The little flap shifted and Gad poked her head outside.

“We’re ready,” she said.

“And Viy?” Kur asked.

“She’ll be okay,” Gad said. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Guess that’s the best we can do. Rel, we're in your hands now. Don’t make me regret this.”

Rel nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. We’re going to walk. Don’t run. There are cannibals with high sense attributes here.”

“Got it,” Kur said.

“If anyone sees us, we need to kill them!” Rel said. “Quietly and fast, before they can raise the alarm. That’s mostly on me and Tuk, so make sure you tell him.”

“I will,” Gad said and her head disappeared.

Rel considered the two of them for a moment.

“I am sick,” she said. “That was not a lie. I can’t sense as well as I used to.”

“Oh,” Kur said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Annoyingly, Nar discovered that he felt the same way.

“I still have some of my [Hearing] and most of my [Sight], but my [Smell] is gone. So, Nar, help me. Please.”

Nar stared at her, too stunned to speak. Kur stepped on his foot.

“Au! Yes, yes. I’ll help you, of course. We’re all getting away.”

Rel offered him a small smile.

“Thank you.”

Nar looked away. “Whatever.”

“Okay, now we’re ready,” Gad said.

She pulled the flap open and the others streamed outside.

“From now on, silence!” Rel whispered.

She started walking, and they fell into an inverted formation behind her, with Nar taking the lead with Kur, and Gad standing at the end of the party with Viy.

The night, or early morning air of the camp was warm and sticky, and the smoke irritated their throats. There was blood everywhere, as well as the remains of what had once been Climbers. The horror displays were everywhere they looked.

That could’ve been us. Still can, Nar thought, pursing his lips.

From inside the cloth constructions, he heard the sounds of breathing and passion. Here and there, he caught the sounds of low whimpering and sobbing, as well as that of worse.

His eyes burned with more than just the smoke, and he felt Kur’s hand tightening on his side.

There’s nothing we can do. Nothing.

He knew that. But it still hurt.

Tuk was right. The only right option was the one that saved everyone.

It wasn’t right that the cannibals could do this without punishment. It wasn’t right for all these Climbers to end up in these bases.

Was it not enough that they had been born in the darkness? Was it not enough that they had to face all those guardians and bridges and sentries on their way up to the surface? Must they also suffer through a seemingly endless horde of cannibals? Must they end up like this? Dying in the most horrible of ways?

He clenched his jaw. He was too weak. The only thing he could do was run away like a coward.

I’m never letting this happen again. I swear by the Crystal! I swear it in my dad’s name! I will be strong. I’ll be so strong that I can always help everyone! I’m never leaving anyone behind like this ever again!

How could he have entertained the thought of abandoning his party at the beginning of his Climb? How had he hesitated between them, and his dad, for so long? How had he not said anything to Tuk? He had been so wrong. So, so wrong, about everything.

He caught movement from the corners of his eyes and Jul slid past them. Her face was set and grim. In her hands, she brandished four daggers.

These weren’t the yellow of the bone daggers that the cannibals used. They were honest to the System, Climber weapons. Though they lacked the many purples of the AUC they had received as a reward from the defence of the cubeplant.

The sight floored him, and as he stared at her, she suddenly vanished into thin air!

“By the Crystal!” Kur whispered. “She’s a rogue!”

A rogue. Master of stealth and sneak attacks. Deadly, close range melee fighters.

Not a scout. But a rogue…

It all clicked. It all made sense! The way she stepped so quietly. The way her senses were so much better than his. The way she had always been able to see in the dark, even all the way back to the tutorial!

Nar gasped!

Was she trying to come clean, right before we got betrayed? Nar asked himself, remembering how she had said she needed to tell him two things.

He followed numbly after Rel, as she guided them around one of the buildings, and found Jul staring at a dead body at her feet. Blood oozed from his throat. The guy probably hadn’t even seen it coming.

Nar couldn’t help but gape at Jul, and she pressed her lips into a fine line, avoiding his gaze.

Rel gestured for them to keep going, and soon, Jul was coming and going, disappearing behind a building and reappearing after another.

They walked past some of her kills. Sloppy open throats and multiple bleeding backstabs, and Nar wondered how many more the rogue was killing around them, beyond their sight. Protecting them from discovery.

This was too much for him. The mix of worry, pride and shock that he felt, did not add up well to everything else he had already gone through. He just quietly followed after Rel, supporting Kur, and staring wide eyed at every new dead body that they found on their way.

