“Let me go,” Mara instructed Cole. Her legs were dancing in the air, vainly kicking at the cliffside trying to get footing. There was none to be found. Her blue eyes darted down. It wasn’t a sheer fall. There was a ledge not to far away. She could land on that.
Cole clutched her wrist so tightly she was afraid he was going to snap it. At her command his hand seemed to tighten further. Her bones groaned. Mara was sure he knew he was hurting her but he didn’t slacken his grip. He was afraid of her slipping through his fingers.
“No,” Cole shook his head. His blonde hair was flopping around helplessly. His hat had fallen off, and was somewhere beside him, teetering off the edge. He was laying on his back, holding one of his daggers out blocking an attack from one of the walking corpses they had stumbled onto. Mara wasn’t sure how he managed to hold her from this awkward position. The way his wrist was bent looking terribly uncomfortable. It was impressive.
No matter how much she stretched her free hand couldn’t reach the cliffside and the edge was sheer nothing to grab onto. There was no one she could grab on and Cole would be cut in two before he could pull her up. “You have to, Cole. You can’t protect us both.” Mara’s voice dropped in volume, a soft comforting whisper, “It’s okay.”
“No.” Cole insisted, his voice raising in volume. Cole struggled against the sword bearing down on him. His arm couldn’t hold it away for long.
Mara shook her head in frustration. Desperation rising up in her. He was going to get cut in half in front of her because he was too stubborn to let her fall. She wasn’t about to watch him die. Nobody was going to die for her in front of her. She had seen and heard about to many acts of foolish bravery on behalf of the Inquisition and the Inquisitor. She struggled to raise herself up enough that her lips brushed Cole’s hand. Her lips brushed against his knuckles in an apologetic kiss then she bite down.
Cole yelped in alarm releasing her on instinct. Free from his grasp, Mara began to fall. His hand bumbled trying to grasp her again. Their fingers brushed but Cole’s reflexes were just a fraction to slow to grasp her again, “NO!” He screamed, terror potent in his voice.
Mara hurtled down. Her compact body crashed into the ledge. Her body slammed down, sending blinding white stars into her vision. There was cracking noise that made Mara’s stomach drop. Then suddenly the ledge broke free from the cliffside and began to slide down. Mara vainly clutched at the side of the ledge trying everything in her power to keep a hold on her only safety line. A large outcropping broke the falling ledge that Mara was clinging to in half, dislodging her and throwing her away like discarded trash. Her body smashed into the the cliffside then harshly slid down it, buffeted by the rough rocks.
By this point, Mara’s voice was a blur of brown and black with splashes of the blue sky. Her body slammed into an outcropping and there was another crashing sound of rocks, then she was falling. This time she was falling straight down into blackness. A scream tore from her lips but it was quickly smothered as her mouth slammed down onto a pile of rocks. She landed on stone with a crash that completely disoriented her.
Mara laid on the stone floor of the cave she had fallen into. She wasn’t sure how long she laid there. The hole she had fallen through had been closed up by the shower of rocks her fall down the cliffside had dislodged. Everything was completely black and she was wasn’t sure when she was awake or when she was unconscious, she slipped seamlessly between the two several times. Slowly her strength came back to her and she shakily rose to her feet.
Her tightly bound hair was now loose around her shoulders and when she put her fingers to her face. Her fingers brushed the sticky blood that dripped from her lips and various gashes that littered her face. As soon as her head stopped spinning, Mara dashed up the way she had fallen. The pebbles scattered around her feet and hands as she tried to climb the loose rocks that lead up to the hole she had made that had been promptly closed up. She barely managed to make it up. Her fists slammed into the newly formed ceiling, “Cole?!” she screamed hoping her friends were looking for her and were nearby, “Dorian! Iron Bull!!” She screamed pounding her fists agains the ceiling. All she managed to accomplish was dislodging some dust that fell into her eyes and some small pebbles to shower her face. “Maker’s balls!” She swore, resting her face against the rough surface. She took a deep breathe before she resumed screaming for help.
