The city was small, but the buildings were huge. Lyra had to crane her neck just to see the top. No traps so far. Hm. That's odd.

Lyra noticed that Barley was looking around warily. He was thinking the same.

Fox kicked a pebble. "Weird. Why isn't anything happening?" Lyra shrugged. "Barley?" He ran a finger along a building, his eyes half-closed. "We should have encountered something by-" His eyes grew huge. "Fox, look out!"

Before she could turn, a large section of the road fell away. Fox began to slip, and her feet gave way. Luckily, Lyra ran forward and grabbed her hand. The ground was crumbling rapidly, and Lyra began to feel her footing loosen. The falling road was pouring into a large hole, a very deep one at that. Lyra couldn't even see the bottom. Fox screamed as she hung over the edge. Lyra pulled as best as she could, and soon, she felt Barley pulling on her to help with Fox.

Terror clouded Lyra's mind. The tumbling continued, and her feet finally gave under. She screamed as her back hit the ground and began tumbling with Fox. Lyra clawed at the side, her hands bleeding as she found no hand hold. She heard Barley's yell, but didn't know if he was falling.

Lyra looked back down, to see Fox gone. Where was she? Lyra didn't have time to wonder. She felt hands wrapping around her waist, and looked up to see Fox and Barley. They were standing on a rickety piece of wood, as an avalanche of rocks surrounded them. Oddly enough, the unstable plank stayed where it was.

Lyra climbed up, nursing her injured hands as she sat next to them. All three were breathing hard. "Barley?" Fox asked, breathing hard. "Why isn't the wood breaking? We should be dead!" Barley ran his scratched hands across the splintery wood.

"It must be a back up plan, in case someone from the city fell in. It's a miracle." The rock slide continued, while they all huddled on the plank.

After a long twenty minutes, the rock slide slowed, to more of a slow crawl. Another ten minutes, the slide stopped completely, with the occasional rock tumbling into the bottomless hole.

"We have to get back up." Lyra said slowly, pointing upwards. The hill was sharp, but climbable.

Lyra stepped bravely onto the rocks first. When it seemed stable enough, she began walking. Soon enough, Lyra heard Barley and Fox silently following.

Lyra's body was covered in sweat as she mounted the hill. She stopped for a moment, leaning on a rock. Lyra took deep gulps of air, and then felt Barley gently pulling on her arm. They had to keep moving.

Finally, they could see the top of the road. "We're almost there!" Fox cried, excited. She ran upwards, and Lyra saw it. A building was sagging dangerously, it's side riddled with cracks.

It seemed incredibly slow, even though it was really fast. The building crumbled, and then toppled. The rocks slid in Fox's path, giant and speedy. Lyra saw Barley jump. He kicked Fox in the center of her back, knocking her to the side. Lyra squeezed her eyes shut.

She heard a yell, and then a scream of agony.

Lyra opened them again, and saw Barley.

He was lying on the ground. Blood was coming out of his mouth, and his body had been hit full on by the boulder. He was battered, and Fox ran to his side. "Come on!" Fox muttered quickly. "Talk to me Barley." Barley slowly opened his eyes. "I think my ribs are broken." "Well duh!"

Fox hooked Barley's arms around her own, and pulled desperately. "Help me, Lyra!" She cried, tears of frustration coming to her eyes. "Help me!"

Lyra ran forward, and began to help Fox carry Barley.

"Stop," Barley mumbled, pulling on Fox's shirt weakly.

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I was a bit busy, so I couldn't really update in a bit. But, here it is!

-Clo