Flying Over

Hothead:

"This is not a bridge," Alodia says with crossed arms. She lets out a cough as she turns her head. I shake my head and roll my eyes.

"I know this isn't a bridge," I say, "But it's better than nothing."

"It is nothing," Alodia shouts.

As she shouts, she uncrosses her arms and points at the ledge.

"It's not nothing," Jump says. "If you pay attention a little more, you can see this particular ledge is angled upward when compared to the other ledges."

"So?"

"So that means if we do this right, we could use this as a ramp."

"A ramp," Renee repeats before he starts to back up and waves his hand. "Wait, wait, wait, what are you two talking about?"

I sigh as I explain my plan once more.

"We have been walking along this ledge for what feels like years now. I'm not kidding! I can actually feel the grey hair growing and taking over! Anyway, for all we know, there is no bridge. There is no crossing we can take. This may be our one shot to cross over the cliff. I said we take it."

"How exactly do we 'take' it," Alodia asks. "I mean, for your sake, let's just pretend I agree with your ridiculous plan and we do take this, so-called, ramp. We would not make it over the cliff. Instead, we would fall down the cliff."

"I have a plan," I say, "Oh, Ms. Small-Minded."

"A plan," Alodia repeats. "Oh joy. Let's hear it."

I smile as I take a breath.

"My plan is nothing but simple. Simple, I repeat. Simply, you use your gift and summon a shield. A big one. One that can hold all of us."

"Okay," Alodia says. "Then?"

"Then I use my gift to launch us."

I pull out my sword from behind me and encase it in bright, burning flames.

"Any question?"

Of course, Alodia is the one to raise her hand.

"Yes, I have one. Uhh, is that the fastest way you can think of killing all of us?"

I click my tongue and shake my head.

"Hey," I say, "At least I'm trying. Right? What's your brilliant idea? Walk for the next few years? I'm sorry, but I have plans ten years from now."

"In case you've forgotten, genius, walking was your plan. And what a brilliant plan it was."

"Hey, now you listen to me! Okay!"

"No, I will not listen to you! Listening to you is how all of this even started in the first place! Honestly!"

Renee Eamon:

"Hey, hey, hey," Jump says as she tries to interject but I grab her and pull her back.

"Maybe it would be best to let them fight this out," I suggest. "I mean until they get everything off their chests."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We get in the middle if either of them draws their weapons."

Jump stares at me before turning to her friends and her friend's partner.

"Okay," she says.

While the two argue and Jump keeps an eye on their weapons, I examine the part of the cliff Hothead talked about.

"Hothead is right. This part of the ledge is aimed higher than the other parts, and I did see Alodia use her gift before. Assuming she could summon one big enough to hold us, and Hothead can shoot out enough fire, we might actually be able to do it. We might be able to get to the other side! But no. That's crazy. It's crazy. It's-"

Before I can finish, a large shadow flies over me and I immediately look up.

"Guys," I scream, turning around to see Alodia and Hothead still fighting. "We don't have time for this!"

I run from the ledge to the two. While running, I grab a handful of sand and throw it at them.

"Guys," I scream again. "A vultuzzard!"

"A what," Jump says. I point up and all three heads follow. There, they see a large, winged animal flying through the sky. Its black and white skin makes it almost invisible in the night sky.

"I see it," Alodia shouts. She pulls her hands and calls forth her throwing disc. Meanwhile, Jump loads her crossbows and aims. Even Hothead brings out his sword. I'm the only one that keeps his weapon down.

"What are you doing," Jump yells, "Bring out your sword and shield!"

"There's no point," I say, "That vultuzzard is too far away! Neither your bolts nor Alodia's throwing disc can hit it!"

"So what should we do," Hothead asks. "Wait for it to get close?"

"It won't do that," I say. I turn back to the cliff. "Vultuzzard are smart. It'll fly by and knocks us over the cliff."

"Oh," Hothead says, his sword lowering. "That's bad."

"What do we do," Alodia asks.

"We do exactly as Hothead said," I answer. "Gather up everyone. All of us."

"You can't be serious," Alodia says. I ignore Alodia's complaint and pull her in. The four of us squeeze together, I look at Alodia.

"Do it," I say. "Summon a shield to protect us."

Alodia opens her mouth, most likely to say something but before she can talk, I talk.

"We don't have time for a discussion," I say, "Just trust me and do it! Now!"

Alodia must sense the tone in my voice. She nods and claps her hands together. A shield appears around the four of us.

"My turn," Hothead says. He reaches for his sword but I stop him.

"No," I say, reaching and grabbing his hand.

"No? Why?"

"Because if you do, then the shield will break."

"Then what's the point of this?"

"The point is this."

I watch as the vultuzzard dives down. It shoots past us at incredible speed. Just as I thought, the wind from the vultuzzard flying by knocks us down. We all scream as we roll onto the ramp and into the air.

"I hate this," Alodia cries as we all fly through the air. "I hate this! I hate all of you! Especially you, Hothead"

"I feel the same," Hothead says.

I look at the other side as it gets closer and closer. Only, it's not close enough.

"We're falling too early," I shout.

"What, "the three scream.

A risky idea races through my head and I look at Alodia's hands.

"Hope this works," I say before grabbing and pulling Alodia's hands apart.

"Wait, no! What are you doing?"

"Hothead! Your sword! Jump! Grab Alodia and jump!"

Using his sword, Hothead shoots himself toward the cliff. Meanwhile, grabbing Alodia, Jump uses her gift and leaps off Alodia's disappearing shield. As for me, I jump with all my might. Flipping my sword around, I stab the ledge and hang on by the handle.

Despite not seeing them, I can still hear Hothead, Jump, and even Alodia as they all hit the ground. The sound of screaming and sand being thrown around is hard to ignore.

"Renee," Jump shouts as she appears over me. "Renee. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say, struggling to climb up. Finding a place to put my foot down, I pull myself up and over the ledge.

"I can't believe you did that," Jump says after I climb up and fall against the sand. "I can't believe that works."

"Same here," Alodia pants.

Renee, you're-you're a freaking genius."

Jump then hits me in the chest.

"Ouch. Hey!"

"Uhhh," Hothead says as he pushes himself up. "Hate to ruin your moment, Renee, but our other problem isn't solved yet. The vultuzzard is coming back."

"Oh shoot," I say. I take in one last breath before pushing myself over and up. "Run. Run!"

The four of us immediately run. We run and run until finally, without realizing it, we come to some ruined temple. Only this time, the temple isn't underground. It looks like it builds into a mountain.

"Inside," I say, "Everyone inside now!"

All of us try to run inside but the vultuzzard stops us. It lands right in front and blocks the entrance to the temple.