That word alone meant a whole Nexus to the party by now.

“What do we do?” Kur asked, looking between the two.

Jul closed her eyes and tilted her head, her antennae angling towards something to their right.

Following her example, Nar brought up his [Hearing] as well. He didn’t hear anything.

“Aura!” Jul shouted. “Increase your auras! Now!”

Nar heard it then, a great rushing sound, like the air was being pushed out ahead of a great incoming force.

Just as he heard it, he felt the first comings of that breeze.

It was sweltering hot. Even through his aura.

“What is it?” he asked Jul.

However, he had a feeling he already knew.

The image of the nightmare from the previous night flashed before his eyes. An impossibly tall wall of Pressure, from which there was no escape.

“Pressure,” Jul said, her eyes wide. “Nar, it must be huge. I don’t know if…”

Nar and Kur stared at each other at the same time, then Nar glanced at Gad.

“Gather around!” Cen shouted, before the two of them could speak. “Everyone, all together! Maybe we can join our auras.”

“Is that possible?” Kur asked, as they ran to each other. “I know they can touch but…”

“I don’t know! But it might work!” Cen said.

“We might as well try!” Gad said, pushing Viy into the center of the hastily formed circle.

Kur stared at them all, huddled together in a tight circle, but not quite touching yet, faces filled with confusion and uncertainty.

“Hurry!” Jul shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

The breeze was now a blowing, howling gale, as the air was pushed forward, screeching through the gaps in between the columns.

With his heart beating in panic inside his chest, Nar looked around at the party as they huddled around Viy. On the other side of her, he saw that Kur and Gad were standing side by side.

“Not like that!” Nar shouted, without time for niceties. “Let me through!”

He pushed past Viy, and inserted himself between Gad and Kur. Two of the weakest party members, in aura terms, should not be standing side by side. It felt like it was a disaster waiting to happen to have such a weak link in the circle.

“Good idea!” Cen shouted.

“Sorry! I should have thought about it!” Gad said.

“Don’t worry about it!” Nar replied.

“Hurry!” Jul shouted, from the other side of the circle.

“Quick, everyone, hang on to each other!” Kur shouted. “Viy, I’ll hang on to you!”

“It’s coming!” Jul said. “It’s… Here.”

Nar lifted his eyes, and his jaw dropped.

A wall of roiling orange, of the same color as that in the ceiling, rushed towards them. It blew past the columns, splashing as though it was liquid in form, and roaring as it swallowed the distance to them in mere seconds.

The wind burned, and even through his aura, he felt his eyes watering, his skin screaming at the rise in temperature.

A ringing sounded in his ears, from very, very fair away, and Nar closed his eyes, pulling frantically for more aura.

Then, like the greatest of all guardians, the Pressure roared and blew through them, intent on stripping the flesh from their bones, and reducing even those to ash and then to nothingness.

Like a burning, thick liquid, Nar felt currents dashing past him, breaking upon and through the party. He could feel his very hair floating about him.

Unable to help himself, Nar opened his eyes to a now strangely silent Nexus of chaotic oranges and angry sparks of brighter orange. Here and there, like licks of flame, dashes of red burst into existence, forming long ribbons before disappearing.

It’s beautiful… he thought, without meaning to.

He could feel the heat, and the tremendous weight that pushed down on him, but when he looked down at himself, he found that his body was still safely covered by his gently swirling aura.

The moment, however, didn’t last, and soon, the Pressure roared around him, raging and boiling, fighting to consume his pathetic aura. For what other word could Nar use to describe it, when faced with this endless orange?

The Pressure pushed his head down, slowly obliterating his thoughts, eroding his sense of self. Here and there, his aura flashed, and winked in and out, and Nar let out a gasp of pain.

The Nexus was starting to go completely orange, and Nar could feel himself letting go.

No… I can’t… More… I need… More!

From the brink of erasure, he knew only that he needed to draw more aura upon himself. He could barely even feel his body now, but there was still enough will in him to reach down to his aura, and pull more of it.

Slowly, as if returning from a very distant dream, Nar became aware of himself once more.

Crystal! That was close! But how much aura was that? And what about the others?

In a panic, he pulled up his UI, but nothing happened.

He had no way of knowing what was happening to the others, or how much aura any of them still had left. Especially Kur, Gad, and Viy. He refused to even consider if they were still alive or not. He knew that they were, but they must be spending ridiculous amounts of aura to remain so.

With an effort that took all of his will and [Strength], he lifted his head, inch by inch.

In the orange and red blindness, he managed to just about make out the others, so close, yet so far from him.

Rel was hanging on to Jul, with her face buried into her side. Mul and Cen were holding onto each other and onto Viy’s legs. Kur held onto her left arm, and Tuk somehow had gotten a hold to her right. Gad was holding on to Jul, and to Nar, and he could just about make Viy’s arms wrapped around Gad’s mid-section. Nar himself had his left arm locked in with the tank’s right arm, and his other one, he held on to Kur’s waist.

Something didn’t look right, though.

Gad, at his side, had her eyes closed, just like all the others did… But her expression was wrong somehow. It was relaxed. Serene. Like she was asleep.

He turned his head once more, and noticed the same look on Viy’s and Kur’s faces. And if he squinted hard, to look at all the others, except for Mul and Cen, whose faces he could not see from he was, he noticed that similar expressions were taking over them.

They’re failing… he realized with mounting dread. They’re letting go. They don’t have enough!

