CHAPTER 1: THE FALL

That was a terrible idea.

Norrin Shai was slightly amused by the thought crossing his mind. He felt he should be screaming at the top of his lungs. Maybe he was, but his face was being whipped by a cold wind that filled his ears with a low roar that drowned out all sound. He grimaced as he tumbled through the air, and his arms and legs swung in a frantic effort to stop the dizzying spin. His vision shifted between the cloudy blue sky and the jagged mountain peaks over and over and over again.

“Damn this shit!” Norrin growled to himself, snapping himself out of shock. It was his own damn fault he was in this situation. He made such a rash decision, even though he knew better. True, the beast released him from its grasp as he hoped, but he grossly miscalculated the speed and altitude of its flight.

So stupid! He thought. However, he did not have the time to keep berating himself. He silenced the negativity clouding his mind and willed his body to twist itself around. He spread his arms and legs against the wind, making himself as wide as possible. This move slowed his descent and gave him a few more seconds to assess his options. He rushed towards the flat, mirror-like surface of the lake he spotted earlier at an alarming rate. He guessed that even if it was deep enough, at the velocity he was falling the water would not break his fall. Instead, he was more likely to break every bone in his body. His other option was to pray to the gods for a miracle. But he knew that wouldn’t work. The only thing that would catch him would be the beast coming back looking for its lost meal.

Norrin watched the turquoise blue scarf that he wore flutter in the sky as he fell, known throughout the world as a bandero. He always marveled at how the rare, lightweight material caught the wind with ease. It served as the identifying symbol of the Chasers. The misunderstood and unfairly maligned order that Norrin was proud to be part of. It was the bandero that drew the beast to him, which was why he wore it. Because the role of a Chaser is one of sacrifice, to act as a decoy for the monsters of the wild lands so that travelers can reach their destinations safely. A role when done correctly, would certainly lead to an early death.

That beast will likely snatch me out the sky before I hit the lake.. Either way I’m done for, Norrin thought as he came to terms with his fate. Truth being told, Norrin was fully aware that an early death is an inevitable part of the job of a Chaser, and still it was a job he freely chose. Many of his peers and colleagues already perished ahead of their time in this line of work. For this reason, he knew the chance of him growing old was a slim one and was grateful he made it this far. He did not fear death, but a part of him wished he accomplished more. He, like everyone else, wanted to live a full life, build a home with a family and leave a legacy. All pipe dreams for this line of work he was told, but still there was a small sliver of hope in the back of his mind that he could beat the odds. As the earth raced toward him, he began to feel that this was truly the end.

“It was a good journey,” Norrin whispered to himself, resigned to his fate.

Norrin closed his eyes and waited for the impact he was certain would kill him, so he became unaware of the spectacle happening around him. The feathers of the blue griffon, still clenched in his fist, began to glow, dim at first, but sparkling with a vivid burning color as he drew closer to the lake. The waters of the lake below also began to glow and ripple with glimmering rings as he plummeted closer towards it.

All at once, the air around Norrin stopped as if time paused in the world. The sudden silence caused Norrin to blink his eyes open, and his mind reeled at the sight of a bright, endless, panorama filled with blinking white lights that resembled the distant stars in the night sky. He was suspended mid-air, and his body frozen in empty space. His blue bandero, wafted gently around him, no longer affected by the currents of the wind. From the cuts on his arms, tiny droplets of blood pulled together into little red pearls and floated away, no longer bound by gravity. Before he had time to wrap his head around his environment, a sudden push and pull in his chest propelled him upward at a speed so fast, it took the air out of his lungs and knocked him out cold.