Kaelvren's surroundings became clearer as he was regaining his awareness. He was sitting on the sturdy, twisted branch that extended from the steep rock face of the cliffside. His entire body was throbbing from the long night struggle of maintaining his stability on his twisted branch. His left arm was the only thing preventing him from plunging deep into the dark abyss, his fingers clutching the bark with a fierce tenacity. His legs were wrapped firmly around the branch, anchoring himself in the best way possible. His body refused to let go, even though fatigue loomed to take hold of him again.
Below him was a roaring river that was thrashing violently against jagged rocks. The drop wasn't just terrifying—but life taking. If he fell, those fang—like stones beneath him would tear his body apart long before the river could have the chance to pull him and kill him by its waves. But what caught his attention wasn't the killing river or the fang stone, but instead a mountain that was looming beyond the river—a tall, ominous mountain that was clawing at the heavens with a cool appearance. He had never seen anything like it before, not in his real life nor in his dreams. He didn't know how far it reached… or what lay at its peak?
"If I can reach the top…" Kael muttered, his gaze fixed on the towering peak. "Maybe… just maybe, I'll find a way to get out of this cursed trial."
A flicker of hope that sparked in his fragile mind and was now once again stirring long buried hope.
If there were a way to escape from this damned illusory world, it should be at that summit… that he mused, because it is a place so distant and so untouchable that only god-like beings had the arrogance to stand.
However, this was an issue for his future self, and currently he had his own dilemma which he had to face with immediate action.
"With that he started pondering on his dilemma, what should I do? What should I do?
Climbing up is impossible with my left hand. Even if I climb up higher and reach above that would still mean a death sentence." Because he could perceive faint sounds of the monstrous growls and distant scraping of claws against stone above him. Something was up there. That was watching and waiting for its prey.
Staying put here would mean dying from starvation or thirst.
Jumping down without any kind plan or preparation would mean either dying by drowning, crushed or having my body torn apart by those stone like fangs.
he he he hahaha
He laughs on his choices, sigh . What kind of damn choice is this?
When his cynical laugh ceased, he began to speak. "I'm stuck on this branch." His words resonate in the silent abyss.
But no. I wouldn't die here. I refused to accept death. If I had to gamble my life, it would be on my own terms—by my own damned will.
---
Kael clenched his jaw, forcing himself to concentrate on his immediate crisis—his missing right arm. The puncture wounds on his whole body had nearly regenerated due to the effect of the dagger and also slowing down the bleeding just enough to fend off the death… Yet the blood continued to pour, and if it didn't stop it, it would take his life.
He reached into his crude belt that was strapped around his waist—stitched from the monster hides that he had butchered in the past 3 weeks and pulled out a strip which was made up of the same monster's hide. It was a makeshift rope that he had crafted for an emergency situation. Right now, this is an emergency situation.
He didn't hesitate. Wrapping the strip tightly around the raw stump of his right arm, just below his shoulder, he yanked with brutal force. His vision blurred by the sudden surge of agonizing pain that was rushing through him. His jaw got locked, and blood started to trickle from the corner of his mouth as he bit down due his scream.
A grunt forced itself from his throat, but he didn't stop. He could not risk losing his blood, because every unnecessary drop of blood loss from him would only weaken him further.
He couldn't afford to waste my time and blood. Not now when my life was on stake.
The pain was a price worth paying. Because this has stopped blood from from his right hand.
Once his wound was secured, he reached for the emergency supplies which he hid in his belt that was wrapped around his waist that was—dried meat. He tore a piece off with his teeth and started chewing mindlessly. It tasted like dust and old leather, but he forced himself to swallow it.
"Energy. I need every damn ounce of it."
As the coarse food scraped down his throat, a flicker of clarity returned. His mind began to race, calculating, weighing.
Climbing up? Would turn into a death wish. The monsters above would rip him apart before he can take a single step.
Staying here? A slow, pathetic end for me.
Jumping into the river? It was filled with Insanity. But Insanity was better than certain death.
His lips curled into a cruel smirk that was tucked between his painted lips.
Then I'll make a path of my own.
---
His mind was on a struggle of creating a desperate plan.
Kael's gaze shifted to the branch beneath which he clung. A thought sparked—a desperate, reckless idea.
A raft.
If he could sever the branch, maybe—just maybe—I could ride the current instead of dying by drowning due to the waves.
It was a gamble between life and death, but it was the only option which had the option of life.
Without any kind hesitation, he manifested his dagger and the cold dagger materialized in his left hand. With every ounce of strength, he drove it into the base of the branch, wood groaning beneath the first strike.
Crack
The wood cracked but it was not enough. He gritted his teeth and continued stabbing again and again. Each blow sent fire through his arms, but he didn't stop.
"Break… you bastard," he snarled.
As he slammed his dagger for a final time——SNAP!
Time appeared to be frozen for a heartbeat, he hung in the mid-air, as if god have maded him—weightless and powerless
For a brief instant, he perceived everything in slow motion.
Then—he start falling. Then everything sped up.
The wind began to wail in his ears. His heart pounded like a war drum. The river beneath surged forward to consume him.
Before he reached the life taking river he pondered, Is this it? Is this the place where I will die after all?
Then—
BAM!
---
With that bam he was swallow by a cold merciless embrace.
Darkness crept over him like a living shroud, wrapping around his body, that was rushing to seep into his bones.
The world before him was dissolving everything into a void of Darkness and Ice. Everything he could perceived was devoured by the abyss.
Water was crushing him from all sides, that had made his limbs numbing instantly. His mind
teetered on the edge of oblivion and was slipping between fading consciousness and the cold embrace of death.
But somewhere—deep within the void—there was amber of will which was screaming at him:
Move. Breathe. Survive.
Kaelvren clenched his jaw and murmured,
"For a drowning man, even a matchstick is enough to stay afloat."
And right now, i have a whole branch…