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The wind howled past them both as they fell, faster than any bird could fly or any man could run, towards the unforgiving earth below. No! This couldn't be how it ended. Not now, not when he had finally found someone who understood him and made him feel alive again.
He had to live for Barrett.
Despite the excruciating pain coursing through every muscle and bone in his body, Jackson summoned all his strength to twist out of the giant's grasp before it was too late. He tumbled through the air like a feather caught in a tornado, spinning and spiraling downwards until he lost track of which way was up or down.
Jackson's heart pounded in his chest, and his lungs screamed for air. His eyes widened as he really knew exactly which way was down.
He felt like he was falling forever, but then something grabbed onto his foot and his arm, anchoring him down just enough to prevent any further descent into oblivion.
The ground rushed toward him slower and the sound of wings filled his ears. Birds.
Lark.
And then everything went white.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
With a deep breath, Barrett launched himself off the beanstalk, tucking his knees to his chest as he descended into the unknown abyss below. The wind rushed past him, whipping his hair in all directions. He could see the ground approaching rapidly, and he braced himself for impact.
But instead of crashing into the rocky terrain below, Barrett landed in something soft and white. It was cold and numbing, but it had also braced his fall. He had seen this substance before, in the mountains the day they went to the motel, but he had never asked about it. Now, it seemed to have saved his life.
"Barrett!" Neil's familiar voice called before the guard was by his side. "We must get you away from the beanstalk."
"Jackson," Barrett moved to rush back to the stalk, but Neil caught him.
"He will be down when he is down. We must get everyone away from the base except the guards in charge of cutting it down. You must get back, we don't know what shook it.
Barrett knew better than to fight the man who'd trained him in the combat he did know. Instead, he rushed off towards the motel, shocked that no one had come out yet.
Only the loud groan of the beanstalk paused his race and drew his attention back.
Barrett's heart hammered in his chest as he watched the beanstalk shudder and groan, its heavy trunk flexing like a muscle under the strain of the towering weight above.
With a final deafening crack, the beanstalk gave way under the giant's might, splitting into two pieces that plummeted towards either side of their ascent point. The ground beneath Barrett's feet shook violently, throwing him off balance as he stumbled backward. He winced at the impact of the coldness against his face, feeling a few weak strands of hair whip across his cheeks.
Screams echoed as those still on the stalk were thrown into the snow. Barrett went to rush forward, but his eyes landed on something just below the cloud line, rapidly racing toward the snow.
The giant and Jackson.
They were a tangle of limbs and nothing more that Barrett could make out.
"Save him!" He commanded the guards who looked up and quickly backed away, clearly not wishing to be under the giant when it landed on the ground.
Barrett watched in horror as Jackson fell free-falling towards him, arms pinwheeling wildly before landing hard on the ground below. He screamed out in reflex, forgetting himself.
But he couldn't get to Jackson, not with the beast of the giant rushing faster at the ground.
"Move!" he screamed, trying to alert those who'd fallen to get up before the giant killed them.
He balled his hands into fists, anticipating the inevitable fallout from the towering mass above. The snow below him started to shift and dance as if instinctively reacting to the impending disaster.
Time seemed to slow down as Barrett watched the giant plummeting towards him, arms flailing wildly before crashing hard into the ground with a thud that rippled through Barrett's entire body.
The earth beneath him shook violently as the snow and ice cracked and shattered under the weight of the fall.
His head cracked into the ground with zero time to realize he'd fallen, and the world tipped and spun as he looked at the giant's unblinking eyes.
