628 Freefall into Shadow Gorge (1/2)

But the decision paid off.

With his minimap out, Jack passed the final treeline. All that was left was a breath-taking view.

Shadow Gorge was aptly named. Two sharp cliffs stood on opposite sides of each other with a river and some lush land far below separating them. Large trees would sporadically sit at the cliff's edges. They couldn't compete with the Life Tree in Estonya but they could match plenty of the trees within the Prehistoric Forest. Those same trees had roots burrowing out of one cliff and into the other, making natural bridges overtop the gorge with thousands of vines connecting roots or falling to the deep gorge below. The amount of sunlight landing within the gorge was minimal at best due to the sheer amount of shade those trees, roots, and vines produced. But there also seemed to be a dark fog that dwelled within the gorge and slowly followed the flow of the river below. The river was virtually unnoticeable from where Jack was standing but he knew it was there.

There was one other thing that startled Jack, though it took a minute for Jack to realize it. Jack couldn't hear a thing.

There was no noise from the powerful raging river below. The hero couldn't hear any wildlife from within the gorge. It sounded as if no wind was following the walls of the cliffs. But it was obvious that all three of those things existed, either from the little that Jack could see at the moment or his in-game visits to Shadow Gorge. Obviously, there was a river as it was what naturally created the gorge in the first place despite the silence. Birds or other wildlife could be seen traversing the vines and roots or even dwelling inside them, but no sound was heard. And the dark mist was moving, proving that wind was indeed present within the gorge.

Yet Jack couldn't hear a thing. He felt like he had accidentally muted the game, only it was no longer a game.

It took Jack a few minutes to better grasp the situation and disregard the strange phenomenon. Finally, Jack took a deep breath and leaped off the cliff.

Wind spattered against Jack's unguarded face as he used no magic to shield himself. The hero reached out his arm and grabbed one of the thinner vines to swing off and redirect his course. He did this a few times, eventually finding himself at the center of both cliffs. Then, Jack simply let himself fall through the thickest part of the black mist.

The moment Jack exited the mist, he was still a hundred meters above the ground, or water in Jack's case.

An almost black river of water was flowing steadily beneath the hero. On each riverbed was a plethora of wildlife, most of which could create light via bioluminescence. Those lights are what confirmed Jack's trajectory and allowed Jack to target his freefall with accuracy.

Closing his eyes and pointing his arms and hands downward, Jack took a deep breath.

SPLASH!