Nar carried Viy away from the frenzy of wet sounds. They walked past Rel and Cen, who looked pale at the scene unfolding behind them.

“Cen!” Nar called.

“I-On it!” she stammered, and started charging another projectile.

Breathing through his teeth and nose to endure the pain from his side, Nar continued further into the party. That spear to his ribs had taken almost all of the fighting he had left in him, but there was still something else that only he could do.

With a grunt he dumped Viy onto Kur.

“Hey! Watch…”

“Hold on to her!” Nar shouted.

He stepped past them, not giving Kur a chance to do anything but drop his shield and do his best to keep both him and Viy from falling.

Nar sensed the arrow coming and parried it. It was almost lazy.

The arrow bounced off the wall and nearly hit Tuk, but Nar could only do so much.

“Tuk!” he shouted, with an energy and strength he didn’t know where he found. “I’m here now!”

The rings shone past Nar’s head.

The archer that had been keeping Tuk pinned down was mid-motion, and could do nothing. Just as he released another arrow, one of Tuk’s rings went in through his eye and out through his head.

Nar stopped the cannibals' final arrow and watched the carnage unfold with glee.

Tuk’s lips were curled and his nostrils flared. His eyes blazed with hatred as his rings mowed down everything before the party.

Suddenly there was room. Jul got under the huge sword and stabbed the other party leader on the side.

On the other side, Mul shattered one of her kneecaps in a spray of blood and bone. The altei came down on her good knee, and Gad, mighty, stalwart Gad, who had kept them all alive, brought her mace down on the cannibal’s face, and ended her.

Behind them, another explosion of [Aura] shook the corridor. Nar could tell that that one had been a full blast.

“Rel, how much longer?” Kur asked, struggling to hold Viy with his injuries.

“Five more minutes!”

“Gad! You heard her! Go! Take us out of this nightmare!” he shouted.

Gad stepped forward. Slowly at first, but she soon gained momentum. She must have felt as drained as Nar did, and he didn’t even bother checking his or her stamina. It didn’t matter.

The corridors blurred into purple faces, blood and arrows. Nar kept their backs safe, but there were less archers now, which was a fortunate thing, given his state.

Every step felt like it was going to be his last.

His heart threatened to give up inside his chest, and his vision faded in and out.

He relied solely on his [Instinct] and normal eyesight now, to stop those few arrows. He had no more strength to hold on to his [Sight] or [Hearing], but, against those fewer arrows, it was enough.

Once in a while, Rel would stop to fire at the cannibals, and then sprint to catch back up to them.

She wheezed and gasped and Nar’s chest welled with emotion, knowing she was doing that for him. She was only targeting the cannibals that had bows.

Despite their second wind, however, the cannibals slowly encroached on them. They were fresh and rested, not exhausted from betrayal, a night in a cage and a mad run against hundreds of enemies.

Kur was busy carrying Viy, who had fully passed out, so he couldn’t carry Cen. That meant they had lost her [Aura Projectiles]. And Tuk was too busy clearing and downing anything that tried to block their path, and his job was the most important now.

Exhausted as they were, if they got caught again, especially by party leaders, it would be the end of them.

They had to make it all the way to that barrier now, without stopping even once.

By the Crystal’s mercy! Where is that thing! Nar wondered, despairing at the endless purple corridors they ran down through.

And then they turned, and it was finally there.

A large corridor greeted them. It was massive, more hall than corridor. It was easily over 100-feet wide and tall, and rather than purple, the whole place shone with a strong, but pale orange. The light came from a wall of the same color.

The barrier!

The barrier covered the entirety of the corridor, from ceiling to floor, from wall to wall.

And between them and the barrier, a hundred cannibals awaited them. A base was here, blocking the path.

Nar almost cried. He had forgotten the barrier was guarded.

Do You want me to die that much? Nar asked of the Crystal. Just how much do You hate me?

“Don’t stop!” Kur shouted, raising his voice to be heard above the chaos. “Into them! Give it your all! We’re almost there!”

Gad plunged into the cannibals like a pileslide. These cannibals were strong, but she was desperate. She had a party to protect.

Tuk’s rings were flying everywhere, spraying fresh blood onto the dirty, clothed walls of the buildings around them. And now that they were stopped, Cen could turn her terrifying [Aura] to bear on all of them. She pointed her staff all around her, blasting cannibals and buildings alike.

