After coming to rest, Cole realized that he was uninjured. Twigs snapped and leaves rustled as he extracted himself from the foliage. He got to his feet in time to see the tail of the scorpipede slither out of the hole and then curve up into the air, poised to sting. The monster scuttled his way.
Cole aimed his sword at a balcony high above him. If he failed to reach it, the fall would surely kill him. “Away!”
He had only jumped low before. This time he felt like a superhero taking flight. Air rushed by as he rocketed upward. He realized that somehow the sword exerted a pull on his whole body. If he had to trust only the strength of his grip to keep hold of an object accelerating so rapidly, he never would have managed to do it.
Cole reached the balcony at the peak of his jump, allowing him to land lightly. After his ground-skimming leaps, the soft landing was a welcome relief.
The stinger-tipped tail rose up higher than the balcony, then blurred forward, punching a hole in the wall a few feet away. Shattered bits of stone peppered him as Cole fell flat. The stinger retracted and exploded up through the bottom of the balcony, missing him by inches. The balcony rocked and made horrible cracking sounds. The scorpipede might be striking blindly, but it wouldn’t have to wait long for results.
Rising, Cole pointed his sword toward the neighboring tower and as he sprang, he yelled, “Away!” Roller-coaster sensations surged through him as he soared across the intervening space and up to another balcony, again landing gently at the apex of his flight.
The scorpipede let out another screech-roar, the tail flailing down below. He had traveled higher than it could reach. Cole looked hopefully for the lifeboat, but saw nothing. The scorpipede started climbing straight up the tower wall.
Pointing his sword at a higher balcony across the way, Cole said his word and jumped again. Once again he landed smoothly. A glance down showed the scorpipede climbing fast.
There was no time to really strategize, but a rough plan flashed through his mind. When he got to the top, hopefully the lifeboat would be within range. He would either make a final jump to his rescuers or get trapped by the scorpipede with no escape.
If he leaped to the other tower with this next jump, he would be back on the same tower the scorpipede was climbing. But it was also the tower closest to the edge of the castle, which would allow Jed to steer the lifeboat within range at minimal risk.
Extending his sword, Cole jumped up to the flat roof of the opposite tower, landing in a crouch. Battlements surrounded the top like blunt teeth. Cole looked frantically in all directions. The Domingo hovered high above. Other castles floated in the distance.
When he saw the lifeboat, his heart sank.
It was swinging around to come his way, but it was too far out and much too low. They must not have spotted him climbing until a moment ago. Cole decided he could buy a little time by jumping back across to the roof of the neighboring tower before the scorpipede arrived. As he raised his sword, the tail shot up in his way.
Cole hesitated. With the scorpipede crawling up the tower, he would be in full view when he jumped. The tail would skewer him. The head of the scorpipede loomed into view, its weight crushing battlements as it leaned toward him. The tower shuddered as the scorpipede heaved more of itself to the top. The lifeboat would not be within jumping range in time.
But if he waited, he was dead.
Running away from the scorpipede, Cole jabbed his sword diagonally up and away from the tower, shouted “away,” and leaped with everything he had. He launched into his biggest jump yet, testing the sword’s limits. He heard the tail strike the castle behind him, and the scorpipede gave a furious cry.
Still curving upward, Cole saw the castle wall pass underneath him. His trajectory carried him well beyond the edge of the cloud at the castle’s base. As he lost his forward momentum and plunged downward, all he saw beneath him was endless sky, dropping away to immeasurable purple depths.
The shawl flapped above him, held in place only by the clasp at his neck. Fumbling desperately, it took Cole a panicky moment to find his rip cord. He was falling almost straight down by the time he gave it a sharp tug. The parachute blossomed up above him, jerking him as it interrupted his descent.
As he slowed, the shawl draped down over his head. He pulled it off and tucked it under one arm. His heart was still racing. Down between his feet yawned such endless nothing that it gave him shivers.
Above and behind him, the scorpipede let out another screech-roar. It was loud even at this distance.
“We’ve got you!” called a voice from below and off to one side.
The lifeboat appeared beneath him, falling with him to catch him softly. Eli steadied his landing, sat him down, and began pulling in the parachute as it went limp. He bundled it expertly.
Cole sat in shocked silence as the Okie Dokie climbed. He had hoped they would get to him before he dropped below where the skycraft could descend. And they had. He had made it.
He couldn’t believe he was alive. He had been so close to dying that at some level he had known he was only prolonging the inevitable. But now he was safe.
Eli and Jed stayed silent, and so did he. They rose toward the Domingo, glided up above it, then landed on the deck at the rear.
“Quite a performance,” Captain Post greeted as Cole clambered out of the lifeboat.
Cole tried to muster a smile. “I thought I was dead.”
Jace came up and gave him a big hug. “You’re officially my best friend.”
“That was a bad one?” Cole asked hopefully.
“Terrible,” Jace conceded. “You shouldn’t have survived.”
“One down,” Cole said shakily.
“Weeeell,” Jace replied, stretching the word out. “You have to bring something back for it to count.”
Cole paused and then gave a single chuckle. “I forgot to even think about that.”
“What have you there?” the captain asked.
“It has to be something valuable,” Jace explained hesitantly. “Something we would salvage on purpose.”
The captain took the shawl from Cole, shook it out, and held it up. “It’s less than we would normally accept. But that was a brutal first outing.” He eyed the shawl more closely. “It’s in good condition. And it might have useful properties—the other semblances ignored you once you put it on. If nothing else, I know a woman who might thank us for this. Granted, it’s a bit more effort than one would normally make to acquire a wrap, but we’ll count the mission valid.”
Cole slumped with relief.