Summer pulled back her weapon, dripping blood on the muddied ground. Numb. She realized the fighting had stopped, bodies littered the ground. The rain had slowed down to a trickle, and the rush of the river drowned out the loud beating of her heart.

"Did he call you 'my lady?'" Al asked.

He and Leon were looking at her like she sprouted another head. So they didn't understand what the man was saying. Good. That made three of them. Summer just blinked.

"He recognized you." Al stepped forward, blood raining down one side of his face from a deep gash in his forehead.

Summer shook her head, the motion triggered a wave of dizziness. "I have no idea what he was talking about."

"Leon!" Ida's call made them all look back to the house. Ida stood outside the door, leaning heavily on her sword, her side a mess of torn clothes and blood.

Near the cliff a man stood, clutching Reed to him, a bow strapped to his back. Three more men with him. The archers. Damn it.

"Give us the artifact and the child walks away," the man said, backing away toward the cliff. His arm was around Reed's neck, cutting the child's air flow. The kid scratched at the man's arm but his nails did no damage against the armguard.

Leon and Al faced the men.

"Why do you want the artifact? It's just an old piece of metal," Al called out.

One of the men guffawed. "We don't give a damn, we're being paid good money to get it back."

"Summer, can you move behind them?" Leon murmured. Summer stood absolutely still. It was still raining, and the clouds were still heavy and dark. A good cover.

"Not behind them, they're too close to the cliff. But I can get close enough to grab the kid and run if the man lets him go. Just keep their attention on you," Summer said.

"Alright," Leon called out loud, he dropped one of his swords on the ground, reached inside his tunic and pulled out the artifact. It was bundled up in a gray cloth. "This is what you want."

The men's eyes focused on the artifact held up high over Leon's head. Summer crouched down until she was flat on the ground, then she crawled away.

The men spoke among themselves. They were standing close to the cliff. Behind and to the left of the house. Leon and Al stood across from them. Summer observed as she crawled away from Leon and Al. She had to go around the house, where there were rocks and some tall bushes that would provide cover while she sneaks in behind them.

"Take it out, we want to see if it's the right thing," the man holding Reed said.

"Alright," Leon's voice bellowed.

Summer was finally out of the men's sight. Her bones felt so heavy. Was it the loss of blood from the arrow wound? A quick look at her arm showed no hint of excessive bleeding. What was the matter with her?

She picked herself up and sprinted behind the cover of tall plants. She was on the edge of the cliff now, she could see the men clearly in profile. The rain had gained in intensity again, and parts of the cliff's edge were chipping away, rocks falling down into the river. Dangerous territory. She had to be careful there. Her vision blurred. Summer shook her head.

"Now let the kid go," Leon called.

"Throw your weapons away," the man holding Reed said, "Good, now throw us the artifact."

"Let the kid go first," Leon called.

"You're not calling the shots here, big man!" the man said, agitated. "Throw the damn thing and we'll give you your boy."

Summer's vision blurred again, her knees shook. Something was wrong with her. She forced her mind to focus on her mission. She knew then they weren't going to let Reed go. The boy was their ticket to escaping unharmed. They weren't stupid, they'd seen how Leon and Al took down six men with relative ease, and they knew if they let go of Reed, they would be dead.

"Let's compromise," Leon called. "let go of the kid, you can keep him next to you, just let him breathe."

The man hesitated. Come on, Summer thought, just let go fo the boy. The man finally nodded.

"Fine, here," he let go of Reed, the boy dropped on the floor on his knees, gasping for breath and coughing.

"Okay, catch," Leon called. It was her signal. The men were all focused on the artifact. Summer sprinted, all her focus on the child. She was fast, she could pick him up before they noticed her. She could do it. She could have done it of her body didn't feel like it was burning from the inside out, all her senses dulled.

She had just picked up Reed. The boy was heavy. One of the men screamed something. Another. Leon's voice called out. A hand landed on her shoulder, yanking her back. Summer didn't let go of the kid. She twisted away from the hand and, disoriented, found herself face to face with the gaping void. She was slipping off the cliff.

The river yawned down below, threatening and violent. The ground slid from underneath her feet. Summer kept one arm firmly around the boy and flailed with the other, managing to catch a protruding root.

The boy screamed. He was so heavy. Summer was holding both his weight and hers with one hand. She wouldn't hold for long.

She heard her own heavy breathing as if she was detached from her body. It felt like the blood running through her veins was replaced by molten flames. Hot. Burning. Her vision was edged with black. The rush of the river and the clanging of swords reached her ears as if she was underwater.

She held the sobbing boy and gripped the root. But the boy was slipping and the root was slick with mud and rain.

"Summer!"