Tears of blood ran down her face, and Nar noticed that her quick [Aura Projectile]s were much more powerful than usual.

Is she using…

But he didn’t have time to finish that thought. The cannibals from behind had arrived, and Nar found himself fighting and stepping backwards to keep them from the others.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Almost there! Almost there!

He didn’t dare use skills anymore. He didn’t know how much stamina he had left and he couldn’t risk it! Not with the end so close now!

Rel’s bow darted in and out of his field of vision. She must have run out of arrows and was wielding her bow like a club, doing all that she could to stay in the fight.

[Aura] suddenly exploded around them, and the pressure eased.

“Come on!” he heard Kur shout.

He turned back and saw that they had made it. By the Crystal, they had made it! The barrier was right there!

“Run!” Cen said.

Blood ran down her face and ears, but she kept the barrage going to cover them. Behind her, he could see the other’s outlines, already safely within the barrier. Only Kur, Cen, Rel and Nar were left.

Nar abandoned the fight and stepped heavily towards his salvation.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Four.

Five.

Six.

He reached a hand to the barrier.

It wasn’t solid as it appeared from afar. Static run upwards from the floor, the Pressure flowing upwards, in great jagged arrow shapes that joined to form the barrier.

I made it! Nar thought, tears shining through at the corner of his eyes.

One more step and he would plunge into it. Crystal! Never did he think he’d be so happy to jump face first into a wall of Pressure. Surprisingly, he felt no heat from it. He felt nothing at all other than the promise of safety.

Rel screamed behind him.

Nar turned his head, freezing mid step. He had sprinted past her.

A cannibal with a curved sword had her hair in his fist and was dragging her back, away from salvation

“Rel!” Cen shouted.

The lengos had thought them safe and she was already halfway into the barrier. Kur pushed her in, and looked wild eyed at Rel.

Nar knew that he was about to go and get her. He was not a fighter, and Rel was responsible for getting them in that mess. But she had gotten them out of it, and Kur had given his word.

Nar moved before Kur could. This was it, after this, he had no more to give.

His sword thrust straight at the cannibal's face. He parried it, but Kur was there and he yanked Rel from his grasp. She screamed again as a tuft of her hair was ripped clean off her scalp.

But Kur didn’t stop. He dragged her back while Nar retreated, keeping the cannibal’s sword busy. The man, his skin a strange yellow, with several short spikes protruding from his bony face and body, snarled and spat at him, trying to cut him. But Nar held, just barely.

Then, his [Instinct] exploded!

He had never felt such a strong rush of danger, fear and horror before. It was like a physical blow, slamming into his head.

Nar gasped and did the only thing he could do.

He allowed himself to fall backwards into the Pressure.

Suddenly, a hand was there, just where his head had been.

Nar fell, holding onto his sword, and quickly pushed himself up again, driven by the mad heartbeat inside him, and the dread that had overruled his mind.

The hand pressed against the barrier.

Nar followed it to its owner, and found that it belonged to a man that hadn’t been there before. A man he was sure had been nowhere nearby, given how late his [Instinct] had reacted. Had he just appeared out of nowhere?

Who…

Pain and the heat crushed him out of nowhere. Nar doubled over, bent under the sudden weight of the Pressure. He almost fell forward, out of the barrier and into the man that waited for him there. Waited for Nar to give up, and walk out on his own.

Nar angled his body to stumble backwards, and collapsed to the floor once more.

The Pressure ground his bones. His heart strained, miserably, to keep him alive, but that was it. He was spent.

Nar couldn’t move anymore.

All he could do was lay there, crushed under the Pressure as his body burned to nothing, gasping weakly for air, as he choked.

At least it would be fast. There would be no torture for him. It was a mercy.

I’m sorry dad. I gave it my all. I really did. But I was too late. I should have listened. I should have trusted them. Cared for them… Just like you told me. I’m sorry.

That was it. The end.

An extra weight fell upon him. Little hands shook him, and he felt the brush of lips against his ear.

“Use you [Aura]!” Cen shouted. “Nar! You need to use your [Aura]!”

Aura?

“Push it out of you, Nar!” Cen shouted. “Push it into your sword!”

So that was how it was.

I was right…

He had been right all along. They were being forced to use their [Aura]. More and more, through each obstacle, through each challenge that cleansed them of their sin, they were forced to rely more and more on their [Aura].

