“Kur!” Gad shouted. “What do we do?”

Nar stared up, frozen in place.

From the green lights that shone from the Sentry, a nightmare of moving limbs and blades descended upon them.

This is not real… He thought. There was no way it could be.

Around them, on all four sides, the Pressure walls had them trapped. There was nowhere to run.

Fighting was impossible and there was nowhere to run to…

“Kur!” Gad shouted.

“I…I…” the party leader worked his mouth, but no orders came from it.

“Kur!” Gad shouted again. “Get it together!”

Kur clenched his jaw and exhaled through his teeth.

“Okay! Okay!”

He shook his shoulders and head.

“Look at me! Everyone, look at me!”

Nar pried his eyes off the incoming tiny guardians, and found his leader standing tall, a resolute expression on his face.

“We’re facing death!” Kur shouted. “And if we’re dead already, we might as well fight without fear!”

He scanned the party, his steady eyes holding their fearful stares.

“There’s a lot of them, but I think those guardians are smaller than the ones we’ve been fighting so far! Like those weaker lookouts. So, Cen and Tuk, focus on those, they might be weaker than we think! Don’t hit the boss yet! Let’s get some breathing room first!”

“On it!” Tuk shouted.

He spun his rings in both hands, and the rings started shooting upwards, leaving bright glinting trails as they sought out the guardians walking across the Sentry.

“Cen!” Mul shouted, shaking her. “Come on! We have to fight!”

Nar looked from Tuk to Cen. Their caster was sitting down, looking dazed at the staff in her hands.

“Leave her!” Kur said. “Mul and Jul, you guys focus on getting the small ones as they come down! Viy, use your reach and try to get some of those bigger ones as they come down too! Again, they look smaller than normal, so I think these will be weaker than what we’ve faced so far!”

Nar was starting to feel the fire lighting within, his heartbeat steady and ready in his chest. Around him, faces before ruled by despair, now took on ready grimaces.

Kur was right. If they were already dead, what was there left to be afraid of?

His dad? Out of his hands now.

His doubts? Inconsequential.

His dreams? Not within his reach.

There was just him, his sword, and his party now.

“Gad, you need to keep your eyes on the boss. It’s big, so I assume it might be slow. But just one of those legs is enough to crush the rest of us to death. You’ll have to stop that.”

“Don’t worry. I will,” Gad said.

She triggered her taunt and the boss bellowed, a guttural, mechanical low reverberation that rumbled in Nar’s chest. However, it did not attack her.

“Nar!”

The two of them locked eyes.

“Do what you can, please,” Kur said. “This is not the end of the line. I refuse to believe that.”

Nar pressed his lips, and nodded.

“I refuse to believe that too,” he said.

He raised his word and tracked the descending enemies. Amongst the tiny guardians, the bigger ones were now coming down too. Those that made it past Tuk’s rings and Viy’s spear would be his target. He wouldn’t let this party go down. And he wouldn't go down either!

You are not the end of me! You are not the end of my dad or our dreams! Nar thought, casting a hateful gaze at the boss.

“Jul! Keep those small ones off of me,” he said.

“I will!”

Her shoulders shook, her chin trembled, but her words sounded firm and true.

Crystal! She’s so brave! Nar thought, pride welling within him. You will overcome it! I swear I’ll see you break the hold they had over you! You will be free!

The thoughts had come unbidden, but Nar knew them to be true. And not just for her. He wanted them all to survive this. He wanted to keep Climbing with all of them. And not just because he needed them. Deep down, he knew that. He just wasn’t ready to accept it yet.

“Here they come!” Kur warned.

The baby guardians dropped.

Nar swatted away one of the things, which had been targeting his face, but otherwise ignored them. He tensed his legs, staring at his first target.

The guardian slid down on a thick wire that came out of the top of its body. In the chaos of falling enemies, both Tuk and Viy had missed it, and it was about to land, ready to wreak havoc amidst the party.

Missed, or left for me? Because they trust me to cover them?

Nar lowered his blade over his shoulder, down until it was almost touching his back.

It all felt so simple now.

Give it your all. Trust the others will do the same.

Was that it?

Was it that simple?

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The walls around them faded for a split second, then they burned back to life, forming a much wider square.

