Whatever 'something' was, Jump-touch couldn't see it, and from the questions around her, it seemed like nobody else could either.

"What do you see?" Ollie whispered, and Yaris raised a hand to shush them.

There was a moment of frozen silence, none of them moving, none of them breathing, and then with an explosion of movement, Yaris shot ahead, kicking up dust and soil in her wake.

Ollie shouted, spear in hand, only a step behind. Jump-touch found herself moving with them through sheer inertia, but Eim's hand on her shoulder held her back. Beside her, Shrike was standing tall, one hand out and gaze unfocused.

What's he doing?

Then from up ahead, a crash sounded, where Yaris had hit. A shout from Ollie, something indecipherable from Yaris, and a moment later they shot back, almost as fast as they'd left.

"Move, move!" Yaris shouted, holding her hand against her chest. Her sword was nowhere to be seen, and the end of Ollie's spear was blackened and smoking.

Eim stepped forward and laid a hand on her arm, "what was it?"

"We have to go," she shook him off. "Move!"

"Not until-"

"It was some sort of snake-" She huffed out angrily, already turning away, and then hesitating as nobody followed. "-As thick as my arm. I took the head off, and it burst into flames as I did."

"You lose the sword?" Shrike was blinking his eyes like they'd gone dry, massaging his wrist.

None of them were moving, despite Yaris dancing from side to side, itching to leave.

"Do we have a backup in the [Pocket Zone]?" Shrike asked, still rubbing his wrist and blinking dry eyes. "And what happened to the spear?"

Yaris nodded, and Jump-touch did a rapid mental search through her Heart. It was easier if she left her mind loose when looking for things. She could physically rummage through all the stuff in there, looking at each object one by one, but she was learning that she didn't have to.

Jump-touch handed the last remaining sword wordlessly to Yaris, who took it with a nod, still twitchy, casting glances back at the undergrowth they'd both just shot out of.

"It was hot enough that, the hilt burst into flames," she said, testing the new blade and then sending it to her hidden space with a gesture. "So I ditched it, before the rest of me did the same thing."

She flexed her fingers, and then with a shake of her head and a blink, started off down the path at a trot. "Come on, we have to move!"

The rest of them jogged to catch up. "It sounds like a Ember Rattler? They're known to set small plants and bushes alight sometimes. But unless it caught a rat or something..."

"It's a monster, they don't hunt," Shrike said, limping after them. "Well, some do, but not generally. There just isn't enough of an ecosystem up here to make it work. If all monsters had to eat, then there'd very rapidly be no monsters left."

"Ink-worm liked to eat, though, even if it didn't have to."

He shrugged, "it's a First. They're bound to be different."

Ollie was inspecting their charred spear as they jogged. "You said the sewers were breached, right? We should be under the city at the moment, so there might be an ecosystem forming, right?"

Shrike frowned, "it's possible. I've heard of simil-"

Yaris cut him off, "we don't have time to debate history or theories. We need to move faster. If you can still breath, you're not moving fast enough!"

Jump-touch saw Eim roll his eyes, but she wasn't so sure. The smell of smoke was getting thicker now.

"It wasn't that bad," Ollie said. "These things are normally harmless, right? It was hot, but a big flame dies quickest, right?"

A glance back caused Jump-touch to start. There were embers back there now, and the smoke was forming into a visible cloud. No matter how badly the humans had made their campfires, she'd never seen it form a cloud in here before.

"Guys-" she started to say, as she did a mental check of her Heart. There was barely enough water in there to last them a few days, never mind enough to put out a fire. Could she somehow summon it directly- "Behind us, there's-"

"Oh shit!" Eim shouted as he looked back, missing a step, stumbling, and then doubling his speed until he was ahead of Yaris. "What the fuck did you two kill? What the fuck Yaris?"

Bigger rooms, and a water tank. Jump-touch thought to herself as she ran forward, trying not to cut herself on what little copperised vegetation was left, mourning her beautiful skirt as it caught on every leaf and strand of grass.

That's what I'll ask for when I level. As much water as I can carry.

"Jump!" Yaris shouted, pausing a step, grabbing Shrike by the arm and thrusting him towards her, "make room!"

