“I’m not setting myself on fire, Mul! Relax!” Cen yelled at her brother.

She tried to pry her hand from Mul’s, but the brawler held steadfast.

“I don’t want you to burn yourself!” he protested.

“I don’t want that either, but I need to feel it first!”

Nar watched the back and forth from a few steps away.

Cen and Mul stood right by the edge of the corridor. Around them, Tuk, Kur and Gad stood the closest to them. Viy was sitting, her expression vacant, a few steps behind Gad. The tank insisted on having her close at all times now, and Viy always complied without a word. That left Nar, Jul and Rel to watch from a couple steps back, behind the others.

In the end, the night had gone without any nasty surprises, peaceful and quiet. They had gotten their rest, and Kur had decided that the morning was as good a time as any, for them to start figuring out how they were going to get across.

“Enough, enough,” Gad said. She stepped in and gently separated the siblings. “You’re right by the edge. Do you want to fall in?”

Mul exhaled and threw his hands up in the air.

“None of you have family here! You don’t know what it feels like to have to watch this!”

Gad stared at him. “I consider you all my family. Even you, as annoying as you can be.”

Mul blinked at her, working his mouth into words that he failed to form. Nar, standing a few steps away from the conversation, couldn’t help the strange swelling of emotion that Gad’s nonchalant declaration incited within him.

“Now, Cen, be careful, okay?” Gad said, moving on past everyone’s stunned expressions. “Don’t hurt yourself more than necessary.”

“I-I… Yeah, of course. I won’t.”

Gad took position right behind her and bent down to squeeze her shoulders.

“Go on then, I’m right behind you.”

Still reeling from Gad’s declaration, Cen managed a half nod and turned to face the invisible boundary.

She took a deep breath and raised a slightly shaking hand forward.

Nar winced as he watched her fingers slowly itching forward. He had already experienced the burning pain, and knew what was coming.

“Ow!”

Cen yanked her hand backwards and held it with her other hand.

“Cen!”

“I’m okay!” she said, before Mul could panic. “It was just a burn.”

“Let me see!” Mul demanded, stepping closer.

He pulled her hand gently from her, and examined her finger tips.

“It’s a bit dark, but it looks fine.”

Cen extracted her hand from him and waved it in the air in front of his face. “I said it was fine.”

“Did you get anything from that?” Kur asked.

The caster shook her head. “Only what we knew already. This Pressure is so much stronger than that barrier we crossed. It will burn us completely if we just walk into it.”

“What do we do then?” Tuk asked, staring up at the bright orange ceiling.

Cen pulled out her staff from her inventory, and gripped it firmly in one hand.

“Let me try again. With [Aura] active this time.”

Mul stared at her, and then at Gad, standing tall right behind his sister. He took a deep breath and nodded.

Cen offered him a smile of reassurance, to which Mul replied with a short, bewildered chuckle.

“Go on then,” he said. “Get it over with.”

Cen took a deep breath as well, and nodded. Then turned to face the endless room.

She held the staff aloof in her left hand, and light began to gather at its tip, just like when she used her [Aura Projectile], though Nar noticed that it wasn’t as bright.

She reached forward again.

“Ouch!”

“Cen!”

“It’s fine, dammit! Look! Not even red,” she said, quickly showing her fingers to Mul. “I just wanted to see what would happen if I didn’t go all out.”

She looked down at her staff, which still shone, pushing back against the orange light. “I’ll go all out now.”

The light at the tip of her staff grew in intensity, and Nar had to shield his eyes against it. He peered through his fingers, to see what Cen was doing.

“It works!” she shouted.

Her entire hand was into the room, and she moved it back and forth, testing it.

“It’s really heavy though,” she said. “I can actually feel the Pressure on my fingers! It’s thick, like jell-o, and it like it fights against you.”

“And we need to walk through that?” Tuk asked. “And sleep in it?”

“I don’t know,” Cen said, squinting at her hand. “I hope we can do something. Maybe if I…”

She stepped forward and they all gasped.

“Cen!” Mul shouted.

If not for Kur’s quick reaction, Mul would have plunged right in after her.

“Wait! Look at her! She’s fine!” Kur shouted.

Nar stepped forward, closer to the Pressure, to get a better look and to be ready for anything, knowing that he was the fastest in the party, [Aura] or not.

The light at the end of Cen’s staff did not reach him anymore. He could still see its shape, but it was entirely coated in orange. And so was Cen.

She turned, slowly, and mouthed words, but no sound reached them.

“We can’t hear you!” Mul shouted. “Come back!”

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

Cen nodded, but then, she frowned at something they couldn’t see.

“Cen?” Gad shouted. “I don’t think we can hear each other.”