And so, they had arrived at this point. The System wasn’t even hiding it anymore. You either used your [Aura] now, or you died.

Is there even any magic for us? Nar asked the Crystal. Or is that just something we made up? In reality, are we just meant to be shackled with our [Aura] for all of our lives, no matter where we are?

Nar closed his eyes.

He had no words.

“Nar! Come on!” Cen shouted, shaking him harder. “You can do it!”

Can I?

He had shunted off his [Aura]. He had abhorred the mere thought of touching it ever again, and fittingly, when he had needed it, it had not come. It had wanted nothing to do with him, just like he did not want anything to do with it.

He was sure that, somewhere out there, away from these endless corridors and darkness, there was a word for his situation and for the feeling that twisted his stomach. He idly wished the workers had not forgotten about it.

“Nar! You can do it! We all did! Even Gad! Just pretend you’re operating the machine!”

I did, Cen, I did. It didn’t work.

She shouted and shook him.

“Your sword is just like the receptor! Just do it!”

She looked so sad. So desperate. So scared for him.

He felt loss cease his heart.

Alright. Alright. I’ll try. For you…

That was the least he could do.

Nar closed his eyes, and sank down into himself.

Down and down he went. Deeper and deeper into himself, where it got darker and darker. Darker even than the absolute dark of the B-Nex.

Here, do you feel it? Right where my finger is touching.

The memory of that finger, gently touching the center of his chest, guided him, and there was light.

Little shards of it, flowing up past him in the void.

Memories.

The last time he had held his mother’s hand.

The heavy body he dumped into the recycler.

Him, puking blood on the factory floor.

His dad’s gentle voice as he carried him back home.

His dad telling him a bad joke just as Nar faced down at the receptor. Another day of labor waiting for him.

The receptor…

He reached out to it and light flooded the void.

Nar gasped and sat upright.

Air and Pressure flooded his lungs and he breathed in like he had never before.

“You did it!”

Nar looked about him, wild eyed.

“Can you stand?” Cen asked. “We need to get out of this!”

Nar nodded, not trusting himself to be capable of any words.

However, before he could move, the relief was pushed aside by the onset of a familiar sick feeling. Of the wrongness, and pain of a different kind.

Aura gathered in his veins, seeking a way out of his body. He usually just pushed it into the receptor, but now there was nothing for him to push his [Aura] into. His sword was in his hand, but he had no idea what to do.

Cen had told him to push it into his blade, but how?

With nowhere to go, the [Aura] started to rebound inside him. It was destroying him, as sure as the Pressure had.

“Hurry!” Cen shouted.

She did her best to help him stand, and slowly, he managed it. Blood flowed freely from his nose, eyes and ears now.

As Nar stood on trembling legs, he met the gaze of the cannibal who still awaited on the other side of the barrier.

Of course. Rel even told us. They can’t cross because they’ve lost their [Aura]. Damn it. It both saves and dooms me.

The man’s eyes blazed purple, staring at him from deep beneath a piece of cloth that covered his face. Only the eyes were visible, and the cloth was filthy. The man was tall, taller than Nar, and his naked torso was framed by well-formed and powerful muscles.

At that moment, Nar realized that he had almost died. A split second less, and this man would’ve caught him. And something in his mind told him, with no doubts whatsoever, that if that man had grabbed him, there was nothing Nar could’ve done.

Cen tugged at his hand and Nar remembered where he was.

With one last look at the cannibal, the ex-Climber that would never be able to cross through that barrier, Nar turned and walked away, letting Cen drag him along.

The barrier turned out to be much longer than he expected. Every step shot a ripple of pain up into his body, and Nar expected to drop at any moment. At some point, Cen collapsed against his leg.

“Nar… I can’t… Used… Much…” she mumbled, her eyes rolling up.

Nar only had enough presence of mind to bend down, putting his weight on the sword, and to grab her by the shirt. He barely lifted her unconscious body off the floor, and like that, bent over, he kept walking.

At some point he went blind. Or maybe the memory was just erased from his mind.

All he could remember was walking in darkness.

Walking.

Walking.

One step after the other, as [Aura] and Pressure both, competed to see who could kill him first.

After an eternity of heat, pain and darkness, he felt hands pulling him forward and he allowed himself to let go.