The emergency parachute burst out of the pack, a blossom of neon orange. Barry was jerked upward in his harness as the chute caught air. Relieved, he was finally able to look around and locate Frankie and Peter, both coasting down to the earth a thousand feet away from his location. Barry could hardly see them against the contrasting dark blues, reds and copper of the twilight sky.

Despite the incessant sound of buffeting wind, a calming sense of peace filled him. And then Barry heard something. At first it seemed like it might be a strange bird noise.

And then he realized it was a woman yelling some kind of war cry.

A blur of black sped out of the dimming purple sky from above Barry and slammed into him. Barry felt a few of his ribs separate. The chute buckled but kept from turnin...

Please subscribe to keep reading.