Cole jumps off cliff

  Cole and Winston reached a ledge above a drop taller than the high dive at the town pool back home. Maybe fifteen feet!

  “Jump!” Harvan called. “No time.”

  Winston sprang, landing in a wild tumble on the rocky incline below. Cole tried to leap but couldn’t. It felt like suicide!

  “Jump!” Harvan insisted, closer now.

  Cole had the Jumping Sword in his hand. What if it worked? He needed this. It had to.

  He pointed the blade at a point farther down the slope and called, “Away.”

  There was no tug from the sword. No hint of his power.

  So he jumped.

  The ground rushed up to him, and he flopped forward, rolling violently. The impact should have snapped half the bones in his body. Instead, it didn’t even hurt that much. He was shaken, but as he rose, he could feel that nothing was broken. Nor was he bleeding. Just kind of sore. He had dropped his sword. He retrieved it, and Harvan landed nearby.

  “You’re tougher than you think,” Harvan said, rising. “Keep going.”

Chapter 23