9 From Gentle To Raging

"If we follow the down river, we might find a village or town that could help us. After that, we are going our separate ways." Lyndon nodded without much thought. Although Michael knew that Lyndon could not have understood him, he found himself less stressed when talking out loud to him. As long as he does not throw any tantrum, he was like a docile pet.

The two walked carefully on the bedrock. Every time Lyndon saw something new, he awed. While Michael was carefully eyeing for any sign of danger that might come. The further down they walk the gentle sound from before became less gentle. The water that was once clear was turning to a deeper blue.

"Be careful to not the fall in the river. The water is speeding up." He warned Lyndon. He was not also sure if anything dangerous lived in the river, but he told himself that there should not be.

'Now that I think about it. Where are those things that attacked us at the beginning? It is weird that we are safe after all this time. Whatever, as long as nothing bad happens…' He reassured himself.

As Michael was busy daydreaming, his thought was interrupted by Lyndon's struggling cry.

'What the…' He saw Lyndon being swept away as he struggled to stay afloat. The water was deep enough that given Lyndon's height, he was not able to get a footing.

Michael panicked.

"Lyndon! Hang on!" Michael quickly ran next to Lyndon hoping he could reach out to him. The more he ran the faster the flow of the river was getting, but he could still somewhat keep up with it. As he ran, he tried to think of a solution, but fortunately, Lyndon was braked between two rocks with a thud. "Wait let me get something to get you out!" Michael shouted over the river so Lyndon to reassure him.

The water was bashing Lyndon against the rocks with enough speed that was neither painful, not comfortable. It was like being swatted with hundreds of small pebbles all over his body. Lyndon did not cry for the first time from the discomfort but just watched Michael ran into the woods.

Michael was frantically looking for anything that could be long enough to reach out to him. He saw branches, dead logs, but nothing that could help Lyndon.

Suddenly, In the direction deeper in the woods, Michael heard sounds of twigs breaking. In a flash, he felt an invisible hand were pushing him down. His heart raced as he sweats due to the fear.

A man with a wicked smile appeared a hundred of meters away from him. He was taller than any of the mercenaries he met before. The armor that was covering his chest showed signs of wear from numerous battles. Even more, there was bright blood splattered on it from what it seems to be fresh.

'This pressure. I felt it before. A true spell weaver.' Michael wanted to run but under such pressure, his knees were stiff. The man sharp eyes watched every movement that Michael while grinning. 'This guy a psycho. I can not escape.' 'Michael could not challenge himself to move as he stared at the man before him. The tall man did not even bother to hide his pressure like he was showing Michael how small he was.

From the distance, Lyndon saw that Michael was standing still. Soon after, someone unfamiliar came out from behind a tree and casually walked closer to Michael. He was instinctively terrified of him. The feeling was something similar to fantasy beast from before but on a whole different level.

"Uwaaah!" Lyndon screamed to warn Michael as he tried to free himself from the rocks. The tall man turned his head to where the direction of the noise was coming from.

When the tall man saw Lyndon, he did not hesitate to dash towards him.

"Lyndon! Quickly escape!" Michael called out with great resistance from the fear.

But before the tall man could reach him, Lyndon pushed himself out of the rocks. But ultimately, he was swept once again by the current but with much greater force.

The man reached the rocks, only to stand as he viewed Lyndon being washed away.

The velocity of the current was strange. For a once gentle river to reach such speed, the man could not fathom of why as he looked with disappointment.

'Lyndon. Sorry...' Michael sadly stared at Lyndon until he could not see him anymore.

His small body was like a pinball against the raging tides. The tides pounced on his head over and over again. Lyndon did not have the strength to fight against it and was in the mercy of the enraged river. He tried gasped for air as his head bounced up and down like a ball. He tried his best to breathe but he was taking up more water than air.

The fear crept with each small drop of the cliff causing the speed of current to increase. It got to the point that every noise was drowned out but the roared of the water crashing alongside anything.

Lyndon saw up ahead where the edge was along with the mist being sprayed everywhere as if the world up ahead suddenly turned into a world desolate of life.

He could not do anything to resist, but he only to continue to paddle tirelessly away from his demise with nothing to show for it.

"Ahhhhh!" Lyndon was soon projected across the air with a great velocity by the time he reached the edge of the waterfall.

Time seemed to slow down as he flew across the edge. Behind the thick mist was a horizon that was dazzled with the morning sun. The boundless forest, the mountains of different colors like a dull rainbow, and an endless river that seem to be like a snake slithering across the forest.

It was just for a second, but that one second made Lyndon forgot what his predicament was until gravity snapped him back to reality. From there, he saw the deep blue crystal water below him. The distance from the edge to the water surface was not small fall.

Lyndon picked up speed and with each second, he was getting faster. His terrified scream echoed along with the drumming of the water hitting the surface of the water. His arms flailed in the air before a loud splat.

The mix of blood swirled like red wine in the water.

The dropped was so hard that trying to break the surface tension of the water was like running through brittle concrete at with force. It was enough for Lyndon to be unconscious as the underwater water current swept him away into a dark tunnel.

It was not long before he came ashore into an underwater cave.