“The walls moved!” Jul shouted. “There’s more space now! It's about 30-feet from side to side!”

“It must be able to control them!” Kur shouted, taking in the falling guardians. “It’s making room for the guardians! Get ready everyone!”

Nar never took his eyes off his target, and when it dropped from its wire, falling the last few feet, Nar lashed forward.

The sword whistled through the air, with all of his [Strength] behind it.

The guardian never even saw it coming.

The blow caved into its body, crumbling the black metal as though it was nothing. The guardian was lifted off its feet, and went flying away from the party.

Nar stared in disbelief as it landed in a heap of broken limbs and rolling parts, quickly catching fire when it reached the Pressure.

“What in the pile…” he muttered.

Just like that?

Laughter bubbled out of his chest. It had been so easy! Kur was right!

He looked up, searching for his next prey.

His laughter died in his throat.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

Guardians kept leaping off the boss, their limbs grotesque dark shadows under that eerie green light.

So many…

“Watch out! Here they come!” Kur shouted.

Here came the real attack. The boss had first needed to make enough room for all of the guardians to land around them. To surround them.

Perhaps, their Climb was about to end there.

Perhaps, they didn’t have it in them to atone, and this was their limit.

Nar gripped his sword tighter, and clenched his jaw.

I’m not done yet. I’m not ready to give up yet.

The image of his dad, dying alone in the dark, had plagued him for days. He had done his best to bury it, to keep it away from his thoughts, but now, he recalled it. He called it forth in all its heart shattering detail. He called it to remind him of what was at the stake.

I promised. And I will keep my promise.

Guardians dropped in successive thuds around the party and Nar raised his sword.

“Kur, I need to use my skills!” he shouted.

Kur stared at him, frozen by indecision, then he nodded.

“Do it! But try to limit it,” he said. “And that goes for everyone as well! Use your skills, but mind that we can’t see our stamina! It has to be low already!”

“Yes, sir!” Tuk shouted, grinning madly.

Nar took a deep breath.

Here we go… [Quickening]!

Pain spiked inside his head, and his body jolted, his spine contracting as energy flooded him.

He grit his teeth, not sure of what was happening. Was this happening because he had never used the skill before? He hoped that that was the case, as wave after wave of energy rocked his body, radiating from the center of his chest.

Then, it was done.

3 seconds.

He allowed his torso to lean forward, then pushed against the floor.

In a blink, he was there, his sword coming down on the unsuspecting guardian, smashing through without resistance.

He spun, searching with sight and [Hearing], and jumped at the next guardian.

One down. Two down. Three down.

The energy coursing through him evaporated, and his movements slowed down. His 3 seconds were up.

For a moment, Nar stared, stunned, at the trail of destruction behind him.

For those 3 seconds, he had felt… He had felt… He didn't even know how to describe it.

He had seriously underestimated that [Quickening] skill. And the skill was only at its base level. Once it got upgraded…

“Nar! They’re coming at us!”

Kur’s shout woke him from his dazed incredulity.

More guardians had reached the floor, and now dozens of them were scuttling towards the party.

“Viy, change to the ones on the floor! Cen? Cen! We need you!” Kur shouted.

“Cen! Come on!” Mul shouted at his catatonic sister.

If even one of us doesn’t do their part… Nar thought, grimly, staring at the frozen caster.

He shook his head. It was not for him to solve. It was for Kur and Mul to get her into the fight. His job was to make sure they didn’t get crushed from all sides.

Resolving to conserve his stamina for now, having given the party some breathing room, Nar ran at the closest guardian.

As if the big ones weren’t enough, more and more of the tiny guardians fell on their heads as well.

One of them latched onto his shoulder, making him cry out in pain and surprise. Jul ripped it off from him, trailing blood in its wake, and threw it on the floor, stomping on it.

“Get that one!” she said, pointing at another guardian. “It’s going for Tuk!”

Nar didn’t reply. He just acted.

Tuk noticed the incoming attack, the blades shining green as they sped towards his back.

Nar thrust his sword into the guardian’s back instead, and gripping the weapon in both hands, lifted the twitching killing machine above his head, and threw it away from the party.

“Thanks, man!” Tuk shouted, his eyes never leaving the enemy, his rings never stopping.

