Falling. But not as catastrophically as she had imagined. The wind that howled around her felt different now, not the same raging force that sought to tear her apart, but more like invisible arms, slowing her descent, cradling her toward the unseen depths of the abyss.
Was this... real?
For a heartbeat, pain in her ribs was numbed, replaced by a sliver of impossible hope.
Still alive?
Driven by instinct and the fading discipline of a Wind Element user, Andini tried to reconnect, to merge with the flow of air that supported her, forcing her scattered thoughts to focus on the will behind it. The wind answered her call, almost hesitantly, granting her faint control over her fall. She could feel it... not like a force of nature, but as a presence, subtle yet sentient.
But the effort drained her. Her strength, already fraying, ebbed away like sand slipping through fingers.
THUD!
Her body slammed hard into something, her breath caught by the pain that exploded once again.It wasn't the bottom of the ravine, but a massive tree branch growing defiantly from the cliff wall.She was stuck there, gasping, her vision spinning from the impact.
After several moments spent regulating her breath and bracing against the pain, Andini slowly surveyed her surroundings.The branch was thick enough to support her, but her position was extremely precarious.Above, the cliff edge looked impossibly far.Below, the darkness of the ravine still yawned endlessly.She was badly injured and completely exhausted.Climbing back up was out of the question, and jumping down would be suicide.She was trapped.
What if she died here?
The thought slipped in uninvited, sinking cold claws into her heart.Would anyone even find her body?Would the world just move on, never knowing where she had fallen, how her story ended?
Fear took hold. Real fear. Not the fear of pain, but of vanishing without meaning.Alone. In a place no one knew. Forgotten.
Is this how it ends? Not in battle, not in sacrifice, not even with purpose. Just... gone?
The branch creaked faintly beneath her as rain began to fall from the sky. She clenched her jaw.
No. Not yet. She wasn't done.
Desperation flared, pushing back the fear.There had been something earlier, a faint whisper, a subtle call that echoed in her mind.It was still there. Weak, but present.She had to survive.She had to find out what it was.
As the darkening sky released its burden in a torrential downpour, cold rain drenched her trembling body, soaking through her clothes and numbing her skin.The stone of the cliff grew slick and the air even colder.Her vision blurred again.
She needed shelter. Now.
Her half-lidded eyes scanned the rock wall near the branch. And there, half-hidden between glistening stones, she saw it. A crevice. Narrow, but possibly wide enough to crawl into.
Shelter.
Fueled by desperation, Andini pushed herself toward it. Every movement was agony. Her limbs screamed. Her breath hitched. But she dragged herself along the branch, inch by inch, until she reached the crevice.
Her fingers scraped against stone as she pulled herself in. Darkness swallowed her. The sound of rain faded slightly behind her. She collapsed inside the hollow, chest heaving.
Just breathe...
Her foot shifted.
CRACK! THUD!
The stone beneath her gave way. It wasn't part of the cliff wall, it was loose, a chunk of fallen rock balanced precariously atop a hole.
She didn't have time to react. The rock dropped, and so did she, into deeper darkness.
This fall was shorter.
She landed on something softer this time. Not stone. Sand, maybe. Or moss. It cushioned her, at least compared to everything else. The air was still. The only sounds were distant rain above and the pounding of her heart.
Andini lay there, motionless.
She should be terrified. She was alone, deep inside a hidden cave with no light, no way out, and a body that barely responded. But... she wasn't afraid.
Not entirely.
Because the whisper, the strange, invisible call she'd felt before was now clearer. Closer. No longer a figment of her imagination, but a vibration that resonated deep within her soul. It hummed through her bones like an ancient song she had always known but forgotten.
She stood. Slowly. Painfully.
Every part of her resisted, but something inside drove her forward.
Forget the pain... forget the fear... follow it.
Andini stepped deeper into the cavern. Her eyes, adjusting slowly to the dark, caught a faint glow ahead. Not firelight, but something cooler, softer—a gentle, bluish sheen clinging to the walls and floor.
Bioluminescent moss.
It coated parts of the cave like a breath of starlight, just enough to illuminate her path. The air was damp. The silence, thick. And the call? Stronger than ever. It tugged at her, insistent yet not urgent. Not a command, but an invitation.
The glow guided her toward a natural alcove carved into the stone wall. There, cradled in the soft shimmer of moss, she saw it.
A flat object. Thin. Worn. Ancient.
Her breath caught. Her heart pounded.
With trembling fingers, Andini reached out and took it. The surface was cold and smooth, unlike anything she had ever touched. She didn't know what it was made of... parchment? Metal? Something else entirely?
But the moment her skin made full contact with it, something burst.
Inside her.
The Element of Wind within her, always a faint pulse she had barely understood, roared to life. It surged, as though answering a long-awaited call, responding to a force embedded within the object.
She gasped, clutching it tightly.
No words were needed. She knew this thing... this scroll, or relic, was something old. Powerful. Meant for her.
Guided by the dim light, she examined its surface. Intricate carvings. Strange symbols, winding lines that hinted at forgotten languages. Diagrams? movements of the body? Rituals? Spells?
Her hands trembled.
This... this wasn't just a discovery.
It was destiny.