The quest to reach Crystal Mountain

Chapter 17: Rehab After Danger

She started to climb when her foot slipped, she lost grip with one hand and was hanging by just a few fingers on the other hand. She didn't scream however, she carefully swung herself back to the rock ledge and tried to grab on, she got her grip on the rocks with her other hand, but couldn't find a place for her feet.

"Serena!!!!!!" Jethro screamed up at her when he saw her lose her balance. They all stared up at the dangling girl, in shock. She struggled to get her feet on the rocks, finally she got one foot on a ledge and pulled herself up. She climbed back up to the top and sat down on the edge.

"I can't do it!" She screamed down, shaking in fear. She scooted back from the edge and brought her knees up to her chin, rocking back and forth. she was crying now.

"Come on Serena You can do it! I know you can!" Jethro yelled up at her. Serena nodded and prepared to climb back down. She put one leg over the edge, and then the other, preparing to climb, she grabbed the first rock and inched her way downward. The teens cheered her on. She continued to descend, very slowly, looking down at her next step and testing it before putting her foot on it. She made it about 5 feet when a bird flew past, almost landing on her. The creature scared making her lose balance, but she regained her composure and continued on. Ten feet down, she found a bird nest, that was where the bird was going. She looked in at the baby birds and smiled. But then an adult bird flew down and landed on the ledge, it squawked at her and gave her a mean stare. She moved on, making sure not to let her hands touch the nest. She continued descending carefully, Serena made it about 20 feet down, and her arms and legs were so sore, this was a lot worse than the time she had climbed up a little cliff to retrieve some herbs for her papa. She stopped to rest for a moment, holding tightly to the rock face, she looked down, there was still 30 more feet to go, she gulped. Serena stared down at Jethro, he noticed and gave her an encouraging smile. She noticed the horse Celeste rounding the corner, down at the bottom, the horse didn't look so good from where she was, Celeste was limping and Otto was whining his head off, making crying sounds and growls. Christopher slowly stood up and lethargically walked over to his horse.

"What is wrong girl? What happened?" Christopher said looking into Celeste's eyes. The horse lifted its front leg, showing the large groove in her front hoof. Chris gasped remembering Marissa's warning. 'If the horse gets so much as a broken hoof it will be left behind!'

"Oh no." Chris breathed. "Are you okay Celeste, please say you can make it even with a broken hoof," Chris begged, hugging his horse around the neck. Celeste whinnied and nodded her head up and down, nuzzling her prince. Chris smiled and picked up the crying baby bear. "What's wrong little fella. Did you get scared?" He asked smiling at the bear. Otto nuzzled into Chris's shoulder, who chuckled. "What scared you otto?" He asked smiling. Otto looked back to where they had come from, Chris nodded, he saw how the rocks had dropped off every so often, " It must have been a rough ride." Chris thought. "Well, little bear riding down with Serena wouldn't have been any better. She has already almost fallen twice." Chris said to the little bear, he led Celeste and otto back to the base of the cliff and looked back up at Serena. She had about 20 more feet to go, but she had stopped, and looked like she wasn't going to move anymore.

"Come on Serena You can do it!" Jethro yelled up to Serena. She looked down at Jethro and nodded, starting to climb again. She climbed and climbed, getting closer and closer to the ground, she noticed a large branch, growing out of the side of the cliff, she moved over to it, deciding it was time for a break. She sat down on the branch gently testing its stability, it seems sturdy enough, she thought, then she put all her weight on the branch it bent slightly but seemed to hold fast. She relaxed for a bit, she had about 8 or 9 more feet to go, she looked down at the others and waved. They waved back up at her, but as they were waving a loud crack sounded through the air, the branch snapped and Serena screamed as she fell, grabbing onto the branch, hoping just hoping it would not break all the way, but it did. With the branch in her hand Serena started tumbling towards the ground, the teens had mere seconds to move, Celeste the horse ran under the girl, where she might land, Christopher put out his arms, prepared to catch her. Christina scrambled over and got under Chris's arms, so Serena wouldn't fall through. Serena fell rapidly towards the ground and surprisingly bounced off Celeste's back and into Christopher's arms, she sunk down a bit but was stopped by Christina's body. The teens cheered.