Long Way Down

Halo’s world tilts as she tumbles down the cliff. Plants lash at her arms and shoulders, rocks gouge her sides, and the rain makes everything a blur of gray and green. She feels herself roll off another edge, and then feels nothing but air as she falls. She slams into a half-toppled trunk with a sickening crack before rolling to a stop in a heap among splintered trees. 
          High above, the rest of the team rounds the bend, boots splashing through mud. They skid to a halt at the sight of Cinder crouched at the cliff’s edge. 
          “Help!” Cinder cries, her voice sharp with panic. 
          The others rush toward her, mud spraying up their legs as they run. 
          “What happened?” Thorn demands. 
          “Halo, she tripped and fell!” Cinder gasps, pointing down the slope. 
          “Oh my god…” Yumi claps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with horror. 
          “Do you see her?” Benji shouts, scanning the cliffs below. 
          “There!” Dosei points, his face pale. “She’s not moving.” 
          Cinder’s expression twists, her voice taut. “She couldn’t have survived a fall like that.” 
          Thorn’s jaw hardens. His voice cuts through the rising panic. “We have to get down there.” 
          On their way down the path, the team spots a lone yellow Skelloid wandering near the rocks. 
          “Ah, this is nothin’ compared to this morning,” Benji says with a grin. He and Norio lower their spears and charge with confidence. The creature shrieks at them, but they think they’ve got it handled. 
          Then they round the bend. 
          And stop. 
          Beyond the first Skelloid, an entire horde waits, dozens of orange and red shapes oozing. The monsters all turn in unison, heads snapping toward them. Their screeches rise like razors in their ears. 
          “Get back!” Thorn shouts, but it’s too late. 
          The Skelloids surge forward, claws hitting mud and stone as they lash out for them. The team braces, spears flashing as they’re driven against the mountainside. They fight, steel clashing against slime and bone, but for every Skelloid that staggers back, two more take its place. 
          “They’re everywhere!” Yumi cries. 
          Thorn scans the chaos, searching for any chance to save his team. His eyes lock on a narrow break in the rock formation. Between the wall of stone and the ground is a long, jagged crevice. 
          “Down there!” he bellows, pointing at it. 
          With no other choice, they scramble toward it, boots skidding on wet stone as claws slash at their legs. The Skelloids shriek and thrash at their heels while the team squeezes into the gap, rocks scraping their arms and shoulders. 
          The crevice is shallow, too shallow to hide them fully and claws probe inside. Pressed shoulder to shoulder, the team is forced to angle their spears outward, jabbing desperately to keep the creatures at bay. The fight becomes a desperate crawl for survival, their weapons flashing in the dark while the Skelloids hammer against the stone above, each impact threatening to bury them alive. 

Lightning forks across the sky, jagged and blinding. Thunder booms a heartbeat later, the sound rolling through the mountains as the storm howls. Below, Halo lies motionless among the wreckage of splintered trees, her body twisted where she fell. 
          Her eyelids flutter against the rain drops. A ragged breath escapes her lips as her eyes fully open. The world swims in a blur. She moans, every beat of her heart is pounding inside her head like a drum. 
          Why does my head hurt so bad?  
          She winces and pushes herself upright, her arms trembling with the effort. Pain lances through her spine, and she clutches at her back. 
          What happened?  
          Around her, the mountainside looks like a battlefield. Whole trees lie snapped and uprooted, thrown on top of one another. Leaves litter the ground, tangled with broken branches. 
          Not far away, a dozen Skelloids wander aimlessly among the wreckage, their hulking shapes swaying. 
          Halo holds her breath, her body rigid. They haven’t seen her, yet. 
          Then one of them jerks its head, slime quivering. Another follows. A ripple of agitation spreads through the horde, their translucent bodies vibrating with that shrill, high-pitched resonance. 
          Their screeches rise, piercing and furious, echoing off the cliff walls.

