Chapter 4 Go to hell

My whole world had collapsed.

My father and mother were murdered in cold blood.

Goshen was gone.

Yohanan… I didn't even know if she was alive.

And Zack… my best friend… had betrayed everything.

The pain burned through my chest so badly that breathing itself hurt. I wasn't grateful Zack let me escape.

No.

I hated him. I hated him so much that every step I took felt fueled by rage alone. I wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands. I wanted to watch him bleed the same way my father bled. The same way my people suffered.

I had no reason to stay alive anymore.

I prayed for death but then another thought entered my mind.

Who would avenge them?

Who would rebuild Goshen?

Who would make Baron Chen and The Overlord pay?

Revenge burned deeply inside me as I ran through the darkness, bleeding and weak.

Every breath felt sharp inside my chest.

I ran straight into the nearby woods, stumbling through roots and branches before my foot suddenly caught against a thick twig.

I fell hard.

Pain shot through my ankle instantly as it twisted beneath me.

"Ahh!" I groaned painfully.

For a second, I stayed there breathing heavily against the cold ground. Then I noticed a lot of headlights. Bright lights flashing through the woods and they were coming closer.

Did Zack tell them I escaped?

The thought alone filled me with another anger. I forced myself up immediately and started running again despite the pain in my ankle.

Branches tore at my skin as I ran blindly through the forest. My breathing broke apart. My legs were no longer responding properly.

Finally, my body gave out. I collapsed beside a large tree, panting heavily while trying to catch my breath.

"Find him!" Voices echoed through the woods.

My eyes widened in fear. They were close.

I quickly forced myself back up and started running again.

I didn't dare look behind me. I just kept running blindly through the darkness until suddenly, I stopped. There was a Cliff, a massive canyon stretched before me.

The ground ended abruptly beneath my feet while the deep canyon dropped far below into darkness.

Jagged rocks lined the steep walls beneath.

The wind howled through the canyon loudly, carrying dust through the air.

The canyon wasn't straight down like a normal cliff. One wrong fall would crush every bone in my body. I stepped back slowly, panicking.

I had no idea what to do. There was nowhere else to run. The only option left was to jump.

I slowly looked down again.

Fear gripped my chest tightly. I was terrified of heights but there was no other option than to jump.

I would die. But then again… What was left for me to live for?

My parents were dead. My home was gone. Everything was gone. I had nothing. Maybe dying here would end the pain.

I heard footsteps behind me. The men finally emerged from the woods carrying their weapons. Baron Chen appeared.

"Where are you going, Baron son?" Baron Chen said mockingly, staring directly at me.

I immediately noticed Zack standing beside him.

The sight of him hurt more than the wounds covering my body.

"I should have killed you immediately, not listened to this moron," Baron Chen spat angrily.

I slowly stepped backward, closer to the edge of the canyon.

"Don't be dumb. Are you going to jump?" Chen laughed.

The other men laughed loudly with him. Everyone except Zack. His face looked pale.

"Come to papa, I'll take care of you," Chen mocked again while the men burst into laughter.

My chest rose and fell violently.

The wind below sounded endless, like the canyon itself was alive and waiting for me.

My legs trembled badly.

I hated heights. Father used to laugh whenever I climbed the cotton towers too slowly.

"A future Baron scared of heights?" he would tease.

But this wasn't a tower. This was straight up death. Cold sweat rolled down my neck as I stared into the darkness below.

"Widen, come to me please. We can settle this. He won't hurt you, that cliff is dangerous." Zack said trying to move closer to me.

I clenched my fists painfully and said.

"Go to hell," 

Then I closed my eyes and jumped.

"Widen!" Zack screamed.

I heard his footsteps rushing toward me desperately. But it was too late. I had already fallen. The wind roared violently around my body as I dropped through the canyon.

Everything spun around me. Sharp rocks scraped against my arms and shoulders as I crashed against the rough canyon wall.

Pain exploded through my body instantly.

I hit another rocky slope before rolling downward violently. Dust filled the air around me while loose stones tumbled deeper into the darkness below.

Then suddenly, a thick branch growing out from the canyon wall caught part of my torn clothes.

My body jerked painfully. A sharp cry escaped my lips as my shoulder nearly dislocated from the force. I stopped falling.

Barely.

The branch bent dangerously under my weight while part of my body slammed hard against the rocky wall.

My torn shirt twisted tightly around the branch, keeping me from falling deeper into the canyon. I hung there weakly against the cold rocks, half-slumped against a narrow slope in the canyon wall.

Blood dripped slowly from my forehead down my face. My arm burned painfully from hanging awkwardly against the rocks.

Every small movement made pebbles fall into the endless drop below. I looked down once and instantly regretted it.

If the branch snapped, I would be dead.

Above the canyon, Chen stared downward.

"I never realized he was as stupid as his father," Baron Chen scoffed. "Let's go. He won't survive it anyways. That's the Canyon to Baroness Kome's Barony."

Their voices slowly disappeared but Zack remained standing at the edge. Even from that distance, I could see the shock on his face.

"Widen…" he whispered weakly.

Then they finally left. 

Hours passed slowly.

Blood dried across my skin while my fingers weakened little by little. The branch creaked beneath my weight every few seconds, making fear tighten inside my chest.

Sometimes I drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes the cold wind woke me again.

Pain burned through my entire body, but revenge kept me alive.

I refused to die there.

By noon the next day, a group of travelers moved carefully through the Canyon Road leading toward another Barony.

Large carriages rolled slowly along the rocky path before the horses suddenly stopped.

"What is wrong?" one of the men asked.

Then another driver looked over the edge and froze.

"There's someone down there!"

Panic spread immediately.

One of the men rushed toward the largest carriage and knocked quickly before the door opened.

An old man with silver hair stepped out calmly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"There's a body hanging in the canyon. I think he's alive."

The old man's expression changed instantly. He hurried toward the edge and looked down.

Then he saw me, below the rocky slope, my body hung weakly against a broken branch, barely holding on.

"Bring ropes! Quickly!" he shouted.

The men immediately rushed into action.

They carefully climbed down the rocky side of the canyon and reached me.

By then, I was barely conscious. My breathing was weak. My body felt cold.

The old man carefully held me close while the others supported us against the steep rocks.

"Bring me some blankets!" he shouted.

The men quickly obeyed. They wrapped thick blankets around my body before carrying me carefully back up the rocky slope.

Every movement hurt badly. I could barely hear their voices anymore.

They carried me into the carriage carefully.

"Do you think it's okay taking a stranger in?" a woman inside the carriage asked worriedly.

"I can't leave him here all alone. He would die." the old man replied calmly.

"But how about the Baroness? Will she be okay bringing a young boy into the Barony after she just lost hers?" the woman asked quietly.

"The young boy will be in my care. You don't have to worry," he replied.

The woman stared at me closely.

"He looks a bit like Sluther," she whispered.

"Yes, he does. The Baroness must not see this young boy." The old man said.

"Why?"

"Everyone knew what happened to the last boy who resembled Sluther."