Safehaven

Chapter 34

It happened to suddenly, I hardly had time to react. Holly's form was already over the side before anybody moved. Around me, my friends' faces were shocked and grieved. Holly would never dance through life with us. She would never have the chance to finish her life. Immediate anger surged through my veins. Holly was gone, thanks to Mark and his gang. There was no way the Giant Teratorns could reach the girl in time, and Sage hadn't returned yet. Smoke curled around my vision, and I glanced down. The ropes that had restrained me had been singed away. Not wasting a moment, I leaped up and desperately ran to the edge of the cliff. I literally threw myself down the rock face, hurtling rapidly towards the misty water below. There Holly was, not 20 feet in front of me. She had her legs tucked to her chest, and eyes closed in prayer. I tucked my arms to my side and straightened. In seconds, I reached the girl. As I reached my arms around her, her eyes shot open, and a brief look of calm enveloped her face, before transforming into a mask of terror. "What the heck are you doing? What we you thinking?!" She shrieked over the wind. I pulled her in close, and lined up with the rock wall, so we were at least parallel. "I try not to think. It messes me up!" I bellowed. The wind ripped at our clothing, and the ground was closing in, fast. For a second, uncontrollable fear raced through my body. What if it didn't work? 30 feet till impact. 10... I closed my eyes. At the last second, I threw out my wings, and there was a painful jerk as they were pulled taught in the wind. The howling died in my ears, and I risked a peek. Choppy water surged past me as I glided over the sea. A strangled laugh was snatched from my throat by the racing wind. After all this time, I was actually in the air! Sea mist sprinkled my face, which made me cackled even harder. I pulled up from the water, and tried looping back towards the cliff. For the shortest amount of time, I had forgotten Holly. She had her hands clasped tightly around my neck, and was holding on for dear life. Her eyes were the size of saucers, and I could feel her heart hammering. With labored beats, I managed to haul us both back up the cliff. I cleared the edge, and deposited Holly FAR from the cliff. She crumpled to the ground, and everyone swarmed her. I stood on at the edge, panting, with my hands on my knees. But still, I had that dumb smile on my face. I straightened, swayed a little, and staggered over to my friends. Each of them were giving our almost dead companion a hug in turn. I could see tears of joy streaming down Jada's face. Quinton had gone mute, which was saying something. Then, with much help, Holly got to her feet and enveloped me in a warm hug. My shirt was instantly stained by tears. She pulled away after some time and looked me straight in the eyes. "Thank you." She whispered. I smiled warily. Over Holly's shoulder, I could see Mark and the gang trembling. They knew they were in DEEP trouble. I grinned even harder, full of glee and relief. But all that vanished when I saw Nathen.