Free Fall - Into Other Worlds

Chapter 2: The First Fall

It was like she'd been at the centre of an explosion that had disintegrated her being. After being hit by that blinding white light, Kara couldn't see or hear anything. The only sensation was of falling, and yet she couldn't feel any force from the air around her. It was as if she'd fallen into a sea of black and was slowly sinking into its depths.

Am I dead? What on earth happened back there? Was it really a bomb? Kara asked herself many questions, but had answers for none. After what felt like a long time she was once again blinded by white light. Once the light retracted she found herself falling for real, and fast.

"AAAHHHH!!!" She screamed as she fell away from the blue sky filled with clouds above her.

Thud! Her butt hit the ground with force, yet didn't hurt nearly as much as she'd expected. Now she'd stopped screaming, her ears were bombarded with the deafening roar of men and clashing of steel. Her eyes widened dramatically after fully regaining focus as they took in the battle scene surrounding her. It was as if she'd been dropped into the middle of an historical movie set, or one of those battle re-enactment sites. Armoured men branding shields, swords, spears, and axes were viciously attacking each other.

Feeling a sticky warmth upon her hands, she lifted them to find a scarlet liquid covered them. It was only then she looked down and discovered her soft landing had been thanks to the two corpses that had broken her fall. It was her first time seeing real dead bodies, and the fact that she'd been sitting on them left her frozen in shock. The blood on her hands that was still warm just moments ago had already begun to dry. This was no movie set. It was definitely real.

Kara was in too much shock to notice a soldier swinging down his blade at her back. She only snapped out of her daze when a pair of boots skidded to a halt in front of her, and the clashing of steel rang out above her head. Looking up she discovered a grey-bearded soldier had blocked the long bloodied sword of the man behind her from cutting her in half. She fell to the side and scuffled back on her butt away from the swords. Her hand landed on something cold and hard. A dead soldier's wooden shield lay by her side. Instinctively Kara grabbed it and held it defensively in front of her.

"What are you doing child?" cried out the soldier who'd saved her as he pulled his sword from the other's chest. "Get off the battlefield!"

But his words might as well have landed on deaf ears for Kara couldn't understand a word he'd said. She could tell he was speaking to her, but was clueless as to what he was saying. Seeing her stare at him blankly, the soldier sighed with annoyance. Striking down another enemy soldier, he strode over to where Kara had retreated.

"Get up!" he ordered. He didn't give her much choice as her grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. A battlefield was no place for civilians. It was even less of a place for children. Her turned her and pointed to a row of trees that looked about half a mile away through all the fighting. "Go! Run! Leave!" he shouted while gesturing with his arms.

Kara may not have understood his words, but she wasn't stupid. He was obviously trying to tell her to run to the safety of the woods. The soldier was once again busy fighting, so Kara pulled her fear deep within her chest and sprinted forward.

If there was one thing Kara was confident in it was her athletic ability. She may not be good at studying, but she made up for it by being good at nearly every sport she tried. Football, rugby, tennis, hockey, basketball, judo, and swimming were just a few of the sports teams she was a member of. She made use of all her skills to dodge, duck and tumble her way through the battlefield while never stopping her momentum as she sprinted forward.

Kara was scared, terrified even, but at that moment she didn't have time to think about anything other than getting to safety. Finally she broke out from the mass of fighting and found only a stretch of green between her and the first line of trees. Pushing herself harder, she ran as fast as she could. But only a few metres from reaching the first tree, movement to her side caught her attention. Glancing over, her face paled upon seeing three armoured men on horseback riding across the field towards her.