She mentally shuffled things around as he staggered into her, half falling as his knee refused to take the sudden shift in weight, almost knocking her down.

Bags on top of the box, empty out the bottom shelf-

She felt herself stumble, as Shrike landed between the box and the bookshelf, trying not to flinch as Ollie caught her and put her back on her feet, and then they were all running again, at full tilt now.

The smell of smoke was getting stronger.

"Why did you have to-" Eim panted, "-"kill it. Whatever it was. We were fine!"

Yaris looked like she was about to shoulder-check into him, but held off at the last minute. "There were more," she shouted, "not just one! If it had just been one-!"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jump-touch hopped over a fallen branch, already starting to smoulder in the rapidly heating air, trying to focus on keeping her footing. The boon was throwing her off. Every time somebody spoke, she missed a step, the translation mechanism taking over her brain.

She'd forgotten it was on.

A thought and it was gone. The others had stopped shouting now anyway, saving their breath for running. In her Heart, Shrike had managed to make himself somewhat comfortable on the floor between the bookshelf and the object, jamming his legs underneath it. If she'd put him off to one side, he would have had more room, but she knew he wouldn't want to be against one of the not-walls, she really should…

It was too late to move things now, she couldn't move anything whilst there was a person in her-

Somebody grabbed her as she tripped over a long vine, stretched taut over the path.

"Focus, idiot!" Eim shouted in her ear, and she felt the wash of his healing run through her, giving her back breath.

That's not fair! I'm trying! If I could fit the others-

She was never leaving herself without space in there again. Ever. This was stupid. This whole quest was stupid.

Ollie was pulling ahead now, looking back and shouting back directions, or commands, or encouragement, Jump-touch was already too out of breath and mental energy to know which. Eim was by her side but he was panting heavily, unused to the exercise, and Yaris was having to slow, to stay with them.

I can make it work, she thought, it'll be tight, but…

She laid a hand on Eim's arm and tried to Send him, but there was a...

A resistance. A negation.

She had never felt that before. It wasn't like the lounge chair, which had simply told her it couldn't fit, it was more like… A hard stop. He could go to her Heart, but he wouldn't.

"Eim!" she bumped into him, making him stagger sideways a step, "let me send you!"

"What?!

"Let me send you!"

Fuck, she couldn't remember the stupid Resper name for her Heart. Pouch… Pouch area? They called it something like that, if she translated it into a real language.

"My Heart," she said instead, bumping into him again and grabbing him by the wrist, "you're slow!"

There was the resistance again, and then she felt her knees hit the floor, embers burning holes through her trousers, as he disappeared and she skidded forward. Part of the fact she'd been leaning on him, but most of it was the jolt. Sending Shrike had never hit her like-

And then, as the heat licked at her ankles and her knees stung, her vision blacked out.

****

She came-to only seconds, or was it minutes later? Yaris was holding her under one arm like you would a large bag or goat. Ollie was ten, twenty steps ahead now, and they were both running, their footsteps unheard against the ROAR of the fire. A huge, crackling monstrous noise, overtaking everything. The air was pure heat now, and she found herself panting for breath even as she wiggled in Yaris's grip.

She could feel the fire hot against the soles of her feet, and she could smell the sweat soaking through Yaris's shirt, feel her breaths.

In her Heart, Shrike and Eim were crouched together between the bookshelf and the object, nose to nose, talking quietly together, eyes closed.

It was so peaceful in there. Quiet and still, and she took comfort in that, even as the world around her got louder and louder.

I should run, but her legs would betray her, she could feel it. There was a bone-deep ache there, a tightness in her stomach that wasn't just from the arm holding her up.

Up ahead, Ollie let out a shout. "What is-" Yaris started, and then ahead of them, Ollie disappeared.

A moment later, they too were falling.

****

They were lucky. Somehow Yaris managed to catch herself before tumbling headfirst down the slope, which would have been a death sentence for the both of them. Instead, they both slid for what felt like far too long, small rocks, stones, twigs and leaves coming along with them.

Yaris never let go, somehow managing to slow their descent with her heels, but even she couldn't stop their slide.

At the bottom they finally came to a stop, rolling and panting for breath, Jump-touch rolling away from Yaris and trying not to throw up.

