Echoes Of The Fall

Amina slipped began to fall down the cliff. Since she was holding Clive's hand he too began to fall. The world tilted beneath her, as ickening lurch that sent her heart into overdrive. Clive, caught off guard, stumbled with her. His yell died in his throat as the ground vanished beneath his feet.

For a horrifying moment, there was only the rushing air, the wind snatching at their clothes like a banshee's wail. Then, with a jarring yank that stole the breath from his lungs, Clive felt his arm lock around a jagged rock jutting out from the cliff face. It held, for now, but the strain was immense. He twisted, gasping, to see Amina dangling precariously below him.

" Hold on Amina, I won't let go ! " He shouted at her

Her grip on his hand was like a vice, knuckles white against the tanned leather of his glove. Her face displayed raw terror. Her eyes, wide and panicked, locked with his in a silent plea. Fear, cold and primal, snaked through Clive's gut, but beneath it, a surge of protectiveness roared to life. He wouldn't let her fall. He The rock dug into his palm, scraping flesh from bone, a trickle of blood flowed down his arm. He needed to find a way to pull her up, but the ledge above was slick with rain and treacherous. Amina's hand was wet with sweat and Clive felt his grip slowly loosen. He tried pulling her up with all his might, but to no avail. His arm screamed in protest, the muscles burning with exertion. It became clear to him that couldn't pull her back up with just one hand.. His only other option was his companions. Clive looked around and saw Biast rushing towards them from his left while Aevis slowly and carefully walked towards him from the right. Clive realizing Aevis was too slow turned to Biast, " Hurry Biast ! I can't hold on for much longer ! "

Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind. He turned back to Amina, shouting over the howling wind, "Amina! Use one of your daggers as a makeshift ladder! jam it into the cracks in the rock!"

She looked at him, baffled, " But my grip I-"

Clive groaned in exertion. "Just do it! I can't hold you for much longer anyway. Hurry!"

She listened to him and began to take out one of her daggers from within her cloak. She was extra careful not to let is slip as the rain made the handle of her dagger slippery used one of the hands too grab a dagger from her cloak.

Her grip on Clive immediately loosened and she began sliding down at an alarming rate. She quickly jammed the dagger into a crack a few inches lower, and held onto it with her hand hand. The rain was making the handle slippery and Amina relaized this had only just brought her a few more precious seconds. Just as she felt all hope was lost she felt another pair of strong hands grab onto her shoulders. She looked up to see that it was Biast. He used both his hands and carefully hoised her back up onto the ledge and they leaned on the rock face. Clive slumped beside them, gasping for breath. Amina turned to Biast to thank him but it was clear he still held the same disdain for her and this was in fact true. In Biast's mind he thoght Amina deserved to die for killing a mother. He had only rescused her because he didn't really have much of a choice. Amina was vital to this mission. They lay there for a moment and then continued their journey through the pass, taking extra caution around the area where Amina had just slipped.

As Clive and Amina walked in front of Biast he couldn't help but feel like Clive had betrayed him, Anger boiled within him as he thought to himself " She is of use to us only until we find Shiva's dominant. Once that is done, I will personally make it my job to kill her "

Part of the reason Biast felt this much anger was becuase his own mother was killed by a band of assasins after she attempted to flee their home, Twinside along with Biast. His father was an asssasin himself and the thought of his wife leaving him along with his son angered him and as a result he had Biast's mother killed right in front of Biast's eyes. It was a painful memory for him. He still remembered how they held her mother by her neck and slowly slit her throat making sure Biast watched it all. Then his father abandoned him to fend for himself. After a few more years Tiamat found him and took him under his wing, training him and forging the man he was now. He knew it wouldn't bring his mother back, but it was a twisted form of justice in his mind.

"Biast, you take the point!" He looked up to see Tiamat gesturing towards the mouth of a massive cave

They were standing in front of the cave Tiamat had mentioned earlier. The entrance was massive and Biast could see a dim blue glow from within, " What the hell is that ? "

Tiamat gave him a smirk, " You'll see for yourself, now run along, unless you enjoy the rain battering down upon us "

Biast lead the way and the others followed pursuit. Clive and Amina trailed behind the group. Biast occasionally glanced back, his gaze lingering on Clive and Amina. The sight of them together only fueled his anger. Clive was still tending to the scrapes on her arm from the fall and helping her walk. As much as it angered him there wasn't much he could do in front of his sergeant.

After about half an hour's walk they reached the sourced of the glow. It was a small subterranean river. The flowing water glowed in a brilliant color of blue and white. This was due to the water flowing through an area concentrated with Aether in the ground. As a result some of the Aether is imbued into the water making it glow. Biast turned to Tiamat, " Is it safe to drink ? "

Tiamat chuckled. "Yes, but don't overdo it. That water is imbued with Aether, and it can have some… interesting effects on the body and mind.

Aevis chimed in, " Trust me. You do not want to experience that "

Aevis made a small fire using some damp wooden logs he and Tiamat had previously gathered and they all sat around the fire. The fire was warm and provided comfort to them. Outside the storm battered down upon the landscape.

Tiamat spoke up, " Alright, get some rest. Clive i assume Amina told you about the invasion fleet "

Clive nodded

"Good. we leave in a few hours and an we will reach the capital by morning tomorrow. So get some rest "

As they all prepared to sleep, Clive lied down next to river and drifted of into sleep. he could see several figures in a dream but only, this was no dream. this was a vision. A vision for Mythos from his maker.