Crimson Hail and the Secrets of Valour — Chapter 10: Proxima Caelum

The rocky chasm was large, uneven, and bottomless from what he could see, but he had to cross it. It was the only thing stopping Crimson from getting to the city on the other side.

‘This is what keeps unauthorised Scheves from getting to Ki-Patria. If they somehow get past border control of course,’ Talin said, looking proudly at the ground with hands on his hips. This did nothing for Crimson’s confidence. He gulped in fear looking down into the darkness. ‘Right boy we’ve been standing here long enough. I said I’d get you to Proxi before noon so we’d better make a move. I’ll count down from ten and if you haven’t jumped by then, I’ll have no choice but to push you. Ten!’

‘Wait, what!’ Crimson responded.

‘You’ve done this before so you can do it. Nine.’ His heart started to beat faster. Talin was right, Crimson had done this once before but that was by accident. How was he expected to do it again? ‘Eight!’ he looked back at Talin helplessly and didn’t receive the sympathy he expected, ‘Seven!’ he panicked a bit more now, looked back down the chasm, then toward the other side. ‘Six!’ he took a deep breath, walked to the edge and dived headfirst.

The wind rushed towards his face, his clothes fluttering as he descended faster and faster into the darkness. He remembered this exact feeling when he first fell off the building and hand movements came to mind. He placed his arms forward as if diving then swung them to his sides…