Todd tried to reach a hand out to grab Hunter. She missed his hand but managed to grab a hold of his backpack.
Todd gasped, not realizing he had been holding his breath, once she had a good grip on his pack. Looping his right hand and foot around the rope, he lowered his left towards his friend.
RIP! The stitching on the backpack started tearing. The strap came loose, the backpack now only held on by a single strap. Hunter swung below, yelling, “No!”
Reaching down, Todd grabbed Hunters hand as the other strap tore. Hunter swung into the cliff. Gripping his friends’ hand tight, Todd tried to pull her up. The tighter Todd held, the more Hunter seemed to slip from his fingers.
“No!” Todd screamed as her fingers slipped through his. Todd closed his eyes to avoid the sight of Hunter falling into the waiting maw of the bear. Her screams he couldn’t block out.
Slowly Todd climbed up the rope until he got to where it was anchored. A dagger had been tied around the end of it. Somehow one of his friends had managed to wedge the dagger between some rocks when they tossed the rope up. Sitting on a small overhand, Todd pulled the rope up, the bottom five feet were shredded and coated in blood.
Todd leaned his head against the cliff and closed his eyes. Taking several deep breaths he tried to block out his friends deaths and rest a moment.
Suddenly awakened as he rolled over, Todd woke up lying on the ledge, his head looking straight down at the feasting bear. Jerking backwards, he pressed himself against the stone. Upward the cliff continued another twenty feet.
Swinging the knife end of the rope in a circle, Todd toss it up the cliff wall. The dagger hit some stones and came falling back down a few feet from Todd. Reeling in the rope, Todd tried again.
The fourth time, the dagger caught on something above and didn’t come down when the rope was tugged.
Gripping the rope Todd put his weight on it. For a moment, it held, then something moved, the rope became slack. The dagger tumbled down, Todd watched it fall as he started to wind the rope.
A large rock fell and smacked Todd on the back of the head. He dropped the rope and collapsed to the ground. His vision wavering as he tried to stay on the ledge. More smaller stones fell, none hit him.
Dust settled and Todd looked upwards. The cliff still stretched upwards. Below him, the bear paced, it’s black coat covered in dust and dirt. The rope, dagger, and his pack lay on the ground near the half eaten foot of Hunter.
“I fucking hate this game.” Todd said. Standing up and closing his eyes, he leaned backwards until he fell off the edge of the cliff.
His last thought was him hoping he managed to respawn with his friends.
The End.
Thank you for reading. This isn’t the end of Todd’s adventure. I’ve been writing the main novel and posting it to RoyalRoad as I solicit feedback and comments. I’ve finished the first half of the main book, which was supposed to be 1 book, but am splitting it into 2.
At 140,000 words, the first part of the novel is big, and editing is not cheap. I’m releasing this story on Amazon, to help fund the costs editing will require. If you don’t care, you are welcome to read the story at Royal Road,
Crunchy version - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26422/skills-archetypes-and-demons-first-encounters
Non-Crunchy version - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/29481/skills-archetypes-and-demons-first-encounters
If you want to keep abreast of new information, like book launch, cover reveal, or help flesh out a S&D Player Handbook, you can visit my site at http://Unwrittendreams.com/ , sign up for my newsletter at Http://sandd.unwrittendreams.com/ , or join my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/UnwrittenDreams/
Again, thank you for reading.
-Edward
Highly Unbearable Page 7