Ollie was already waiting for them, on their feet, arms out, bleeding heavily from the side of their face.

"We need to move," they said, dancing from foot to foot and throwing themselves towards Yaris in a shower of pebbles. "Come on, move!"

Their sleeve was stained with blood too, Jump-touch noticed from her spot on the floor, her brain latching onto the bright red of it.

The way it was dripping from the cut on their cheek. The bright, vibrant red. The way it was leaving little rivulets down the side of their face.

She had lived her life on a slate mountain. She knew that could have gone so much worse.

"You two, get up!" They panted, "we need to go, before the fire follows us!"

They were pulling at Yaris now, casting worried glances up the slope.

They weren't wrong, Jump-touch thought, staggering to her feet. They did need to move, but not because of the fire. Already there were more rocks coming down, bouncing and bounding, jumping and building up velocity as they threw themselves down the slope. Get hit by one of those, and they were gonners.

Yaris lay on her back, panting desperately for breath and shaking her head, as Ollie tried to pull her to her feet. "Too many rocks," she panted, "the fire can't follow us down here. Too many..." She trailed off, breathing heavily. Next to her, Ollie sank to their knees.

"No, we need to move from the rocks!" Jump-touch dragged at the back of their shirt, but they had already folded up, head in Yaris's lap.

"Thank the Heroes for that," they whispered, a sob in their voice. "Thank…"

The two of them lay there for a minute, as Jump-touch cast worried glances up the slope. The scree was already settling, but at the top, far, far above them, there was still the roar and crackle of the fire. She could hear the roaring of it, but it was so very far away.

She was just going to sit down, only for a moment, just until...

****

She summoned water for Ollie and Yaris, and food for herself. They were starting to run low, she noted. They had only meant to be down here two or three days, and it had been what, three, four now? She had lost count at some point.

They hadn't accounted for the fact her skill made her so hungry, either, when planning their supplies. She could have kept snacking on the dried meat all day, and it would never be enough.

I need something better. She wanted cake, she wanted sugar. She wanted fruit and grains and fat. All the jerky here was so lean.

Next to her Yaris finally sat up, staring at her grazed hands, and then standing, turning to inspect the back of her leather skirt.

It was still there, but the back had taken a severe beating during the slide, the leather torn up and great patches missing.

How do I get people out of my Heart? She wondered to herself, as she glanced at Shrike and Eim again. With only Shrike it was easy, when he was on his own he was always listening, and then he let himself when he was ready, but the two of them were still talking. Still nose to nose, eyes shut.

They'd managed to jam their legs into the bottom of the bookshelf, but neither of them looked comfortable.

Come out? She tried to call Shrike as she would food or water, please?

And there he was, still crouched, but next to her and blinking at the sudden location change, falling forward a little as his support was left behind.

He looked around, even as he fell forwards, catching himself on his hands. "Huh, I didn't know you could do that."

"Me neither," her voice didn't sound right, and she took a drink.

She was going to call Eim, but he appeared of his own volition a moment later, worry etching his face.

"Is anyone hurt? Does anyone-"

He cut off, heading towards where Ollie was still curled up on the floor, water-skin clutched in one hand.

Yaris waved a hand at him as he offered her healing. "I'm good, look after Ollie."

It must be difficult, putting all your weight on your forehead like that. They should probably get up.

"Ollie you're being melodramatic," Eim laid a hand on their back. "It's two cuts at best."

He placed his other hand on Yaris's, and then frowned. "Yaris, I have a diagnosis skill, don't try and hide stuff from me."

She stared through him with tired eyes, "didn't know I was."

Her voice didn't sound right either. Everything was so far away. Are my ears okay?

She had switched the boon off, and the conversation was roaring past her like the fire, despite her attempts to focus on it.

She needed to know what they were saying, what was going on, where they were, but she didn't want that in her head. She didn't want that intrusive presence in her-

She blinked at something in the corner of her vision, and a moment later a message in Kobold Scratch popped up, filling her vision. At the same time, it was still just a tiny notice in the corner of her left eye, where she shouldn't have been able to see it.

[Achievement Unlocked: [Rarity: Buttercup]]