off the trail too, but in a fit of desperation I twisted and stabbed my sword hard into the cliff side, hoping to stop our fall. Surprisingly, it actually worked. But we were now suspended in midair with a thousand foot drop below us and no way up.

My palms began to sweat. Indigo kicked her legs and tried to get a tighter grasp on my hand. Even so, I could feel her grip slipping. What do I do? What do I do?!

"Aaron, there are Evils out there," Indigo gasped. I looked down at her pale face. "I'm pretty sure we just alerted them to our presence. We need to get out of here now."

"Okay. Okay. Um..." There would be time for apologies later. Right now, we need to find a way up. No doubt Lucian and the rest of our friends had heard the commotion, but by the time they found us it would be too late. And I can't hang here forever.

A loose chunk of dirt hit me on the face. I looked up and saw that my sword was bending, dangerously close to being dislodged. We needed to act fast.

"Indigo, I'm going to swing you up, okay? I think I can call on the wind to push us up a bit, but I'm not sure if it will carry our entire weight," I called down to Indigo. She nodded grimly, understanding my plan. I began to rock back and forth like a pendulum, gaining momentum.

My arm burned. The strain of holding Indigo up was catching up to me. Gravity didn't exactly help either, constantly trying to tug us down. Up above, did I hear the rustling of Evils?

"Ready, Indigo?" I called out, sweat beading my forehead. "On the count of three, I'm going to try and get you up there." I pointed at a lower part of the trail to the right of us with my chin, within reach. It would be easier to climb up there.

"Okay, Aaron." Indigo struggled to hold on to me.

"One—two—three!" I swung my arm one last time and let go, calling on a gust of wind at the same time to cushion Indigo. She sprang, using the momentum we built up, and her hands clawed at the edge of the trail. I concentrated, strengthening my control over the wind, until Indigo successfully climbed onto the trail.

My sword creaked, and I saw cracks forming above my head. It wasn't going to hold.

"Aaron!" Indigo held out her hand, and I took it, letting go of my sword. She hauled me back onto the trail and we both collapsed, panting. I crawled over the edge and carefully grabbed the hilt of my sword, trying to dislodge it. Indigo pushed herself up and tried to see over the top edge of the chasm, checking on Evils. She turned back to me, her face pale. "Hurry, I think I see movement."

With a final yank, I managed to pull my sword from the cliff. The bad news is, cracks began to spread right underneath my feet, like a spider web. Could that one stab crack open an entire cliff side?

With no time to pause and think, Indigo and I clambered down the narrow trail, slipping on loose dirt and tripping over rocks. Behind us, a low rumble sounded, and the entire cliff side began to shake.