Chapter 14

Autumn turned her head. "I don't think I trust your plans anymore," she scowled.

"I don't trust my plans anymore either, but we're cornered on both sides," Ember reasoned.

Autumn rolled her eyes. "Are you saying we should jump?"

Ember opened her mouth, about to answer before turning her attention to the adventurers slowly inching near. "Stay where you are if you don't want us to jump."

Sage raised his hands. "I would never," He said with a grin.

Autumn scoffed before turning to Ember. Pointing towards the rushing water, she sighed, "If you really want to jump, there's an area over there that looks pretty safe...Not that jumping off a cliff is safe."

"Hey, if you're gonna discuss jumping off a cliff, at least do it where we can't hear you. Your threat suddenly becomes invalid," Azura nonchalantly stated.

In response Ember simply grabbed Autumn's hand and quickly pulled her towards where she had indicated. "Jump," Ember whispered before leaping off the edge. Autumn barely had enough time to steady her nerves before forcing herself to jump.

With an annoyed expression, Azura shot forwards, instantly appearing in front of them. Although Ember had already fallen a long way, Autumn had only just started to fall. With lightning-fast speed, Azura had caught Autumn by her wrist.

Azura's vice-like grip caused Autumn to wince. "Let go," Autumn bit out.

Sneering, Azura questioned, "Do you have no regard for your own life?"

In response Autumn merely blinked. "You really are dense, huh?" With a quick movement, Autumn's other hand swept upwards. Autumn's casual attack was actually embedded with energy, causing it to be more dangerous than it seemed.

Azura reflexively drew back his hand, letting Autumn fall in the process. The entire exchange had only taken a few seconds, and within moments Autumn plummeted towards the raging river below.

Unfortunately, due to being caught midair, Autumn was too close to the cliff. Autumn panicked as she watched the sharp stalagmites quickly close in on her. Desperate, Autumn kicked towards the cliff, hoping to propel herself out of harm's way.

Meanwhile, Ember had long since reached the bottom and was currently fighting her way to shore. As she noticed Autumn's figure drawing closer and closer to the rocks, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest, only calming down again when Autumn narrowly avoided being pierced by a stalagmite.

Autumn's limbs felt like jelly, but she knew she wasn't safe yet. Forcing her unresponsive limbs to move, she swam towards the shore. Ember quickly planted her feet into the ground, stretching out her hand. Drawing closer, Autumn reached toward Ember's hand.

As if annoyed by their actions, the river's current sped up, nearly sweeping Ember off her feet. Autumn's head ducked under the water, the vicious tide forcing her down. Autumn kicked her feet desperately, however, she only succeeded in getting her foot caught in a hole.

Ember couldn't help but grow worried after Autumn's head didn't appear. Bracing herself to leap back into the water, her eyes widened as she spotted Autumn.

Quickly calling out, Ember yelled, "Autumn! Over here!"

Autumn turned her foggy gaze towards Ember, ignoring the stinging pain in her foot. Gritting her teeth, Autumn fought against the current, locking her fingers with Ember and hauling herself out of the water. Out of breath, Autumn rasped, "For once, your plan actually worked. Somewhat."

Ember smiled nervously in response. "It probably wasn't the smartest thing I've come up with. Anyways, are you ok?"

"We'll find out," Autumn replied as she slowly climbed to her feet. Stumbling, Autumn quickly sat back down. Peering towards her foot, she gave a wry smile. Carefully removing her boot, which had surprisingly stayed on, she winced. "I may have twisted something..."

"May have? I don't think you'll be able to use that foot for a while," Ember reprimanded.

"I know...Sorry..." Autumn replied with a guilty look.

"It wasn't your fault, anyway," Ember sighed, "It was just bad luck, and we've been having a lot of bad luck recently."

Autumn nodded in agreement. "We should probably get going. The adventurers will be descending the cliff, and if we're still around, especially with my ankle, we won't be able to put up any resistance."

"Hopefully the fog will lead them to think we've been swept downstream," Ember stated positively.

"Don't jinx it," Autumn laughed before shifting into her wolf form. Her wolf form, although still rather small for a Spirit Wolf, would be much easier to travel in with her injured foot.

Additionally, if she was too tired, both from overusing her energy as well as the strain of walking, her small size would allow Ember to pick her up, albeit with a bit of difficulty. After all, both Ember and Autumn were quite young.

Carefully keeping her weight off her hind leg, Autumn limped towards Ember.

"Ready?" Ember asked, "If you need a break, just say so, we can find a safe place to rest."

Autumn nodded in agreement. "If I get tired, I'll be sure to tell you. For now, let's get away from here."