“That’s crazy,” Tuk said. “I can’t see anything other than the Pressure around the columns and the ceiling. But Cen is completely covered in orange…”

“She needs to come back,” Kur said, waving at Cen and motioning for her to return.

“Do I pull her out?” Nar asked, not taking his eyes off the orange lengos.

“Wait!” Kur said, still gesturing at Cen.

Cen finally caught the movement and stared at Kur. Her eyes looked strangely distant and unfocused to Nar, and he got ready to jump in. Before he could act though, Cen stepped out on her own accord.

She collapsed on the floor, gasping and coughing, and Mul and Gad knelt next to her.

“Are you ok?” Mul asked, checking her body for wounds and burns.

“Ye-Yes,” Cen said. “I think so!”

“You’re shaking!” Gad said. “What happened?”

“T-Too strong,” Cen stammered. “Stamina… Drained.”

“All of it?” Nar asked.

Cen jerked her head. “Almost.”

Nar glanced at the party view and saw that she was right. What had, just a few moments ago, been a full bar of stamina, now Cen’s display was showing an almost entirely depleted 10/80 points of stamina.

“That was barely a few seconds!” Tuk said, looking down at the caster. “How?”

“Alright! Alright! Everyone calm down,” Kur said. He pushed Nar and Tuk back. “Let’s give her some space and let her catch her breath. Cen, calm down first, ok? We can talk after you feel better.”

Cen managed a nod and Mul glared at them all to go away and leave them be, so they left her in his and Gad’s care.

They gathered a few steps behind them, back at their original sleeping site.

“This is insane,” Tuk said. “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

His profile was a tall silhouette against the orange glow, so Nar couldn’t really make his expression.

“We need to be patient,” Rel said. “Let her calm down first. Then we can try to figure it out.”

Tuk sat down heavily. “Maybe this was a dead end after all.”

“It’s not a dead end, Tuk,” Kur said.

He and Jul helped Viy sit down.

“The path took us here,” Jul said, once Viy was comfortably seated. “There is no other path.”

“I know, I know. Sorry,” Tuk said. “It’s just. Cen has more [Aura] than us, and the best control, and she didn’t even last a minute!”

“We’ll figure it out,” Nar said.

That finally seemed to get through to Tuk.

“Whatever it takes,” Nar said.

Tuk regarded him for a moment. They all did, hanging onto the implied meaning in Nar’s words. Nar, for his part, stared out towards the orange Pressure.

I’m tired of this. Tired of running. Tired of guilt and pain and being afraid. If Cen can go into it, so can I.

It was time to take that damn [Aura] under his control. Whatever it took. Whatever it cost.

*********

“Nar, you don’t have to do this,” Cen told him. No. Pleaded with him.

The two of them held hands, and stood together at the edge of the corridor. They stood close, her shoulder touching his waist, taking comfort from one another.

“I have to, Cen,” he said. “I can go alone, though.”

“We’re not having this conversation again. We’re going together, or not at all!”

Nar smiled at her, and squeezed her hand.

“Thank you.”

“No need for that,” Cen said. “We’re a party. We stand together, or we fall together. That’s all there is to it.”

Nar nodded and faced forward. He held his sword on his right hand, while Cen held her staff on her left.

“Ok, first the sword, right?” he asked.

“Yes. You can do it, Nar. I know you can.”

Nar looked down at his sword.

His trusty sword had kept him alive this far out, through guardians, cannibals, Pressure and darkness. He knew it would never let him down.

Ok. Just you and me then.

He reached down to where he always went in search of his [Aura] and tried not to recoil from it when he sensed it.

It was like a malignant entity within him. Something that didn’t belong. Something worthy of fear and disgust.

My dad told me to forget it. And yet, after everything, here we are. It never left me, not for a single second.

He pulled the [Aura] onto his body, feeling it spreading from under his solar plexus, at the exact center of his chest.

Like before, he felt it coursing through his veins, slowly cutting its way across his entire body. Nar pressed his jaw tightly closed, to make sure no sound of pain or protest could escape his lips.

We’re going all the way this time! He told himself.

He realized he had closed his eyes at some point and forced them back open.

The blade shone, but only at the start, as usual, and its hazy gray glow was weak, a mockery of the other’s [Aura] when they called upon it.

More. I need more.

He pulled more [Aura] into himself, forcing it across his body, down his arm, and onto the sword.

The glow brightened, and began to climb higher up the blade. However, he didn’t get to celebrate his meager victory.

At that moment, his lungs seized, and he found himself unable to breathe.

“Nar?” Cen asked, sounding very far. “Are you okay?”

Nar didn’t reply. He couldn’t.

His heart hammered in his chest.

He had pushed through, yes… But now, it was out of his control.

