"WELL, HERE'S A WORD YOU PROBABLY HAVE HEARD BEFORE! ASSHOLES! YOU'RE BOTH ASSHOLES!"
A snapping sound made all three of us freeze. Alden was still a good seven feet from the forest floor, and the sound definitely came from where he was.
"Don't move, brother," Dair cautioned, and began moving quicker than before. The branch wasn't going to hold much longer, and there weren't any other options for Alden to move to. "Just stay steady, right where you are."
"Dair, he's on the lowest branch. What are you going to do?" I scanned the tree, searching for any viable option. How were any of us going to get down safely with that branch seconds away from breaking? The next one up was a good five feet higher. It would be a twelve-foot drop.
"I'm going to fall!" Alden shouted, panic in his eyes.
Dair was on the opposite side of the tree now, as low as he could get. "No, you're not. I'm going to jump down, and then I'll catch you and Tor."
"This is a disaster," I stated, halfway down the tree myself now.
"I'm the tallest," Dair said before swinging down, dangling from the branch with both hands.
Alden was crying now. "You're gonna dieeee!"
I couldn't breathe. What if he died? I couldn't live without my best friend. All three of us would die if he died. We'd probably break our necks trying to get out of here without him. And even if we did somehow live, our fathers would kill us for getting Dair killed. Fuck!
"Maybe just wait for someone—"
CREAAAAK.
Dair glanced over to his brother. "I'm going to catch you." And with that, he let go of the branch and hit the ground hard. Thankfully, he'd landed on his feet, but the force of it sent him flailing forward with both arms outstretched.
"ARE YOU OKAY!?" I screamed when he didn't move. He just laid there, flat on his stomach. Oh Goddess. He was dead. Deader than dead. And so was I. I practically slid down the tree, desperate to get to my best friend.
"ALASDAIR!" Alden wailed.
A groan came from his still body, and I sighed in relief. "That's the best sound I've ever heard in my entire damned life."
"Torin, this branch isn't going to hold—"SNAP.
I met Alden's terrified green eyes as the branch finally gave way. Desperate, I held out a hand in a futile attempt to save him. I was too far away. I couldn't look. I clamped my eyes shut and held my breath, waiting for the thud. It never came.
"I told you I'd catch you," Dair's voice penetrated my fear-stricken brain.
My eyes popped open, and I found Alden and Dair on the forest floor, both of them lying on their backs, looking up at me.
"One down, one to go." Dair slowly got up and walked beneath me.
"You're out of your mind," I mumbled, trying not to show how scared I still was.
My friend simply blinked at me, like he was bored and I was holding him up. "Okay, okay." I dropped down and held on with both hands, trying not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
"Let go, Torin," Dair said. "I'm not gonna let you die today."
"That's good. I'm too pretty and important to die by a tree. I much prefer a warrior's death. An epic bat—"
"Shut up and let go!"
I let go and crashed into Dair a moment later. We both ended up in the dirt. A sharp pain jolted my elbow, and I hissed. I must've hit it on a rock or something. Alden came into view as he hovered over us.
"Are you guys okay?" He extended a hand to me, which I took. Returning to my feet, I offered Dair my good arm. I could bend the other one, but it would definitely be bruised.
"Need the other hand," he said, and I frowned.
"Why?"
