Chapter 27: Jump Jump

  The first jump was made smoothly enough. But then it all went wrong.

  Billy had his eyes on the air, expecting some sort of aerial attack. The attack came from the ground.

  Tendrils of what smelled like rotting sewage emerged from the ground around them and started thrashing around them. Trevor was knocked off his feet and then almost sucked under by the mass of vegetation.

  Billy was too busy ducking between the slimy vines to help.

  Su Li and Yuki saved the day. With Yuki protecting Billy by fending off the tendrils with her staff, Su Li started to whirl her knife on her chain. Her whirling blade attack got faster and faster. The whole group were now crouched as the knife cut through tendril after tendril.

  For a moment, there was silence and nothing moved.

  Lorna and Yuki pulled Trevor to his feet.

  “Go!” Billy shouted, seeing more movement on the ground.

  They sprinted towards the next island. The gap was about seven feet but they all cleared it easily, crashing into each other as they landed.

  Billy surged to his feet and looked around. Nothing moved for now but he could sense something in the air.

  “Something is wrong,” Su Li said.

  Billy glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a delicate floating seed. Like a dandelion seed it floated on currents of air. He watched fascinated as it slowly descended before landing on a leaf near his foot.

  The ground exploded knocking Billy to the ground.

  Lorna pulled Billy up.

  “Go,” she said to the others.

  Billy could see more seeds now descending. It reminded him of the documentary of the D-day airborne operations as the paratroopers descended to the ground.

  Lorna pulled at his arm and he started moving along. Again the gap to the next island was easy to jump but he could see that the gaps were definitely increasing.

  He landed next to Lorna and looked around. For the moment nothing seemed to be happening.

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  “Does anyone sense anything?” he asked.

  The others shook their head.

  “We should keep moving,” Lorna said.

  “Wait,” said Billy. “There must be some sort of pattern to these islands.”

  They looked behind them. The two islands they had already visited we further away than before.

  “We are drifting,” Yuki said.

  “Are all the islands moving?” Trevor asked.

  “It looks that way.”

  The island appeared to be safe. They took the opportunity to really look at the islands around them. The patterns of movement looked almost chaotic to Billy but he could sense that there was some sort of pattern. Also with his air affinity he could senses the mana flowing around them.

  After a few minutes, Su Li said. “I think I see it. But we need to move quick. Follow me.”

  She started to run forwards. There were two islands inf front, one just to the left and one just to the right. The left island appeared to be moving away from them and the right island moving a little closer.

  However, Su Li took the left option. She gave a mighty leap and just made it across. The others followed. Trevor almost lost his balance but Billy helped him to steady himself.

  “Keep going,” Su Li said. “This is time dependent. We cannot stop or we’ll be stranded.”

  They all looked at each other but followed her lead. They jumped from island to island in quick succession. To their surprise at no point were they attacked.

  “Just one more,” Su Li said.

  They were all flagging now. Even Lorna was stumbling. Billy did not need to look at his stat sheet to know his stamina was low.

  The final gap looked huge. But Billy could see solid ground in front of him and it gave him a lift to his spirits. He was now in front of Trevor who had suffered in silence so far from all of this. Not once did he try to stop and rest. Billy could see from the sweat on his face just how much he was suffering.

  The others were ahead and all sailed across safely. It was now just Billy and Trevor.

  Billy pumped his legs and at the last moment jumped with all of his strength. He landed on the verge of the cliff and scrambled his way to safety.

  He looked back to see Trevor fall short. His front foot just touched the grass but it was not enough. A cry left his lips but Su Li reacted the quickest. Both knives flew from her hand. One sank into Trevor’s thigh and the other into his shoulder.

  Trevor screamed. She yanked hard on the chains momentarily halting his fall as his feet scrabbled for purchase. Yuki was then there with her staff. She thrust it at Trevor who grasped onto it letting go of his shield. Billy went over with Lorna to help pull Trevor to safety. He caught a glimpse of the shield drifting down to the water below.

  They all collapsed on the ground panting. It was minutes before anyone thought that the knives were still lodged in Trevor’s body.

  Lorna was the one to help remove the knives. She eased them out and then bound the wounds with some of their spare cloth. Trevor lay their whimpering a little. After a while he steeled himself and sat up to meditate.

  “How did you know?” Billy asked Su Li.

  “I didn’t for sure but it felt right. You know pascal’s triangle… it was a bit like that. Land on an odd number and you are safe, land on an even number and you are attacked. Also, the odd number islands in a row across seemed to attract each other.”

  “That was a hell of a conclusion.”

  “Yup! Looks like there are traps and puzzles after all.”

  They all took the chance to meditate and recover some energy while one person stood on watch. After some food and water they prepared for the next challenge.