“Over there!” Jul shouted, directing him again.

Nar mentally thanked her for her instructions, and ran at the guardian threatening Kur.

Together, she focusing on the tiny guardians, and he following her instructions to kill the bigger ones before they could hurt anyone, they somehow managed to hold on. Gad weaved in and out of the fight, lending a hand here and there. However, her main focus was on the boss, which had yet to make its move.

We can do this! Nar thought, elated. We can do this!

Jul moved with speed and efficiency, crushing tiny guardians before they had a chance to cause any serious injury. Her earlier fear seemed to have blown away, and there was no hesitation in her actions.

There is hope for you yet, Jul! Nar thought, smiling despite the situation.

However, it felt as though no matter how many of the things they killed, more and more kept coming down at the party.

He risked a quick glance up, as his latest enemy twitched at his feet.

Nar had first assumed that the guardians had been coming out of the boss’ large body, but there was no way that all of those things could have fit inside it. And if that meant they were coming from somewhere else, then that also meant their numbers could very well be endless.

The boss could simply stay where it was, hanging over them, and let their numbers exhaust the party, ending them without having to actually do anything.

“Kur!” he called. “There’s no end to these things!”

“I know!” the party leader shouted back. “We need to attack the boss!”

“How? We can’t even reach it!”

Kur considered Cen, still looking lost.

“We’ll have to do the best we can!” he said. “Tuk?”

“I hear you, boss!” the trugger replied.

“It’s on you now! And Gad, get ready in case it decides to attack us!”

Nar watched expectantly as Tuk shifted his focus to the enormous, green lit enemy. The rings blurred upwards, bouncing against the large body of the boss. Since it was so much bigger than normal guardians, its movements slower and more ponderous, it was much easier for the trugger to hit.

His rings found their mark in non-stop, rapid succession, and Tuk kept up the assault for a solid ten seconds before the boss took notice.

The enormous machine roared, and one of its legs moved ominously over the party.

“Here it comes!” Kur shouted. “Tuk don’t stop!”

Nar paled as the shadow covered them. That thing had to be at least 10-feet in diameter!

“Don’t worry! I got this!” Gad shouted, lifting up her shield with both hands.

Nar gaped, frozen, as the massive limb came down on them.

It made contact with Gad’s shield, and their tank yelled, throwing everything she had to keep it from coming down any lower.

“Nar, cover her!” Kur shouted.

Nar woke up from his stupor. Kur was right. The guardians were already heading for Gad. If they got to her, if they brought her down…

He ran to her.

No, I won’t let them!

He weaved and spun madly around the tank, keeping his head tucked low so as to not hit the boss’ limb.

Viy spear’s thrust in, from time to time, at the corner of his eyes, catching those guardians that Nar didn’t have time to stop, but for the most part, she tried to put as much damage as she could onto that limb, while it was still within reach.

Mul was now the one covering for the party, even as Nar protected Gad. The job of keeping the tiny, scurrying guardians under control was still in Jul’s hands, and Kur had joined her in the effort.

Gad groaned under the strain of the boss’s might, her body shaking.

“Hang in there!” Nar told her. “You can do it!

Tuk’s assault was unrelenting, but Crystal knew how much HP that damned thing had to have.

Suddenly, the weight lifted, and Gad tumbled forward, gasping.

As the shadow cleared, a much brighter green shone from above them.

Nar looked up.

The green circles across the boss’ bulbous end were emitting a bright, green mist.

“Poison!” Kur cried. “Watch out!”

You’ve got to be kidding me… Nar thought.

The mist spread to engulf the entirety of the boss, bathing it in an even more nightmarish light, which slowly descended towards them.

“What do we do?” Mul shouted. “There’s nowhere to go!”

If that poison was the paralyzing one, they were screwed. If it was the damaging type instead, they were still screwed. There was no way to avoid it. Not with the walls of Pressure, and not with the guardians running amok in their midst.

The poison would fall, and they would breathe it in. It would eat through their HP in a matter of seconds, and consume them from within.

The boss leaned closer, rumbling his roar at them, and two ponderous limbs moved to crash down on them.

This was it.

This was the end.

Nar watched it coming, powerless. There was nothing they could do.