She looked up. A blurry figure, with dark hair and a dark beard. He was leaning down the cliff, his body more than halfway over the edge. Yet his hand was far from hers. Summer tried hauling the boy up. If he could just save the child, then it would be okay. The child's life was more important.

Leon's fingers stretched, touched her hand, then suddenly rocks fell down over them with Leon's heavy body. He'd either slipped or the cliff's edge chipped away.

They fell. For a moment free. Leon wrapped around both of them. They hit the ground. It was closer than she thought. Then the world went dark for one tranquil moment. If only it stayed that way.

But reality came crashing back. And it was so damn heavy.

"Are we dead?" Summer mumbled, slurring her words, she tried moving but a heavy body was pinning her down.

"We will be if you don't stay still," Leon's rough voice said.

Summer opened her eyes. She was laying on her side, Reed was still clutched in her arms. The boy's dark eyes were big and frightened. Leon was on top of them. His forearms supported most of his weight, but the rest of him was still too heavy.

"Why aren't we in the water?" Summer asked, her body was still burning, aching, but the fall must have knocked some sense into her because she could think a little clearly now.

"We fell on a rock jutting out midway down," Leon said. "The surface is too narrow, and we're too heavy, so stay as put as you can."

"Oh, shoot," Summer said, her breath coming out in short gasps. "I was thinking of doing a little dance."

Leon grunted. Reed cracked a smile. Summer smiled back at the kid. "So, how long will we stay here?"

"As long as it takes for Al and Sage to find a rope," Leon said, his breathing, too, was uneven. Rain was still falling, Summer realized, but a warm wetness was growing wider on her side. "Leon, are you bleeding?" Summer asked.

He grunted. "Nothing serious."

"What about those men?"

"Taken care of." Which meant dead.

"Leon! We're dropping the rope!"

"Alright," Leon called back. "Reed, you're going up first. I'll wrap the rope around your waist."

Leon, kneeling on all fours above us, helped Reed stand up on the inner side of the rocky surface. There was a crack beneath them. They all froze. Rocks fell from above. Summer heard Al curse.

Summer stayed still, her face facing outwards. The rock underneath her moved again.

"Hurry," she told to Leon. He was on his knees now, tightening the rope around the boy's waist.

Leon's hands were shaking, broken arrows were sticking out of his arms, one out of his back. His tunic darkened in a large circle around his ribs where his clothes were torn. How in the world could he still move? This man was a monster.

Reed was finally being pulled up. Leon leaned over her again, rain droplets mixed with blood streamed down his face, a stark contrast to his chalky white skin. Her vision blurred.

"You look like shit," she said, feeling woozy.

"The arrows were poisoned."

"Crap, that explains it," she mumbled. "How come you're not dead yet?"

"I'm immune to most common poisons," he said, coughing some blood.

"Great," Summer said. "The poison will kill me, and the loss of blood will kill you. If I could get my hand on that artifact I'll throw it in the damn river."

Leon made a noise, halfway between a grunt and a chuckle. His lips stretched into a barely there smile. "A whole circle. You said you found it in a river."

The rock beneath them moved, the sound of cracking rocks so close. Summer gulped. "maybe we will end up in the river instead of it."

"Yeah."

Summer met Leon's gaze. Then both of them looked at the wall of rock next to them. There was nothing to hold on to except sticky rocks.

"Leon! You're up next!" Al called, his voice was drowned by the river below. The current had gained in intensity and the rain wasn't helping any.

"Come on, Summer, you're next." Leon sat on his knees. The surface beneath them moved, sloping.

"Al will kill me either way if I go up there before you," Summer said, looking up. Reed was just pulled up over the cliff. The cliff's edge kept chipping away. Would it even be able to hold their weight?

"He wo-"

The ground disappeared. They fell. Leon's dark gaze was the last thing she recalled before the water's icy fingers dragged her down.

Water was a funny thing. How a colorless, shapeless substance that gave life could be so cruel and lethal at the same time. Summer lost count of the number of times she struggled to stay on the surface. Her lungs burned with water, and the incessant river kept trying to pull her down.

She didn't know up from down anymore. Her arms flailed, legs kicking in a futile effort to keep her afloat. But the current was so damn strong.

Her arms slowly lost strength, and her legs weren't hers anymore. The cold was everywhere, she no longer felt it. This was it. The thought flashed in her sluggish mind right before suddenly, her arm was yanked upward with what felt like the force of a hundred pulling horses. Her face broke through the surface of water. She gasped. Sweet air.

Leon was holding onto the branch of a tree that was leaning over the river. The cliffs had disappeared and the river banks were closer to the water surface here. Leon pulled her to his side and screamed over the noise, "hold on."

Summer wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn't know where she got the strength to do that. She didn't know where he got the strength to do it either. But somehow, he managed to pull them, one painful inch at a time.