He tried to suck in some air, to force it down his suddenly tight throat. At the same time, he tried to ignore the need to be sick.

The sense of wrongness threatened to take over him.

It screamed at him to stop! That he was damaging himself! That this was not the way! To let go. To let go immediately!

No. No more running! I’m tired. I’m sick of this!

And with a willpower forged from the age of five, pounded and molded by every 16-hour double shift, every single day of his life, without rest, without sick days, without respite or mercy, he both pulled and pushed.

The blade vanished in a blinding flare of white, pushing back the orange glow and claiming the surrounding area for itself.

The others, bathed in the light of his [Aura], covered their eyes and cried out in surprise.

“By the Crystal, you did it!” Cen shouted. “And it's so strong! I can feel it… I can feel it!”

Nar tried to speak, but he couldn’t.

Everything within him screamed. It begged for him to stop and to let go.

This was all wrong!

“Nar? Nar!”

He couldn’t reply.

“Something’s wrong!” Cen shouted to the others. “Help!”

“Nar, let go of it!” Gad said in his ear. “That’s too much!”

But he couldn’t let go of it.

If he did, he would have to do it again later. He would have to face that pain again. The lack of air, his bursting heart, his screaming head.

The feeling of wrongness morphed into something else. A certainty that went beyond a simple warning.

He couldn’t go back, however. He couldn’t do it again.

He let go of Cen’s hand and stepped forward by himself

The Pressure was indescribable. It was heat and weight beyond anything he had ever felt. It was beyond measure.

Inch by inch, he was forced lower. He was being humbled. Made to bow to this mighty power, whatever it was.

I can do it! I can do it!

He pulled on even more [Aura], and lifted his foot to take another step into the room. He cared neither for HP nor stamina at this stage. All he wanted was to beat that damned thing into submission.

His whole life had been dictated by aura, and now, he was going to make it heed, and submit to him, once and for all! He had served and suffered at its hands for years, and now, it was time for it to serve him.

And I’m not going to stay behind either!

His foot came down, bringing him deeper into the room, closer to the end of the Climb and all that it promised.

And that was when something gave inside him.

His sword’s glow waned as his [Aura] recoiled from him. The Pressure pushed in, hungry and voracious to devour him. To reduce him to nothing.

Big, strong hands grabbed him by the shoulder and neck, and he was pulled backwards. Back into safety.

He collapsed onto Gad’s strong arms and they both went down.

He rolled over, away from her, and emptied his guts onto the floor. A hand rubbed his back, but he barely felt it as he puked again.

“Gad!”

“I’m okay. It’s just a slight burn,” Gad said. “How’s he? Is he burned?”

“He’s puking blood!” Tuk said, horrified. “Just blood! And there’s more coming out of his ears and his eyes. It-It’s everywhere!”

“Come on, give him some space,” Kur said. “His HP took a beating, let him recover!”

“Is he going to recover?” Mul asked.

“Mul!” his sister yelled.

“I’m just worried for him! This is my fault! I shouldn't have said those things!”

“No, you shouldn’t have. But it doesn’t matter now. Come over here, just let him be.”

Nar, having puked all he had to, tethered forward, but hands steadied him.

“I got him,” Kur said. “I got you, Nar, you hear? You’re ok!”

Nar stared at the dark pool of gloopy liquid in front of him.

“I can't do it,” he whispered.

“Don’t say that!” Cen said. “It will be ok! We’ll figure this out!”

“It hurts to do it. I don’t want to.”

“Why is this happening?” Jul demanded in fear. “Why does it hurt like this? It’s so much worse than what I feel!”

“I don’t know!” Cen said. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“Is that because he has so much more than we do?” Kur asked. “Is [Aura] not the answer after all?”

“No! I refuse to believe that!” Cen shouted. “There has to be a way. There has to be a reason why this is happening.”

“What reason is there for this?” Mul asked. “For all this suffering?”

“We’re just doing it wrong! That’s all!” Cen insisted.

“I hope you’re right. But maybe just in case, we should try something else?” Kur asked.

“I was just thinking the same,” Gad said. “Jul, maybe you can have a look around us, please? Maybe there’s something we missed.”

“I’ll go right now!” Jul said.

“Wait. We don’t… Ugh! Why don’t you listen to me?” Cen asked.

“Cen, we are listening,” Mul said, his tone flat. “But look at him. We need to at least consider an alternative. Besides, look at his stamina. It went down by half. And look at your stamina! How are we meant to cross, if it just burns away like that?”

“I just need to figure it out!” Cen said, and walked away from them, back to the Pressure that blocked them.

“You rest, Nar,” Kur said. “We’ll figure this out. And don’t worry. We all go, or no one does. Nobody is going to be left behind.”