A stone the size of a fist slammed into his shoulder, sending a sharp burst of pain through his body that nearly made him cry out. But he pushed on. Then, like a miracle, hands. Strong hands grabbed hold of his shirt, his arms, dragging him forward. Blinding light exploded across his vision as he burst out of the tunnel.
Two of the boys hauled him clear while the other three yanked the chest out behind him. Run! Sunny shouted, his voice breaking through for the first time. It's all coming down! They didn't need telling twice.
All six of them took off down the mountainside, stumbling, sliding, nearly falling, but never stopping. Behind them came a roar like the world itself was breaking apart. Tons of rock thundered down. The cave entrance vanished completely, sealed forever beneath the collapse. They didn't stop until they were halfway down the slope.
Then they dropped where they stood, gasping for air, covered head to toe in dust. For a long moment, nobody said a word. They just stared at each other. Alive. Still breathing.
And then Matto started laughing. A shaky, almost wild laugh. But it spread fast. Soon all of them were laughing, the tension cracking loose all at once. "We did it." Chayton said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"We actually did it." Cole dropped onto a rock, feeling every bruise, every cut, every screaming muscle in his body. His eyes drifted to the chest. Dust covered, but whole. Worth it. Every second of it.
"We didn't do it." Cole said, looking at each of them in turn. "We did it together. Without you pulling that rope, I'd still be buried in there." Coda stepped forward and set a hand on Cole's shoulder, right where the rock had hit him. Cole winced, but didn't pull away. "When we climbed up here this morning," Coda said, "I figured you were just another outsider talking big and meaning nothing." He gave a small nod.
"I was wrong. You've got courage. But more than that, you've got sense. You taught us more in one day than we've learned in months." He glanced back down the mountain. "Let's head back." Cole pushed himself to his feet, slow and stiff.
"Yeah." he said. "Let's take it home." It took them nearly 3 hours to make their way down, careful with every step. The chest was heavy, and the path showed no mercy. But when they finally reached the camp, when the river women and Tala saw what they carried, their cries of joy echoed across the hills. Cole Maddox hadn't just brought back a chest.
He'd brought back something far greater. He hadn't just brought back their treasure. He'd brought back hope for an entire people. And somewhere deep inside him, something long broken had begun slowly, quietly, to mend. That night, the Red Sky people camp turned into something Cole Maddox had never seen before.