Will plunged into the abyss. His gaze was fixed on his target. It was a leaf that was bent like a chute. It was just a gamble but what else was there to do? Two Listeners died to that thing and it was faster than Will and the girl. So escape and fighting was not an option. It would be more like suicide.
However, this seemed like suicide as well. Yet, there was a huge difference. The plan was to hit the leaf at an angle that would not instantly stop the fall. Stopping instantly is what would kill them not hitting the leaf. If they hit the leaf and slid it down while losing their speed they could survive.
They accelerated a lot but the fall was shorter than expected. Will did not even have time to look around to see where the body of the military guy ended up. He fully had to concentrate on hitting his target. It was approaching fast.
'We are going to hit it.'
He reached a speed of 100 kilometres per hour and then he hit the leaf.
His gamble paid off. They did not die instead they were sliding down the leaf at an alarming rate. Yet, it was still painful he may not have died but the friction still burned his skin. Will let out a yelp while the girl straight-up screamed for the first time since they arrived in this strange realm.
They slowed down but it was not enough. The friction while being painful slowed them down but not enough. Even Will's clothes were slowly destroyed. The Girl was even sliding on her skin. Yet, it was not enough.
'This is going to be painful.'
Will slammed both of his hands into the leaf. It hurt it hurt so bad but he could not stop. If he stopped he'd die. The girl followed his example. The end of the leaf was approaching. Only a few metres separated them from their death.
It was not enough. Will slid over the edge of the leaf. His hands searched for something that could hold him. His hands hurt like hell but determination alone allowed him to hold onto the leaf.
Beneath him was nothing but darkness. Well, or so he thought. A bit to his right was something golden. A golden shimmer the one he saw from above. It actually was there. Yet, Will could not see what it was.
His surprise by the golden shimmer did not take long. The girl slid over the edge as well but she could not grab the leaf. Her hands did not possess enough grip strength additionally were her hands soaked in blood. Her own blood.
She started to fall but managed to hold onto Will. It put even more stress on his already destroyed body.
"Girl if you want to jump, now is the time but if you want to live then you can try climbing up on me."
Will could hear how the girl cried a little bit. She sniffed a little bit but somehow started to climb. The last bit of Will's strength was about to leave him. So as soon as the girl was safe on the leave Will pulled his remaining strength together and pulled his body over the tip of the edge.
He breathed and just sat there at the edge of this world. Just staring into the abyss. The call of the void was embracing him to let go. An easy way out. Will just stared back. He was familiar with the psychology of the call of the void and quickly ignored it. 'Not today.'
With his body at its limits, Will looked at the way out of this situation. They had to climb up the leaf and reach the last branch of the tree.
'Nope, not a chance I spent the entire day climbing down this godforsaken tree. I am not going to start climbing it now. Seriously if there is one place on Earth that the gods can't reach it is this fucking thing. I am so done.'
Will wasn't giving up he just experienced the feeling of annoyance. It's like being on a ski trip and accidentally sliding down a slope without the skies. Now you have to go up again to get them. The same way you just traversed in the opposite direction. Additionally, Will was getting a bit lazy. One can only go through so many devastating events in one day.
So, Will just remained there for a few minutes doing nothing. The thought of the approaching tiger however got the better of him and so he forced his already broken body to continue. he just refused to give up now. They reached the end of the tree so why give up now?
'Ok, Will come on, get to it. This is not something like school homework that I can just do later on. Well, on second thought waiting with homework never got me anywhere as well. Is this homework? Hm, I'm going to ask that my professor next semester.'
Slowly Will and the little girl made their way up to the top of the leaf. The girl was falling behind. Will was surprised that she still held onto her life this dearly. After all, there was probably not much for the girl in the world to come back to. At least according to her clothing.
Will was not sure whether the dead old woman was a member of her family. probably not the farewell would have been more emotional. So Will was not sure maybe she still had a family. According to the military man's theory, that said that all people were in a short radius, she would have been away from her parents. That was unusual for the gutters so she was probably an orphan. So, nothing to come back to.
In a way that motivated Will. He loves to meet resilient people. It was one of the things that made other humans interesting. In short, their motivation to keep going and get out of bed or in his case to climb up a leaf.
He was always searching.
He was halfway up the leaf, always in a worry that the leaf could not hold his body weight. So, that he would plunge down into the abyss.
"Hey, get up here!"
A shout made Will look up. There on top of the leave stood a man with blond hair. Is that Hope?