Timestone

Chapter Twenty-Four ϟ Beyond

I scream something between a yelp and an obscenity as I materialize in sudden free fall, forty feet above the ground. My stomach feels like it's been shoved inside my heart. For a split second, I forget everything. Falling—that's all I know. I'll soon be dead or break every bone in my body.

And then, I'm not falling. I'm hovering—suspended in the air. After a confused moment, I realize my mind has entered the slow-motion realm. My sudden panic must have forced my brain into this weird place. I'm still falling, but it will take minutes to reach the ground at this rate. However, that does little to ease my fear. Despite the prolonged descent, I know all the laws of physics are still in play. When I hit the ground, I'm dead. I'll land with as much force as experiencing the fall in real-time.

My brain takes hold of that thought and starts to imagine hitting the surface in this slowed-down state. In real-time, the impact would be sudden. Death would be instant. But in this state, the experience will be drawn out and excruciating. I'll experience the impact of the force as it gradually makes its way through my body, shattering every bone from my feet to my head. That becomes a cheerful thought.

Then, I remember what I'm holding in my outstretched hand—the timestone gun. My brain switches from fear mode to problem-solving mode. I need to re-aim the gun to the ground before I collide with it.

It's frustrating sending signals from my brain and feeling like my body is ignoring them. But eventually, I can tell it's working—my limbs are responding.

Slowly but surely, I maneuver the gun barrel downward until the crosshairs become visible on the ground. My finger wraps around the trigger, ready to pull.

It suddenly occurs to me that I should have performed some tests with the gun's unsafe mode before leaping. With the safety features disabled, will I teleport to the ground where the crosshairs indicate? Or will I end up buried three hundred feet underground?

Then I start to wonder if my downward acceleration will teleport with me. Teleporting won't accomplish anything if I appear on the ground with the full force of my fall. Well, it will cause me to die faster, so there's that.

Out of time and hoping for the best, I squeeze the trigger.

A flash of light fills my eyes. I encounter that feeling of falling when you're drifting off to sleep and your body suddenly jerks. The ground instantly materializes under my feet, and I lose my balance. My legs give out, and I fall on my back.

I stretch my arms above my head and exhale. I've never felt so grateful to be lying on the ground. I pull myself up and jog to the cliff's edge. Vela is standing below, staring toward the mountain. I aim the timestone gun and fire.

"Right here," I say, popping out of thin air behind her.

She shrieks, spins around, and slaps me.

I cover my stinging cheek. "Ow! Never mind."

A look of sheer relief floods her face, followed by laughter. "I'm so sorry. It was just a reaction."

I laugh with her. My cheek stings, but once again, I deserve it.

Vela cranes her neck upward toward the top of the cliff. "What took so long? I was so worried about you."

I raise an eyebrow. I hadn't been gone that long.

I explain to her how I teleported too high but fired a second shot to make a safe landing. Later, I'll tell her about the slow-motion phenomenon that helped save me. But that can wait.

We walk to the X in the dirt. Vela insists that we back up so we don't materialize so high above the ground. I argue that moving closer to the cliff will give us more time in free fall for a second landing shot. Vela wins the argument. I think she's more afraid of heights than she wants to admit.