Wilting Flowers

Chapted 11

With his mind made up and his partner committed; Hunter placed one of his feet along the rope before immediately removing it, he stripped himself of his armor and anything heavy on his body. The blonde wanted to be as light as possible, Edric did the same, though he did not have much to discard. Once they felt ready, they began their walk. Hunter was the first to step on, shortly followed by Edric. Both witches slowly put one font in front of the other and proceeded ahead with as much caution as possible. The wind blew fiercely, but Hunter ignored it, boldly continuing forward. Edric on the other hand trembled in fear and stood frozen in place, he didn't want to mess up again, he had already chocked on their date which was surprisingly embarrassing for the taller to think about. He didn't plan on ruining anything else for his companion, but at the same time, he knew that messing up every now and then was inevitable. He also was partially distracted by the thought of the kiss they shared, but he knew Hunter didn't remember, it was nothing but a fragment to be long forgotten in the mind of his crush. Things were going smoother than Hunter had originally calculated, he still looked back every few minutes to monitor the progress of his crush-his frien-his...that made him stop for a moment, what were they really? Just acquaintances? Right? Probably. He shook his head, continuing, when he heard a strange sound, but shrugged it off as the wind. It had barely reached his ears, but Edric new that noise all too well. In all the times that a beast broke free of the ropes restraining it in his beast keeping training, he remembered hearing the rope hiss and cry out as it snapped in half. That's what was happening. 'Oh my. The rope.' He thought frantically, he didn't want to break Hunter's focus, but if he didn't, chances are they'd both die anyway. "Hunter!" He called suddenly; he could see the way Hunter jerked losing his balance momentarily. "Edric, you can't do that, not now." The shorter breathed out, the distress in his voice was clear as day, but Edric had to get the shorter's attention. "Hunter! This is serious!" He shouted again. "Edric! Oh my - Mother of Titan! It can way till we reach the end!" The blonde yelled back. Edric was beginning to lose his patience and so was his partner. "We won't make it to the other side if you don't listen!" Edric shouted back, straining his ears to hear the rope creak and hiss again. "What the hell are you talking about?" Hunter shouted back a bit more aggressive this time. "The fucking rope is straining!" Edric yelled. Hunter froze in his tracks, his head slowly facing Edric's direction. The blonde's his expression turning to one that Edric wished he could unsee, "You better not be playing around. Tell me this is a joke," the guard said, Edric shook his head. Hunter's face turned neutral, "What do we do now?" Hunter asked, Edric stayed quiet. He didn't know what to do, Hunter was the genius between the two. "Please tell me you have some kind of plan," Hunter said desperately, his eyes shifting down to what was below them. A dark void, hollow and eerily silent, aside from the rush of water from below crashing against rock; a cold breeze emitting every few minutes. Edric could hear his heart beating in his chest, his mind going blank. What were they going to do? Hunter calling his name brought him back to his senses. "Let's keep moving forward." Hunter said firmly. "Are you crazy?" Edric shouted, "Any more steps and this thing is going to snap, we should just wait and think a bit more," he said. "It's going to snap Edric, we have a better shot if we move faster," Hunter replied harshly. "Use your brain for once," Hunter said, they were close enough in proximity for Hunter to jab Edric in the forehead, before turning to walk ahead. "I'm not going, and neither are you, you're going to get us both killed!" Edric shouted, grabbing Hunter's wrist roughly without thinking. Hunter flinched violently, "L-let me go! Don't hurt me please!" The blonde shouted trying to wriggle out of Edric's grasp. Before either could talk more, they felt the rope give out from underneath them and they both fell into the dark pit. Edric was numb, his mind was blank as memories of his life flashed before his eyes. Everything around him seemed to slow down, the only sound that echoed his hollow mind was the beating of his racing heart. Then he felt as if something slapped his back, leaving a a cold and tingling sensation upon his skin, spreading throughout his body. His eye lids felt heavy and then all he saw was black. The only thing that crossed his mind...'Hunter?'