Chapter 44: The Bottom of the Valley
Dragging his hand along the ground, Hunter rounds the turn with ease. Not looking back, Hunter is relieved to hear the other two behind him make the turn as he pushes onward from the inevitable death rolling towards me.
“You ready for round two, Falc?!” shouts Forest.
Hearing his voice, Falcon notices Forest’s eyes show a brief hint of relief as the boulders start thundering down the path.
BOOM! BOOM! CRACK! CRACK!
The path shifted and shook like an earthquake, and the three were once again forced to slow down their pace to stay on their feet. Not daring to look back, Forest realizes there’s a sharp turn ahead as Hunter runs out of sight behind the upcoming corner.
This path is much shorter than the rest. It feels like we are just running deeper and deeper into this labyrinth…
Chick, Chick, Chick. Schoom! Schoom! Schoom!
A spread of three arrows fires toward the duo, forcing Forest and Falcon to shift their attention to dodge them. However, due to that distraction, they could not gather their footing and slow down to make the turn around the corner.
“Turn your body Falc! Now!”
Thumping into another stone wall, this time at close to full speed and not braced, they grunt and heave from the impact. Despite their agony, the adrenaline within them forces the two back to their feet, all to escape impending death. As they set off again, Forest can feel his body beginning to gather speed, but he then notices that Falcon is slumped over, unable to stand upright.
As Falcon stumbles back over, Forest cries, “Falc! Come on! You need to get up!”
Aching from head to toe and seeing double, Falcon can barely keep his consciousness when he hears Forest’s words. He tries to put up a hand to gesture to Forest to keep going, to leave him behind. But the strength in his arms gives, and the boulders beckon, rumbling toward a motionless Falcon.
His body once again moving on its own, Forest runs back to Falcon and wraps Falcon’s arm around his shoulder, pulling him back up to his feet. He tries to start sprinting, but Falcon cannot match his pace, forcing the both of them to stumble down the path.
This path... it’s much longer and has the option to turn just ahead! If we can just make it to the turn, the boulders will fly by, and we’ll have some time to recuperate! Even just five seconds, just one second…!
“In a few moments, I need you to jump with me!” says Forest. “We have to jump, or we will both die. Do you understand Falc?!”
“I can– I can do that…”
“Jump!! Now!!”
They leap onto the next turning path, hitting the ground hard.
KRAK! KRAK! BOOM! KRAK!
Scarcely avoiding death once again, Forest pressed the palm of his hand onto the ground, his body shaking, covered with dirt as he slowly pushed himself up. Coughing up some blood, the boulders rumble by, just mere inches away from Forest’s feet.
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CLINK! CLINK!
You’re kidding me…
The compartment on top of the wall opens up, and Forest grudgingly stands back up.
TICK, TICK, TICK, SCHOOM! SCHOOM!
It just won’t stop…!
Adrenaline still coursing through his veins, Forest propels himself toward Falcon and kicks him in the back. Falcon cries out in pain as he slides across the ground. At the same time, Forest uses the recoil to repel himself backward, rolling over a few times before stopping.
SHINK! SHINK!
Two arrows implant themselves in the ground where they just were.
GRRRACK! CLICK! CLICK!
It never ends! The ground can also be adjusted?! It’s already elevating so much! The path we just came from will be the top, too! So more boulders are going to come from where we just were! Just how much more is there?!
The slope slowly rises, and despite the excruciating pain swelling all over his body, Forest rises once again.
Damn it, we need to get going but Falc…
His body shriveled up into a ball, and his eyes closed shut; Falcon trembled, his injuries far more critical than Forest’s. Wheezing, Forest nudges Falcon's shoulder with his foot.
“We need to go. Get up! Falcon… we need to go!”
Gradually rolling over onto his back, Falcon grimaces and feebly nods. He puts up a hand, his eyes blinking open.
“Don’t… worry. I’m not dying… not yet.”
As Forest grabs onto Falcon’s hand and helps him to his feet, Falcon does his best to bear the excruciating amount of pain he feels from that simple action.
“I can’t help you this time; we’ll be too slow and get caught. We need to run separately,” says Forest.
Rubbing his palm against his neck, Falcon gathers himself and sets off at a light jogging pace.
“Then what are you waiting for? Forest, we’re making it back. So you better not fall behind me this time, heh.”
Forest grinned side by side with Falcon. But the grin quickly fades at the thought of something alarming.
Hold on… where exactly is Hunter??
SCHOOM!
An arrow shot from in front of them suddenly whizzes right by Forests’ ear, barely missing. Falcon, terrified, remains quiet, doing his best to stay focused on the task of running without giving in to overwhelming pain.
What?! That came from in front of us? How are we supposed to dodge these?!
The two continue jogging downhill, but Forest identifies a sharp drop, the path swooping into a valley as it circles back up the other side.
BOOM! BOOM! KRAK! KRAK!
That one was from behind us!
As Forest checks over his shoulder, the boulders that had once passed by them pass by once more, going in the opposite direction. They then start colliding with one another from each side of the path.
You’re kidding me! The other half of the path must’ve risen, forcing the boulders to fall back toward us, with this path serving as the sole exit! They will be on top of us again once they funnel out!
CLICK! CLINK! CLICK!
The walls!! Compartments are opening up on either side of us?! But if that shot before came from ahead of us… we’re trapped… arrows will be shot at us from all four directions!!
Making their way toward the bottom of the valley, Forest constantly checks every angle, looking for danger from any direction.
It’ll take us much longer to run uphill. Crow will probably try and take us down once we reach the bottom since we’re already injured…
“Forest look! It’s Hunter!!”
Perplexed, Forest looks ahead toward the other side of the valley and sees Hunter frantically running in their direction.
Why is he running toward us…?
BOOM! BOOM!
Behind Hunter, boulders start rolling into view, causing Hunter to constantly glimpse back, his eyes growing in fear each time. On the other end, Falcon and Forest quickly realize what’s happening as Hunter shouts, “It’s a dead end!! There’s no way out!!”
The valley, the boulders, the arrows, this is what he wanted. We thought we were running toward safety, but this whole time… he was just leading us into a trap.