Cloudless Authors

Chapter 六

CRASH!!!!!!

Tai Lung heard it right before he even felt it. The whistling and cracking of debris in his ear. The sound of his bones snapping as heavy wood smoking from the fire slammed down on his back and pinned him to the floor. He had covered his head to avoid his skull cracking as well, but there wasn't much else he could do. When he heard the debris settle onto the floor, the pain began to sink in. Whatever had hit him was not only extremely heavy, but had also landed on his lower back. Tai Lung thought it was a beam from one of the rafters since the shockwave of pain was so bad that it wen through his entire back and prevented him from being able to turn around. Or better yet, to be able to get the beam off. 

Tai Lung's arms shook as he propped them onto the floor so that he'd have better support for his head.The only good thing about being so low to the floor was that the smoke wasn't as bad. The snow leopard didn't cough as much and thus had more time to look around at the raging fire for something to help him. He glanced over the debris that had fallen around and on top of him before choosing a particularly long floorboard. He grabbed it just as the fire began to feed over in his direction, devouring any surface that hadn't yet been touched. Feeling a little panicky, Tai Lung did his best to maneuver the floorboard backwards so that he could move the beam off of him. However, with even the slightest movement there was a horrible stab of pain that ran all through his back, his legs, and parts of his spine. 

Tai Lung kept trying to move the heavy debris off his back, but his best efforts were soon stopped by a sharp pain that vibrated through his arms, forcing him to suddenly drop the piece of wood he had been holding onto. The fire was now close enough to nearly singe his fur and all the snow leopard could feel was paralyzing fear. Tai Lung buried his face in his arms to keep from inhaling the heat and burning his insides, though he knew this attempt of survival would be futile within a minute or so. The flames drew even closer and Tai Lung could feel a painful burning sensation on his lower back. There was then the sudden sound of heavy coughing behind him and the creaking of the wood from heavy footsteps. They grew closer and closer until they paused and were replaced with, "Tai Lung!"