War and Survival

'34... 35... 36..

Ikem dreadfully counted the seconds as they passed.

It was a funny thing; the way time seems to slow down in the midst of a heart-wrenching crisis.

He found himself doubting reality on more than one occasion during the brief moments, but the constant feel of an Icy grip on his right shin served to prove otherwise.

"Damn it!" his deterred voice echoed through the silence of the seemingly bottomless chasm, bouncing off the jagged, black rock walls.

"Why can't things go my way for once!" he muttered to himself.

His fall was accompanied by an odd feeling, cold shivers ran down his spine at the thought of free falling.

He felt a nagging sense of deja Vu at the back of his mind, that this wasn't his first time doing it.....

As he fell, Ikem's curiosity got the better of him, he turned his head slowly to peer down, and with a stifled yelp he tore his eyes away.

The ground seemed to draw closer with each passing moment.

Ikemefuna shuddered mentally, he didn't relish the thought of being turned into a splattered mess.

A hint of defiance flashed through his eyes.

'No, I don't want my life to end like this', 'it just can't happen!'

His eyes roamed the jagged rocks and treacherous spires of the Chasm, searching for anything that could be of help.

The wind howling at his ears served as a pump for adrenaline, while the quickly approaching scree served as his unending motivation.

And, possibly by mistake, as his eyes wandered, he met the soulless gaze of the Phantosia and it's eerie macabre smile that seemed to bore straight through his soul.

He froze again.

The warning bells at the back of his head chimed, louder, this time possibly louder than it had ever rung before.

'Look away.'

Gritting his teeth as he strained his eyes, he forcibly controlled his gaze away, past the Abominable Phantosia and upon the approaching ground. His eyes widened.

"Crap."

It was too late.

With a loud BAM, Ikem crashed unto the scree below; between the cliff and the mountain; unexpectedly surviving the fall.

He tumbled as he did so, and each tumble was accompanied by loud grunts of pain.

He stopped as he crashed into a huge boulder, cracking it and thereby chipping of a greater part.

Ikem shook his head as he slowly sat upright, resting his back upon the unfortunate boulder.

"My back!" he hissed as his body shot up in it's response to pain.

Contemplating for a moment, he chose to sit up, without the aid of the rock.

"Damn it, I'm really not a masochist, why most every incident involve pain", he whimpered. Hoping his plea would reach any deity from his unknown pantheon.

After a few painful seconds, a jolt of awareness shot through him, his eyes dilated, widening like saucers.

"I'm not dead?, I'm really not dead!", he questioned, voicing out his thoughts in quiet mutters.

'How is this possible, I just fell from a height close to ninety feet, I should be meat paste'.

His eyes narrowed as he pondered upon the thought, before he shook his head dismissively.

'That is one should expect from the supernatural, especially from me, as I know nothing about mine.'

He turned restless, something else seemed amiss.

Searching around warily, he found the Phantosia about eight feet away from him, eerily floating with it's ethereal feet a few inches above the ground.

It appeared that at some point during his tumble, the Abomination accompanying him had lost its grip on his leg.

Ikem stared at the Creature.

The Creature stared back at him.

It was Ikem's first time gazing at the Aberration with much needed clarity, and...

He frowned.

For some inexplicable reason, he found the mere sight of the creature appalling.

But his feeling of disgust was eclipsed by his fear.

The Phantosia stood motionlessly, staring back at Ikem; it's gaze the same as before:

Sinister, desolate and Unholy.

Ikem wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but this time he saw a smidge of difference.

Ikem found hunger.

"What are you?!" he murmured, subconsciously moving backwards.

Ikemefuna did not know what the creature was, but judging from the way his classmates had fled, with just a single glance at them, he could tell that they spelled something terrible.

And lots of it.

'What do I do now?'

His eyes darted up the high Rocky cliff, as he silently contemplated the possibility of him climbing back up.

He shook his head.

'It's impossible, climbing a height of ninety feet, and coupled with the high chances of meeting the rest of this thing's group back up there'

Ikem sighed hopelessly.

'I'll die either way; there's no way surviving this, there's nothing I can do.'

Ikem's shoulder sagged,

For a few moments he chose to stay silent, absolving in his decision.

Yet,

His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the Creature from the corner of his eyes, something was off.

The Phantosia still floated on the same spot; motionlessly.

Like a grim reaper.

It hadn't moved an inch.

This observation strongly piqued at Ikem's curiosity.

'Shouldn't the Phantosia have attached me by now, sure I don't know how it works but I should be dead'

A cold wind blew by, passing through Ikem's ruined Uniform, and striking his bare upper body.

Only his pants had survived impact with the scree.

Ikem did not feel the wind on his skin, but he felt he had to do something.

Remaining as he was, was an impossibility.

He stood up.

The scree shifted heavily beneath his feet, in response to the sudden movements.

'Shit!'

The ground felt unstable, it was then that he noticed that he had been sitting on a pile of rocks.

He jumped, trying to restore his balance.

But it was not enough; as soon as he landed, he followed the glissading rocks on their crescendo downwards.

The air hit his face forcefully, as gravity pulled him down.

This time the fall lasted three seconds, with the result being him lying face first to the sharp ground.

But then there was a difference.

The Phantosia had moved.

With a speed untraceable to the human eye, the Phantosia had flown from it's initial position and now floated in front of the oblivious Ikem.

Waiting.