The boat, a fragile wooden shell hurtling through a maelstrom of white water, was accelerating. The roar of Hammer Falls had become a deafening, all-encompassing thunder, the spray a blinding, stinging curtain. Roland and Jett, their muscles screaming in protest, paddled with a desperate, almost frantic energy, trying to maintain some semblance of control, some illusion of steering, in the face of the river's overwhelming power.

  William, clinging to the bow, his eyes fixed on the approaching chokepoint, felt a surge of pure, unadulterated terror. His "crazy" plan, his desperate gamble, was about to be put to the ultimate test. He trusted his analysis, his instincts, his understanding of the data… but doubt, that insidious whisper, still gnawed at the edges of his mind.

  He glanced at the 3D holographic model projected by EMMA, a ghostly overlay on the chaotic reality before him. The projected trajectory of the boat, a thin red line, was almost aligned with the angled rock face, the makeshift ramp that was their only hope. But "almost" wasn't good enough. A slight deviation, a minor miscalculation, and they would smash headlong into the unforgiving rock, their boat splintering into a thousand pieces, their bodies flung into the churning, unforgiving water.

  There was only one card left to play, one last desperate manoeuvre that might, just might, give them those extra couple of centimetres they needed. It was a risk, a gamble, a manoeuvre that could just as easily capsize them as save them. But they were out of options, out of time.

  "On the count of three," William shouted, his voice strained, barely audible above the roar of the rapids, "everyone lean right! Shift your weight! All of it!"

  The command was met with stunned silence. Lean right? Towards the rocks? Towards the seemingly inevitable collision? It was counterintuitive, illogical, bordering on suicidal.

  But there was something in William's voice, a desperate urgency, a fierce conviction, that cut through their fear, their doubt, their ingrained instincts for self-preservation. They had trusted him this far, had relied on his quick thinking, his unconventional tactics, his uncanny ability to find a way out of seemingly impossible situations. They had to trust him now.

  "One!" William shouted, bracing himself, shifting his own weight to the right, feeling the boat tilt precariously.

  "Two!" His voice was a ragged cry, swallowed by the roar of the water. He could see the rock face looming closer, a solid wall of grey, flecked with white where the water crashed against it.

  "Three! RIGHT!"

  The command was a desperate plea, a final, all-or-nothing gamble. And, miraculously, they responded.

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  Roland and Jett, their trust in William overriding their own instincts, threw their weight to the right, adding their considerable bulk to the shift. Julia, her eyes still squeezed shut, her concentration focused on maintaining the Reinforce spell, felt the sudden lurch of the boat and instinctively leaned in the same direction, trusting in her companions' judgment. Caspian, his face a mask of pure terror, simply followed suit, clinging to Julia's side, his body trembling.

  The boat, already moving at breakneck speed, tilted precariously. For a heart-stopping moment, it felt as if they were about to capsize, to be flung into the churning water, to be dashed against the rocks. William felt a surge of panic, a brief, terrifying glimpse of failure.

  Roland, his face contorted with effort, let out a roar of warning. "We're going to capsize! Brace yourselves!"

  But then, instead of capsizing, instead of crashing headlong into the rock face, something extraordinary happened. The exquisite timing of when they leaned to the right with William’s instructions, meant just as the boat was about to capsize, it would hit the angled rock ramp, and so instead of capsizing, the boat would stabilise against as it enters the ramp at full force.

  The tilted hull of the boat, guided by the shift in weight and the relentless force of the current, caught the edge of the angled rock, the makeshift ramp that William had spotted. It was a glancing blow, a jarring impact that sent a shudder through the entire vessel, but it was enough.

  The boat, instead of smashing, lifted.

  It rose from the water, propelled upwards by the combined force of its momentum and the angled slope of the rock. For a fleeting moment, they were airborne, suspended in a state of weightless disbelief, the roar of the rapids momentarily muted, the chaotic world of water and rock falling away beneath them.

  It was a jump of epic proportions, a leap of faith that defied logic, that defied gravity, that defied all expectations. They were flying, soaring over the chokepoint, over the churning chaos, over the seemingly insurmountable obstacle that had threatened to end their journey.

  William, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and exhilaration, saw the world from a new perspective. He saw the full extent of Hammer Falls, the seemingly endless expanse of white water, the jagged rocks, the treacherous currents. He saw the tiny gap they had just navigated, the impossible jump they had just made. He saw the faces of his companions, etched with a mixture of disbelief, relief, and sheer, unadulterated joy.

  Roland, his mouth agape, his eyes wide with astonishment, let out a whoop of pure, primal elation. "By the Gods! We did it! We actually did it!"

  Jett, usually stoic and reserved, allowed a small, almost imperceptible smile to play on his lips. He nodded, a silent acknowledgment of William's audacious plan, of their collective triumph.

  Julia, her eyes still closed, her concentration unwavering, felt the sudden shift in the boat's motion, the sensation of weightlessness, the momentary silence. She didn't understand what had happened, but she knew, instinctively, that they had survived.

  Caspian, his face a mask of bewildered joy, simply stared, speechless, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossible feat they had just accomplished. He'd closed his eyes in terror, expecting to die, and had opened them to find themselves… flying. The boat was airborne, Caspian sneaked a look below and could see the deadly array of rock formation and insane rapids that had nearly killed them all. He shuddered, realising just how close to it all ending it was.