_I wonder what it feels like to die._

The thought came to Raesh’s head as he continued to fall. They always said that your life flashed before your eyes whenever you were about to die, but all he saw was the blurred images of land and sky as he tumbled.

Most would scream or cry in Raesh’s position, but all he could do was laugh. _How in the hell did I end up here?_

A combination of selfish choices and damning mistakes would be the short and sufficient answer. But the true answer is much shorter and much simpler. He thought the world was a place he could bend to his will, filled with individuals he could outsmart and take advantage of. And he was right.

What he didn’t account for was the single most powerful force in all of the known worlds. A force that combats even the most detailed and thought-out plans. One that has redundancies for your redundancies and has no weakness other than itself.

He forgot about _Luck. _

That pesky, unfathomable force of luck. Wake up warm and well-fed. Good luck. Take a step on unsolid ground and lose a duel. Bad Luck. Open your rations to find a double portion. Good and bad luck depending on the ration.

Get pushed from a ship, thousands of feet in the air, by the woman you love. It had to be bad luck. Or could there be an even shorter and even simpler answer than luck? Of course there was. Raesh is an idiot.

He was the version of idiot who said whatever popped into his head and only gave thought to the consequences as they happened to him. Like minutes ago when he told this woman that he loved her.

It probably would have gone well if she hadn’t hated him and been trying to kill him for the last several months. No changing that now. She got her wish and sent Raesh down to his death which should be happening any time…

Raesh hit the ground as delicately as one could, which was not at all. Dust filled the air creating a massive cloud around the point of impact. As the dust settles there is a crater a few feet deep that reveals itself.

Raesh climbs out of the crater. See, Raesh is an immortal being, capable of withstanding the harshest of injuries. That detail alone is explanation enough as to why he could survive a fall from such a great height. But to him, the answer was much shorter and much simpler.

_Oh yeah, _He thought, _I forgot I was lucky. _