The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 94 - Three Seconds from Death

Tave struggled to deploy his gliding tool. His grip on Lina was too tight. He couldn’t risk letting go, not even for a second. She was completely unresponsive now, her body stiff as stone. Releasing her to activate the gear would be worse than leaving her behind.

But they were falling. Fast.

Too fast.

The ground was racing up toward them like a blade, and there was no time left.

There was no one else to help. Velion had gone ahead to assist others. The rest of the team? They’d be lucky to survive their own landings. They wouldn’t have the strength or focus to worry about anyone else.

And Tave? He was out of options.

"Kaelira!" he screamed, his voice raw. "Give me the wings! Now!"

His arms locked around Lina. He held her tightly as the wind tore at them both, howling like death itself.

She wasn’t moving anymore. Unconscious. Limp.

She had probably passed out from fear.

Tave didn’t blame her.

No one deserved this kind of fall.

Hell, he could barely believe what he was doing. He wasn’t the protagonist. Not a hero. Back in his old life, he’d spent more time in front of a glowing laptop screen than facing death drops from the sky.

This wasn’t who he was.

And yet... here he was. Plummeting through the air, dragging another person with him, putting her life on a desperate prayer.

"Kaelira!" he roared again. "I need you! Please!"

Still nothing. No answer.

He could see the others below. Some slamming into the ground hard, rolling, gasping, injured. He couldn’t even tell who was still breathing.

He was next. They were next.

And Kaelira? That stubborn, prideful spirit? Still silent.

Still not coming.

"KAELIRA!!!" Tave screamed, with every last shred of voice he had.

"IF YOU LET US DIE, I SWEAR I’LL BURN YOUR FUCKING NAME INTO THE CORE OF THIS WORLD!"

And still nothing.

Not yet.

Ever since Kaelira had granted him access to the Gaia Wings during that fight with Elincia, the spirit had gone completely silent.

Not a word. Not a flicker of presence. Nothing.

Maybe she was limited. Maybe Tave’s body was still too weak to support more than brief access. That would’ve made sense.

But even so, that spirit should’ve known when to hold back... and when to push through.

What was the point of being a Relic if your wielder died because you failed to act?

Fuck that.

Tave hadn’t even placed all his hopes on the Gaia Wings. He’d expected to rely on his gliding tool, the fall-dampening shadows from Fang, whatever backup plan his madness could piece together mid-air.

But Kaelira?

Seriously, Kaelira?!

She could’ve stepped in. Even for just a second. One flare of those wings could’ve changed everything.

Then, something streaked up toward him.

From below, several glowing streaks of light tore through the air. What was that? Arrows? Sharp and controlled, fired in rapid succession, each one trailing faint threads of energy.

Tave recognized them instantly. Panpan.

She was down there, shooting arrows straight into the sky, aiming not at him, but before him, just below where he was falling.

She was building something.

In a split second, the magic arrows collided in midair, and a massive disk of energy bloomed outward, forming a glowing circular barrier directly in his fall path.

Tave barely had time to react.

Fang’s shadow surged from his body, wrapping around his limbs and spine, forcing his muscles to tense, his body to rotate just enough in the air. He shifted, angling to hit the disk with his arm.

First impact. A violent shudder ripped through his entire frame as his left shoulder slammed into the energy disk, the shock nearly knocking him out cold.

Lina, still in his arms, jerked violently with the force of it.

The barrier cracked.

Second impact. They rolled through it, hitting another energy layer. One of the stacked support fields Panpan had deployed in haste.

This one hit harder.

Tave grunted, pain flaring through his ribs as the pressure struck again, throwing them both off-axis. The shadow armor from Fang tried to absorb the impact. But it wasn’t enough.

Third impact. Another disc caught them, slowing their momentum a little more, but at a steep price. Tave’s back twisted with the force, his breath ripped from his lungs as they ricocheted downward.

He grit his teeth. He couldn’t let go. Not now.

The ground was right below them.

No more barriers. No more help.

Tave adjusted his hold at the last second, pulling Lina close to his chest, wrapping his arms around her head and neck, shielding her with his own body.

He twisted his body mid-fall, forcing his left side to take the hit, tucking his chin, bracing for hell.

And then. Impact.

The ground tore into them.

It wasn’t a roll. It wasn’t a bounce. It was a violent, bone-rattling slam, flesh and muscle and armor colliding with dirt, stone, and gravity itself.

Tave felt something tear inside his shoulder. A blinding flare of pain shot through his side. But he didn’t let go.

They skidded across the dirt. His boots tearing long, ragged furrows into the ground, his body shielding hers from every impact. His grip on Lina never loosened.

When they finally came to a stop, the world spun around him, disoriented and broken. The air was thick with dust, pain, and the copper tang of blood.

Tave lay on his back, chest heaving. Blood filled his mouth. Lina was still in his arms.

He coughed once. Then again. Sharp. Wet.

And through the blur, through the throbbing pain pulsing behind his eyes, he breathed out. "...we made it."

Tave felt like his shoulder was dislocated. No, more like his entire spine had been shattered into a thousand splinters. Pain flooded his body in waves. It was fire. It was knives. It was hell.

But Lina... She was still in his right arm.

He could feel her moving, weakly, slowly. But moving.

She was alive.

No one came rushing to them. And why would they? Everyone else was probably just as broken as he was. Wounded. Scattered. Fighting for breath.

He didn’t have the strength to check. Not yet. Everything hurt.

And if it hadn’t been for Panpan, he would’ve been watching his own body crumble from the afterlife right now. Hell. This was hell.

Still, despite the pain, the fractures, and the lingering weight of what could’ve gone wrong. There was one thing that brought Tave a sliver of relief.

Panpan was alive. She had made it down.

He knew it because her arrows had saved him. And you couldn’t shoot with that kind of precision unless you were standing.

And he was almost certain he’d caught a glimpse of Velion, too, darting through the air, grabbing others, pulling them clear before impact.

"Tave..."

The voice was faint, like a sigh in the wind.

He turned his head, barely and saw her. Lina.

The black-haired girl was awake, barely upright, sitting beside him now. Her face was still drained, lips pale, but her eyes were clear again. Her hands shook, but they moved on their own, pressing against his chest.

And then... A warm glow. A surge of soft, pulsing light spread from her palms.

Tave exhaled, letting the pain soften, just slightly, as the energy worked its way through his torn muscles, his cracked ribs.

He’d done it. He kept his word.

He brought her down alive.

Fuck you, Kaelira.

Tave would wait until he fully mastered that Relic. When he did, he’d use it to burn through monsters that made this fall look like a joke.