Another World

The Past, Part 13

•---Past Leila---•

"Are you sure?" I asked Jason uneasily, looking over the edge of the luminous cliff. Jason had led us through the forest at an incredible rate. He took up the front of our group, Justin and I in the middle, and Josh brought up the back. I was pretty glad that Josh was behind me-my cheeks were still burning.

"I'm positive," Jason said,"This is the only way."

"Water..." Justin mumbled while staring at the bottom of the cliff.

Jason frowned,"What about water? It'll provide a decent landing if we don't land on the boat."

"Land on the BOAT? Do you know how hard the impact from that fall will be?" I gasped.

Jason rolled his eyes,"Obviously. That's why the whole boat has a spell cast over it. Cestur cast it. When you fall and land, it'll feel like falling on a soft bed."

Cestur cast it.
Jason just confirmed my thoughts. Cestur is a wizard.

"Water...water...water..." Justin said nervously.

I glanced over at him,"Do you think you'll turn back?"

Before Justin could reply Jason said,"Turn back to what exactly?"

With a nod from Justin I told Jason and Josh that he was a merman.

Josh's mouth fell agape while Jason looked totally unsurprised and just shrugged. "I figured there was something off about him. But if he's a merman, or their king or whatever, how is he a human now? I didn't know they had that much power."

Justin finally tore his eyes away from the water with a grim look. "Neither did I. Until we landed here and my legs magically appeared."

"Well, we have to get on that boat. You two need to get out of here. We can figure out the rest later." Jason said.

"Wait, you are both coming with us?" I said in shock.

Jason exchanged a glance with Josh before responding. "Yes. We are soldiers-we go where we're most needed. And right now that's with you. Your mission is far more important than anything that happens here."

I swallowed guiltily. Here were more people willing to risk their lives for me-which is exactly what I didn't want. All of these innocent lives being uprooted and torn apart all for me. It wasn't fair. I couldn't let them come with us. Before I could announce my intentions, Cestur came running out of the forest and toward us screaming.

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW! THEY ARE RIGHT BEHIND ME! GO!" He shouted right before a vampire struck him down.

"CESTUR!" Jason screamed before running headlong into the fight. A mess of vampires and humans appeared out of the forest.

Josh looked torn, but then he suddenly turned around with a hard look on his face. "I'm sorry, I hope we will meet again but... Good luck." He looked straight into my eyes and wrapped his arms tight around me before pushing me off of the cliff.

The sensation of falling was like nothing I had ever felt before. I imagined it felt something like being in a hurricane, a tornado of wind whirled all around me and I screamed and flailed my arms wildly. I could just barely make out Justin's falling figure above me and Josh's looming figure at the top before he disappeared from my sight completely. It felt like I was falling for ages before I finally landed. Jason was right-the impact had felt as soft as lying down on a bed. I struggled to my feet and looked up. I couldn't see anything or anyone on the brim of the cliff and it was quiet-too quiet. I heard a loud groan and saw Justin get to his feet next to me.

He looked up immediately too. We stared for awhile before Justin turned away and mumbled that we should probably get out of there. I nodded and we went to the wheel. We weren't entirely sure how to steer a ship, so while we learned Justin used his control over water to keep the boat from tipping over. After we'd been sailing for hours it began to get dark. A full moon gave us the light to keep going.