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“Find her!” Michael roared over the sound of horse hoofs on the stone roads.
Mateo had broken off to find the doctor, and Hannah had returned home to get General Andarie. So Ryan and Michael were on their own, trying to find Ariel.
“Michael, she wouldn’t have done this unless something was wrong,” Ryan shouted over his shoulder to Michael.
Michael grunted angrily.
“She’d better be alright, or else it’s your head Ryan! You should have stopped her.”
Michael was next to Ryan now, and they both stopped. They both heard it.
They turned around, and there, in the sky, was a blue pillar of light piercing the dark clouds.
“There,” Ryan breathed.
And they were off again, pushing the horses to go as fast as they could towards the sea.
As they raced by storefronts and traveling merchants, the wind speed increased, causing items to fly from tabletops and smash into walls.
Michael silently urged the horse faster, but was distracted by Ryan. His whole body was glowing with a pale blue light. Ryan was also looking rather feverish, but sat rigid, arms holding onto the reins tightly, arms quivering.
“Ryan?” Michael yelled through the rushing wind.
“Something’s wrong,” Ryan yelled back, looking worried.
As they were breaking into the deserted miles before the waterfront, it began to rain. First a light drizzle, but then it turned into a torrential down poor. And as quickly as it began, it ended. Soon the wind died out too, but the clouds remained. And soon, all they could see other then the edge of the cliffs was what appeared to be a bird breaking over the cliff to fall onto the edge.
It’s true, Ariel wasn’t thinking as clearly as she should have been when she jumped off the edge, but the pressure had clogged her thinking. She hadn’t checked for rocks when she jumped, but as she fell, she released all the pent up power, causing them to disintegrate. But she had hit the floor of the sea rather hard causing bruising on her body, and her passing out for a few minutes until she awoken when her face met the salty air. She glances along the bottom of the cliff for a dock, but found none. She’d have to climb. As she swam to the first low root she spotted, her body began to ache from the impact. When she grabbed a hold of it, she could barely lift her body out of the water without falling back in.
As she exposed her body to the air, she realized her nightgown has disintegrated as well. Feeling overly exposed, tired and sore, she began the long climb upwards. She clung to the roots helplessly, pressing her feet into the hard rock, trying to find a ledge. Thoughts of Michael and her children kept her going, but soon caused her to pause. The cliff was still here, true. But what if she had destroyed the city? Murdered her children and husband? She wouldn’t think of it. But the more she tried to pass it out of her mind, the more it hounded on the walls of her mind.
She cried out, as she grasped a thorny root. The thorns cut her skin with ease. And as she looked up, she noticed that the rest of the cliff wall was a thorny tangle. With a heavy sigh, she braced herself against the awaiting cuts. When she passed the patch with deep, bleeding cuts, her hand didn’t feel anymore rock, just air. Finally.
She climbed up, and her muscles seized on her. Her aching body began to shut itself down. She dragged herself onto the edge, and rolled herself into a loose ball. Her body had already stopped obeying her mind, and her mind was telling her to close her eyes, but she struggled with consciousness. Was she being delusional, or was that horse hoofs on packed earth? She closed her eyes, finally giving it to the fatigue. The sound stopped, and was replaced by a feeling of warmth, which quickly spread through out her whole body. Someone was calling her name, over and over again. But as she tried to respond, her consciousness was taken.
When she awoken, it was to the sound of horse hoofs. She opened one her eyes a bit, and saw darkness. Panicking, she began to struggle against the darkness. When it broke, it was to the face of Michael. Before words could be exchanged, they were at the estate, and the doctor grabbed Ariel from Michael. Ariel glanced back at Michael as she was carried into the building, almost bewildered that he had found her, and happy that he was home. She smiled at him just as the front door slammed shut.
She was brought into one of the many lounges, and put on a couch. The doctor checked her bruises, and the cuts he had healed days before.
“Other then being in pain for the next few days, you’ll be fine. My friend here-“ he said, motioning the nurse she had scared earlier, “Rachel, will be staying with you until we’re sure your clear headed enough to be alone.”
Ariel was too tired to argue, and she was only beginning to realize the pain.
When Michael walked in, the doctor left, as did Rachel, and the mob of people who had followed them. Ariel brought her legs onto the couch, resting them under her body, and wrapped Michael’s jacket around her more tightly. As Michael was seating himself next to her, she began to laugh. A laugh so loud, and hysterical it attracted the attention of the mob. They stood in the doorway as they watched Ariel laugh with her face hidden within the folds of the jacket. When her face emerged, it was steamed with tears. Why she was laughing? She didn’t know, but she felt like laughing. She was probably laughing because she cheated death, probably because Michael was back, probably because she was lying on the cliffs edge naked. There were so many reasons, but Ariel left it at the third reason why. It seemed the funniest. And, it was.
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