'A life for a life'- Who said finding true love was going to be easy for nineteen-year old, Lara Wakesfield? All it took was being pushed off a cliff, transported to another world, kidnapped and engaged in a life threatening sword-fight. But that w...
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"Help me!" Lara screamed, panicking as she tried to grasp onto anything to prevent herself from sliding down the sloping cliff face. Her heart beating vigorously, knowing she had to slow her movements down somehow.
The cliff's vertical drop off was getting way too close.
Both her hands and feet were flailing against the crumbling mountainous rock. She had to do something and fast.
Lara's breath was sucked out of her lungs when her right hand managed to grab hold of one of the thinly scattered bushes growing out of the sedimentary stone, jarring her shoulder painfully as her body came to an immediate halt. Her chest smashing heavily against the solid edge of the drop off.
Her left hand immediately reached for the small flat rock jutting out beside her, leaving her legs dangling as Lara tried in vain to find any foothold in the vertical wall.
She nervously looked down over the edge, then wishing she hadn't.
Lara's stomach lurched.
There was nothing.
Lara hurriedly raised her eyes to the top of the cliff where she could just see the old tour guide peering over at her.
"Fergus...You have to help me!" Lara could hear the desperate plea in her voice.
Was he laughing at her? Then he swore angrily, when his long white beard got caught in his khaki, overcoat buttons. He seemed to be mumbling to himself as he moved away from the edge.
"Where are you going?" Lara shouted.
"Don't leave me, Fergus...PLEASE HELP ME! I can't hold on much longer."
"That'll teach ya. Shouldn't be sticking ya nose where it's not wanted. I's a genius, I am. Nobody's gonna find ya body. Even if they do, no one will recognise ya after the wolves' feast on ya. " She couldn't see Fergus now; Even his last words were barely audible.
"NO. NO! Come back. HELP Me... Please Help me!..." Lara begged.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" The plant, supporting her weight, uprooted and her body just dropped. Her momentum carrying her further away from the vertical wall.
Everything happened so fast. One moment Lara was walking with Fergus, the dodgy tour guide she'd hired, to help her find the entrance to a cave. One that supposedly contained several paintings of strange large prehistoric birds. The next she had been pushed off a cliff.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Her mind raced around as she was falling, giving its own commentary on the past events, leading up to her present situation. Her life vividly flashing before her very eyes, in a matter of seconds.
Her grandfather had told her about the paintings in his letter that he had sent her three weeks ago. (An archaeologist in the family meant she got to see the world and its history in a completely different way to most kids growing up.)
Since then, she had heard nothing from him. None of the usual phone calls or messages.
He was in some sort of trouble; she just knew it.
Lara had reported him missing to the local police in Nevada.
But they found nothing.
Nevada, California in North America was so far away from Newcastle, NSW in Australia, where Lara lived.
Luckily, she had been able to convince her parents to take that world cruise after her twenty-third birthday, a month ago. So, they had no idea about her grandfather's disappearance, and she intended to keep it that way.
Why worry them unnecessarily.
She could take care of it on her own. University didn't start again until March next year, and since it was only December, she had plenty of time to go to Crystal Mountain, Nevada, the last place her grandfather had mentioned in his letter and track him down.
"Aaaaaaggggghhhh!"
And now she was falling.......... Not even into the arms of the man she loved. She'd never met someone to sweep her off her feet like all the romance books described. No, just her luck, the only time she did 'fall', was to her death.
Definitely no romance story there.
And if there was...now, would be the perfect time for an angel with midnight black hair and dreamy blue eyes, to come to her rescue and ....
Suddenly Lara's fall was broken.
The wind was completely knocked out of her as she hit a hard, feathery surface.
Holding on with all her strength, she shut her eyes tightly, afraid to let go. All she knew was that her body was laying awkwardly across the back of something big.
The second she'd closed her eyes, she could feel the movement of whatever was beneath her. Lara realised that she was not just moving, but flying. Her all time wish to fly on the back of a bird, had come true. Just like in the Disney movies she enjoyed watching as she was growing up. She thought if she died now it would all be worth it.
The sound of the large wings beating in the air, strangely gave her comfort. The only other occasional noise was a bizarre snort. She felt insignificant, just her and this magnificent creature who had saved her life.
Alone.
Her eyes abruptly opened wide.
With her face pressed against a blanket of soft downy feathers, she suddenly felt someone's hand pulling her legs together with great difficulty. Then another hand pressed against her back. She cringed in fright. She fought against whoever it was.
"It's alright little one. You're safe now. We've got you," a deep, soft voice whispered into her ear. "But you have to stop fighting me. Conny doesn't like it when her passengers move around. She might tip us off."