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In this way they proceeded. The base felt endless, and every second felt like a minute.

Nar felt like they had been walking for hours already, through that endless labyrinth of brown cloth, smoke and purple fires.

He feared that at every moment, someone was about to discover them. The cannibals had to wake up at some point. And in their injured and depleted state, he didn't want to think about their chances in such a fight. Especially not if they were surrounded by many other camps such as this one.

“Rel?”

They all froze.

Except Rel.

She notched an arrow on her bow in the blink of an eye and had it aimed at Tas before anyone could react. The red party leader already looked much better than when he had left them, hours earlier.

“No, Rel. No,” Tas whispered, his eyes wide. “You can’t...”

“I’m leaving,” Rel said. “I can’t take this anymore!”

Tas raised his hands and took a step forward.

“Stop!” Rel warned him.

The rest of the party formed a semi-circle of menacing weapons around Tas, but he only had eyes for Rel.

“Rel, listen,” he said, very softly. “I spoke to the boss. He knows how to help you. He can get rid of the Yearning.”

Rel’s bow faltered.

“What?”

“I swear I’m not lying. He’s done it before. Many times. You know there’s other alfin here!”

“Yes, and they’re too far gone!” Rel said.

“No, not like that. I meant amongst the party leaders,” Tas said. “Healthy! Sane! He can heal you. We just have to hand them over. He will reward us for it! I’m sure!”

Nar moved his sword ever so slightly. The barest of shifts, just an angle adjustment really. But it would be enough to spear the guy through the heart with one quick burst of [Speed].

Rel’s arrow quivered, and her breath was frantic.

“Rel, come on. No need to fight it,” he said, reaching a hand to her. “Everything will be okay. You can be free.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she whispered.

Nar swallowed. And feared the worst.

Tas grimaced. “The boss told me not to.”

Rel closed her eyes, and Nar shifted his weight forward, ready to drop Tas. However, he wasn’t so sure he could do the same to Rel. Despite his animosity towards her earlier, and despite her betrayal, killing her felt wrong somehow.

Rel flared her nostrils, and glared at Tas.

“No. I’ll never be free here,” she whispered. “And I would rather die than become one of these things!”

Tas’ shoulder sank and he closed his eyes.

“Help! They’re running… Ugh!”

Tas grasped at the arrow jutting from his throat. Blood poured and gurgled out of his mouth as he struggled to breath.

He and Rel stared at each other in shock.

Rel looked at the arrow in disbelief, not understanding what it was doing there, lodged in Tas’ throat. And Tas stared back at her, without hate, without blame. Just confusion.

He crumbled, bleeding. Noises grew around them. Shouts, questions. Sleepy cannibals were getting up in confusion. But they wouldn’t be confused for long.

“We have to run!” Kur said. “Rel, we have to run!”

“I-I, yes! That-No this way!”

She glanced at Tas, dying face down on the dirty floor with empty eyes, and turned around.

She broke into a sprint and they followed after her.

Kur quickly disentangled himself from Nar.

“Kur!”

“I’ll hold on!” he said. “We need you now, Nar.”

Nar nodded and they ran in silence.

Luckily, they had been at the edge of that massive base, and in seconds they were sprinting down clear corridors.

“There are fires burning all the way to the barrier!” Rel shouted. “We’ll be able to see!”

“Thank the Crystal!” Tuk said.

Soon though, Nar could hear the sounds of pursuit from behind them. From ahead. And from every corridor they passed.

“How do they know?” Kur asked, when he told him what he heard.

“The base leaders!” Rel panted. “Each camp is run by one, and they can all talk to each other! No matter where they are!”

“How the fuck can they do that?” Mul asked.

“The boss is powerful,” Rel told them. “More than you can ever imagine. His level is way above ours and he has skills and attributes like you can’t even imagine! And his base and party leaders are all really strong. Stronger than you guys! Our only hope is Cen and Tuk! But if there’s more than one of them blocking us, I don’t know what we’ll do… Turn here!”

“Wait!” Jul shouted. “There’s cannibals there!”

Rel’s arrows whistled through the air, and the cannibals blocking the corridor ahead of them scattered.

Nar ran past her and sliced through the few she had missed, spraying the walls with blood. New blood, that shone viciously on the dried and stained walls.

What the fuck? Did they cover the walls in blood? Crystal… How much blood did that take?

“There’s more!” Jul shouted.