The team inches forward through the narrow crevice, shoulders scraping against wet stones as Skelloid claws rake the air just inches away from their faces. Norio keeps his spear braced defensively, jabbing at anything that pushes too close. 
          The tip of his spear strikes bone, hard. For a second it holds, lodged between the creature’s wrist. Then the Skelloid jerks back with a guttural screech, nearly wrenching Norio out into the open. 
          “Let it go!” Thorn yells. 
          Norio releases the spear with a shout, tumbling backward into the others. His spear vanishes into the thrashing slime, leaving him defenseless. 
          A red Skelloid looms over Norio, jaws gaping wide as it lunges. 
         Dosei thrusts his weapon through the narrow space. The spearhead crunches against bone, shattering teeth that scatter and hang, suspended in the monster’s slime. The Skelloid thrashes, slime vibrating with an ear-splitting screech. 
          Rain pours down the rock walls. Every spear strike slips in their hands, steel slick as though the storm itself is trying to strip their weapons away. Water courses into the crevice, streaming along the ground until it floods around them. The narrow passage becomes a churning, claustrophobic gutter. 
          “Keep moving!” Thorn roars over the downpour. 
          The team crawls, spears stabbing outward in frantic bursts as Skelloids batter the rocks above them. At last, a sliver of light breaks ahead, an opening. With one last desperate push, they squeeze through the gap, emerging soaked and breathless on the other side of the rock wall.          
          Behind them, the monsters howl, claws scraping stone, but it holds firm. For now.

Halo forces herself upright, her legs trembling beneath her as though the ground itself is unsteady. 
          How did I get here? 
          She takes a halting step forward, bracing herself against the jagged remains of fallen trunks. Her palm presses to her skull, trying to ease the pounding ache inside. Every breath feels heavy, her thoughts sluggish, scattered. 
          I feel so confused… 
          She stumbles between two massive shapes. Orange Skelloids loom above her, slime rippling as they prowl, agitated and restless. Their screeches vibrate the air, shrill and sharp. Yet their heads swing past her as if she isn’t there. 
          Halo tilts her head back, staring up at them. They are enormous, each step sending tremors through the mud. Rain slides down their translucent frames. 
          I must be dreaming.  
          Her legs ache, but she keeps moving, staggering through the mud. Each step carries her deeper into the mass of monsters. All around her, the hoard churns, a restless sea of orange and red bodies. Halo stops, realizing she is standing in the very center of them. 
          What if I’m not dreaming?  
          She looks down at the splintered wood beneath her boots. 
          Wasn’t I with the team here? 
          We went to a tower, I know we did. 
          And then… 
          She looks up at the cliff where she fell from. Her eyes narrow in anger. 
          Cinder. 

Dosei pats down his jacket, searching for the map. He pulls it free, but the sheet is soaked through, mud smeared across its surface, the ink bleeding away into unreadable blots. 
          “It’s ruined,” he mutters. 
          “At least we still know the general direction,” Thorn says, though his voice carries the edge of discouragement. He exhales. “We’ll have to take the long way down.” 
          Benji hesitates, his tone quieter than usual. “Do you think Halo’s alive?” 
          “I… don’t know, man,” Norio answers after a pause, the uncertainty in his voice heavier than the rain. 
          They push on down a side path, rushing through the mud-slick slope. Through a break in the trees, the Skelloid horde comes into view, a churning mass of orange and red. 
          “Let’s move in closer,” Thorn whispers. 
          They creep forward, crouching low, rain dripping from their hoods. And then they see her standing in the middle of the Skelloids. Looking up at them. 
          “She’s alive?!” Yumi gasps. 
          “Shh!” they fuss at her, pulling her down with them as they crouch. 
          “Why aren’t they attacking her?” Dosei whispers. 
          Confusion flickers between them. None of it makes sense. 
          “We can’t go in there,” Thorn says. “We’re outnumbered and half-dead as it is.” 
          “Maybe we can get her attention.” Benji suggests. They wave from behind their cover, arms flailing. Halo doesn’t notice. She drifts through the Skelloids aimlessly, as though lost in some dream. 
          “Toss some rocks.” Dosei hands Benji some. Pebbles clatter uselessly against the mud. A Skelloid turns and the team ducks low, hearts pounding. It pauses, looking around, and then lumbers away. Benji rises, winding back his arm, and hurls a stone with all his strength. It lands closer this time.
          Halo startles, her head jerking toward it, then toward the tree line where they crouch. 
          They wave furiously, desperate. 
          Halo blinks, surprised, but then bolts in their direction. When she reaches them they grab her by the arms and pull her down behind the fallen trunk, out of sight. 
          “How are you alive?” Yumi whispers, eyes wide. 
          Halo can feel the burn of Cinder’s stare, but refuses to meet her gaze. “What do you mean?” Halo asks, pretending to not remember. 
          “Cinder said you tripped and fell down the mountain,” Norio says. 
          “I… I did? I don’t remember.” Halo rubs her head, wincing at the ache. 
          Thorn shakes his head in disbelief. “Let’s get you home.” 
          Together, they retreat into the storm, slipping back through the trees toward Ossamaris, leaving the Skelloid horde to wander restlessly behind them.