At times his hand slipped and she held onto the branch instead, at times hers did. But finally, they dragged themselves ashore.

Summer laid down on her side, soaking wet and cold and hurting everywhere. She coughed so much water it was a wonder the river still had any. The sky was still gray and the rain was still pouring. Leon faced her. He looked worse than she remembered. His lips were blue and his skin colorless.

His dark eyes, usually alert and sharp, were now hazy. He mumbled something.

"What?" Summer croaked out. He said something again. Summer crawled closer.

"You have to go," he said. "One of those men said there's more of them. They'll come looking."

"We don't have the artifact," Summer said.

"They don't know," Leon said. "Go."

He coughed, blood trickled out of his mouth. "Go, Summer. Hide somewhere. If anyone could outlive them in the woods, it's you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Summer mumbled, pulling herself up on all four. Her head swam and her vision blurred for a long moment. Why was her body so damn heavy? Must be all the food she ate the previous evening. Her stomach roiled. "We'll go. Both of us."

Leon smiled, a flash of blood stained teeth. "I'm dead. Lost too much blood. You go."

Summer stayed still until her stomach no longer wanted to leave her body. Then she looked up and scanned her surroundings. She could do woods. She was raised in woods, she lived in woods. She could do woods.

First, shelter. Second, food. Third, fire. Okay, she could start with that. She glanced at Leon. His eyes were closing.

"Hey, don't pass out," she slapped his cheek. He blinked his eyes open for a second before they rolled into the back of his head. Her heart raced in panic. "Damn it, Leon, wake up. I can't drag you, you're too damn heavy."

He didn't respond. Summer heart dropped. She put her shaky hand on his throat, checking for a pulse. There. It was weak, but it was still there.

"Don't die on me," she mumbled, pulling herself up. She swayed. "I'll need you to slaughter the bad guys. I'm not very good at killing."

She looked around. She had to get him away from the river first. "No, that's not true. I'm good at killing. But I don't like it. It's overrated. Why in the world would Boyd teach me that?"

She knelt down, flipped Leon on his back with a groan, put her arms underneath his armpits. "Why are you so damn heavy..."

She cursed. He didn't budge. Summer tried again. Her arms slipped and she fell right on her behind. Leon's head hit the ground. She winced. "I'll end up killing you before the loss of blood."

He had dragged her out of the water. She could damn well drag him a few feet. She tried again. Arms under his shoulders. She braced herself and dragged. He moved an inch. She'd take an inch. Another inch.

It took her forever to drag him under the cover of trees. Her legs gave out and she dropped to the ground, Leon's head on her lap.

She brushed her hand over his forehead. "You have to lose weight, you big idiot."

Shelter.

Summer stood up and walked deeper into the woods. Heavy rocks formations scattered all around. Summer checked every single one of them. She found what she was looking for hundreds of feet away from where she'd left Leon. Great, she'd have to drag him again to the cave. If they survived, she would kill him herself.

Unfortunately, Leon was still passed out when she went back for him. Summer paused for breath, ate some leaves she knew were edible for energy, and dragged him across the forest floor again.

She fell more times than she cared to admit. At one point she passed out. By the time she reached the cave, she was ready to kill him and herself.

The cave wasn't as deep as she would have liked. It was more of a large cavernous rock as wide as Leon was tall and halfway as long as she was. But it was a cover from the rain and anything, human or else, that came searching for prey.

Right as Summer settled Leon down in the cave. His eyes cracked open. Of course he would wake up now. After she dragged his ass across the forest half dead.

"You're an asshole," she told him and dropped next to him. She was still wet, cold and in pain, but she wanted to rest. Just for a moment. Leon mumbled some gibberish and passed out again. He looked gray even in the shadowy confines of the cave.

He was dying. The thought jolted her awake. "You can't die after I dragged your heavy ass all the way here."

Summer ignored the ache in her bones and scanned him for injuries. He was bleeding from a deep gash in his ribs. The arrows in his arms and shoulder were all broken down almost to the skin. They would bleed if she took the arrows out. But he'd said they were poisoned, who knew what they were doing to him?

She cut parts of her long tunic into strips, took out every single arrow on Leon's body, stripped him naked and bandaged his wounds the best she could. She was no medic, but she'd taken care of herself in the woods for a long time. There was a giant black and blue bruise on his side. A broken rib, she guessed. Another bruise was forming on his hips. His legs were mostly uninjured, except for a few shallow gashes and nicks. She almost wept with joy when she found a concealed dagger in his boots. It would make life much easier.

By the time she was done with him, Summer was left with nothing but her undershirt and pants. The cold was unbearable.

Next. Food.

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Much love <3 <3 <3

M.B.