They could all hear them now. A roar was headed towards them.

“Nar, swap with Gad!” Kur said. “And Gad, don’t let them stop us!”

“I won’t!” Gad said.

“Rel, to the back! Mul, behind Gad. Tuk, you focus on the front. Cen, on the back. Viy, you stay with me and Jul!”

They changed positions, reading to fight for their lives.

“I can fight!” Jul said. “Put me with Mul!”

“Jul… Are you sure?” Kur asked her.

“I am! I’m not hiding anymore. And… You can be angry at me after. You all can,” she said, looking down.

“If you kill the fuckers on our way, I swear I’ll be a very happy lengos!” Mul shouted.

“Alright! To the front then!” Kur told her.

“Yes!” she shouted, and took position next to Mul.

“Do you even know how to fight? Besides cutting throats and backstabbing people?”

The rogue hesitated. “I’ve watched you?”

“Oh, Crystal, have mercy!" Mul muttered. "Alright, here’s what you’re going to do…”

More shouts came up from the back and Nar looked behind him.

A horde of frenzied, purple eyed cannibals were chasing right behind them.

“Crystal!” Rel murmured.

“Having regrets?” Nar asked.

“None. I’m either getting out or killing myself.”

“Wik said you couldn’t.”

“I’ll make you kill me then,” she said.

“What? No!”

“You’d rather they get me?” she asked, staring deeply at him.

“I…”

Arrows whistled towards them, and Nar followed his [Instinct] to cut them down.

Rel stared at him.

“What?” he asked.

She shook her head and said nothing.

They kept running, and Nar kept the arrows off their backs. From up ahead, a loud bang resounded through the corridor they were in, and was soon followed by screams.

Gad must have hit the cannibals coming from the front!

Nar spared a look to the bodies that they now walked by. It didn’t look like they were slowing down. They were mowing through them.

“Are these weaker?” he asked Rel.

“Must be a new batch,” Rel said. “The boss goes around gathering them. But he needs to feed them. That’s how they gain attributes.”

“By eating Climbers?” Nar asked. “But we fought cannibals before! They were weaker than us!”

She shook her head. “I’m not really sure, I just know that the boss found a way. And Nar, these cannibals eat a lot of Climbers.”

“Crystal. Just how many Climbers are dying in these bases?”

“A lot, Nar. More than you want to know.”

Nar parried the next volley of arrows.

Crystal! So much suffering! Do You really hate us this much? Why don’t You do anything?

He knew that the guardians fought the cannibals. He had seen their work. But he expected more from the Crystal, Almighty as It was.

He thought of the blinding light and heat. Surely, It could do more. It could do anything? No?

“To the left!” Rel shouted.

Tuk sent his rings ahead of Gad, clearing the path for them, and they turned into a wider corridor. A tall ceiling stood above them, hidden in shadows, and there was enough width for five people to run side by side comfortably.

“Too open!” Nar muttered.

“I only know the one way!” Rel shouted.

Suddenly, there was a massive bang. The kind that a soldier guardian made against Gad’s shield.

“Oh no!” Rel said.

Nar glanced forward, in between parrying arrows.

A large altei woman had blocked their path. In her hands, she held a massive two-handed sword.

Nar’s eyes widened at the sight of it. One hit from that thing, and he would be cleaved in two. And behind her, a mob of cannibals blocked the path, and they were all armed to the teeth with stolen Climber weapons.

From that quick glance, Nar could tell that these cannibals were the real deal. Especially that altei with the big sword.

“Is that a party leader?” Nar asked.

“That’s Lom,” Rel said with a quivering voice. “Oh, my Crystal. Why did it have to be her?”

“Is she strong?”

“One of the strongest! She’s Inner Circle! She's at the top!”

“It’s only one!” Nar said, turning his back to her, to face the incoming cannibals. “They’ll manage!”

“Viiiiiiiiiiiiiyyyy!”

Nar froze. From the throng of bodies running at them, a man with a spear burst through, sending cannibals tumbling. He ran at a speed that made Nar blink twice.

Oh no! Not him…

Something bumped against Nar.

He watched, as though through someone else’s eyes, Viy screech past him, her spear held straight in her hands. She barely sounded human.

“No! Stop!” Rel shouted after her. “Come back! You can’t fight him!”

Viy just kept going, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Yes! Come to me, my love!” Wik shouted, spreading his arms wide.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Nar ran after her.