Devil's meadow

Chapter 10- Empty darkness

I held onto the pole behind me and leaned over the edge, trying to see how far down it was. Blaze was pacing back and forth, almost as if he was thinking about how to get across the void that lay in front of us. The light alter glowed in all its glory, but it was too far away for us to reach. I figured we needed a long plank, however there wasn't a single thing in sight to help us, and in frustration, i screamed.
"Hunter, screaming won't help."
"I know that. It's just...this whole thing is like a  cliché. We get so far, it goes according to plan, and all of a sudden, a huge obstacle lays in the way."
"Well, that's observant to the max."
"Don't act like you have been observant the same level as me."
"Ok, then."
We both knew that we weren't getting anywhere standing around, so we tried to see if there was something below us, but nothing was there.
"What if i hold the pole, and you see if there's anything down there."
"What if we both fall?"
"We keep going towards the alter."
"Ok, genius. Let's both fall down there, possibly get killed in the process, and keep going like it's nothing!"
"Do you have any other plans?"
"..."
"Then let's do this."
I grabbed the bent over pole with one hand, grunted in pain, and reached my other hand out, so that Blaze could take it. He hesitated, but after a while, walked forwards, took my arm, and lowered himself over the ledge. He stared directly at me, noticed i was in pain, and tried to hoist himself back up.
"Hunter, you're in pain."
"I can handle it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now, can you see anything down there?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Ok."
I was slowly starting to lose grip of the pole, and my feet started sliding forwards. That's when I realised that i was going to fall down with him.
"Blaze?"
"What?"
"I'm sliding."
"You're what?"
"Im sliding off the edge!"
"Can you pull me up?"
"No, I'm using my bad shoulder."
"Sh*t."
I tried to pull him up, but the pain i was in was making my concentration deplete.
"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea!"
"Oh don't be. I've had my fair share of this situation dozens of times."
"Have you?"
"Yep."
"What do we do?"
"Let go of the pole."
"WHAT?!"
"Trust me."
I didn't want to, but i knew it was the only way we were actually going to see if there was anything down there. So i let go. Within a split second, me and Blaze fell over the ledge. His chestnut brown hair started to flow freely with  gravity, and his clothes were flapping loosely as we were both falling further into the darkness that was wrapping and twisting around us. My heart started racing and my torso was clearly visible, as my shirt came above me. My black hair was no longer plastered to my forehead, and we both glanced at each other, whilst still falling into the abyss. Blaze repositioned himself, so that his landing wouldn't be as painful, but i remained in the position i was in when i let go. I looked down, to see a small patch of light, and knew that we had fell into a deep ditch.
"THERE'S LIGHT DOWN HERE!"
Blaze glanced over, nodded his head, and braced for impact. I didn't know what he was doing until it clicked in my head, that we were about to hit the ground. I was too late. I landed with my legs straight, collapsed and fell forwards, hitting my head on the ground. The stitches opened up as soon as i landed too. I stumbled backwards and after recollecting my thoughts, sat up straight. Realising that, i was severely injured again, he paced over to me, and whispered my name.
"Hunter?"
"Hmm.."
"Thank goodness you're still alive."
"Th-they t-tore op-open."
"They-? Oh sh*t."
Blaze couldn't do anything, he didn't have the tools to do so, but he did find a needle and thread that was lay on the ground. Although he didn't have an injection, he still stitched my wounds back up. He turned me onto my back and proceeded to slowly help me up.
"That should do it until we actually get proper treatment."
"Th-thanks."
I sat up straight for a few seconds before standing up, and stumbling around to see where we were. Blaze followed me and we both looked around us. We tried glancing up, but it was way to dark to see anything. I then remembered, i had a flashlight on me, and grasped it out of my pocket. I flipped the switch and allowed the light to drown out the darkness that lay looming down around us.
"Where did you get a flashlight?!"
"I always had one on me."
"I'm not going to kill you."
We starting walking forwards, Blaze following close behind me, keeping up whenever he wandered off. He said something a few times, which I couldn't hear, and as we both kept going, i was hearing small screams in front of us. I stopped, hearing more higher pitched screams and he almost bumped into me.
"Why'd you stop?"
"Shh."
We remained still and silent. I could hear more yelling and shouting, and wondered if Blaze could hear it too.
"Do you hear that?"
"No..?"
"Maybe it's just me then."
"Maybe. What can you hear?"
"Screaming."
"Oh. Not what i had in mind."
We carried on, and what seemed like forever, our efforts eventually paid off, because we saw a tunnel of light in front of us. I turned the flashlight off, clutched my side, and jogged towards the cylinder of light. Blaze ran after me and grabbed my shoulder and wrestled me back.
"Not so fast. You still have two puncture wounds remember?"
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. Just..take these things one step at a time."
I slowly nodded my head, and we both tiptoed over to the light, being cautious about what we were heading into. Blaze overtook me, making sure i was ok, and as i gave him the flashlight in my hands, he smiled, took it off me, and proceeded to lead the way, with the bright beam of light clutched tightly in his hands. I glanced around, seeing if we were actually going in the right direction, but there was absolutely nothing to be seen, so i looked in front of me. I started to walk quicker, something was there, but I couldn't see anything at all. I was groaning in pain, and Blaze turned around to find me kneeling on the ground. He ran straight over, knelt by my side and noticed one of my injuries was bleeding. Even though the stitches hadn't cone undone, there was crimson liquid everywhere, and before i knew it, he had a firm grip over my wound. He flattered his hand, and tried to stop my blood from gushing out.
"Don't tense. You'll make it worse if you do."
"Can you stop it fully?"
"No, I don't have the equipment. Is it possible for you to handle this?"
"I don't think so. This hurts a lot more than it did the first time."
"First time?"
"When i was first shot."
"Oh."
More blood was rushing out, and Blaze placed the flashlight on the ground, and used both hands to stop it from causing major damage. He gritted his teeth in effort, and tried everything in attempts to stop me from passing out.
"Hunter?"
"H..hm..m?"
"Don't black out now."
"U..u..h."
"Can i put you on my back?"
"M..h....m."
"Ok. You're going to be ok."
He lifted me up and started to move towards the light. I tried to keep my eyes open, but could try for any longer. My hand drooped down, and Blaze quickly turned over his shoulder to see that was no longer awake.
"H-hunter?"
Realising I wasn't moving, he starting running with me slung over his back.
Sh*t. You need help.