He remembered the nothingness from which he had barely returned, almost stripped bare by the sheer might of this Pressure. He had only managed to withstand it because he had so much more aura than them to draw upon. Without it, they were being destroyed. Consumed, bit by bit, by the Pressure. Soon, their auras would fail all together.

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Already, in front of him, he could see Viy’s aura adopting an orange tinge.

What do I do?

He looked for Cen, but she and Mul were locked into their own joint survival, and they were beyond Viy’s legs. They would never hear him, even if he could’ve found his voice in that maelstrom.

What do I do? He asked himself again.

At his sides, he felt both Gad’s and Kurs bodies starting to relax as well, as orange infiltrated the gray that covered them.

In his despair, he almost missed their salvation.

Nar did a double take and looked at his left arm, where it hooked tightly around Gad’s.

Wait… What’s that?

The gray of her aura, around where it joined with his, was much stronger. And the closer it was to his arm, the deeper that gray looked.

He checked the other side, looking at Kur. He found the same where his arm clasped tightly around his waist.

My aura is helping them… That means…

That meant he could do something. But what?

He willed his aura to move outwards, to cover the two of them, but nothing happened.

What do I do? Do I just pull more of it?

What else was there to try?

And what else was there to lose?

He was either saving them all, or dying with them.

Reaching down, Nar pulled more of his aura onto his skin.

At first, nothing happened, and his panic increased. But then, almost as if it didn’t want to, the area of his stronger aura around on their bodies increased, spreading towards their entire bodies.

That’s it! We just need more! The others need it as well!

He pulled, clenching his jaw and feeling as though he was dragging something out from his very insides. But slowly, his aura spread throughout the entire party, and he finally saw movement on Rel’s face, on the other side of Viy, and he finally allowed himself to feel some relief.

Gad and Kur’s bodies tensed back, next to him, and across from him, he saw Rel open his eyes, and stare around her in bewilderment.

Now, I just have to hold on, he thought. And hope I don’t run out of aura.

Just then, a sudden blast lifted Jul and Rel off their feet and they collapsed against Viy. Surprisingly, and with the help of everyone supporting each other, she held, but the Pressure threatened to erase even him now, undoing all of his hard work. Unless he did something, they would all be gone. Nothing would even be left for anyone to ever find.

His dad would die. The other Unclean would die. The priest would die. Everyone he had ever met would die eventually, and his memory would be gone, lost forever. Perhaps Row would spare a thought for them, once in a while, up there, on the surface that was out of their reach. If she made it, that is. And if she wasn’t dead already.

NO!

He refused to let it end there. Not after everything they had gone through. Guardians, cannibals, Pressure, darkness and their own selves. It wasn’t ending there!

Come on! Pull! Pull!

The machine was heavy and hungry today. More than usual.

It demanded all of him, and more, and he knew that he would soon pass out. But he had a quota. They all did, and he had to at least do his share. He had to do his best before he passed out. Before he became a burden.

Hang in there, son!

His dad’s voice drifted in from his right. He could imagine his calm and collected face, sweating, but always in control of himself. Feeding the machine, doing his best and actually meaning it. Carrying both his and, many times, Nar’s share of the work, as well as that of the others, stuck in that sweltering machine, packed together with barely any room to breathe.

Come on! You have it in you. You have it in you! I know it! You know it! So, come on! Push!

He both loved and hated the words. All their fellow Unclean did.

But he didn’t want to let his dad carry the burden by himself. He would go on till the darkness claimed him, and he would wake up, bloodied, huddled to one side. Ready to go again. And again. Unbroken.

You have it in you, I know you do! I believe in you!

His dad believed in him, and he had to meet that.

Nar pushed.

Gray filled existence.

With it he came back.

His aura shrieked around him, a mass of jagged edges of swirling grays, whites and blacks.

Viy, startled and opened her eyes, gasping hard.

“You…” she breathed, staring into his eyes with a clarity that hadn’t been in them for a long while.

His aura exploded outwards, surrounding the others in a voraciously protective jagged dome. The force that threatened to sweep them all was blocked. The heat came down and the weight lifted from above their shoulders. The Pressure still howled around them, but Nar’s efforts were enough to keep it at bay.

“Hang on!” Gad shouted, and surprisingly, he heard her.

“More aura!” Cen shouted. “Come on, everyone! Don’t just leave it all for Nar! This has to be done together!”

Nar felt a surge of emotion at her words, and pulled even more, and together, they made the jagged, shrieking and chaotic gray aura solidify around them, covering them and the small piece of the Nexus that they owned in its protective grayness.

The Pressure broke off its most adventurous spikes and sharp bits, until it had sheared it down to an almost perfectly smooth half sphere. But that was it. They would yield no more.

“Hold us down, everyone!” Kur shouted. “Don’t let it lift us!”

Nar lowered his head forward, resting his forehead on Viy’s shoulder. Gad tightened his arm against hers, and pressed down on the two of them. From the other side, Kur also leaned in. And so together, their aura shrieking and raging around them, they fought to endure the all destroying Pressure.

Eventually, a long time afterwards, Nar felt a frantic slapping on his shoulder.

“Let go!” Kur shouted. “Let go of your aura!”

Nar lifted his head, and looked at the party leader.

Beyond him, he saw no more raging oranges and reds, and he realized that the heat and the weight were gone. However, Kur’s face still looked red and strained, his eyes wide.

“Shut it down!” he cried again.

Oh shit! Nar realized. It’s me!

With a groan, he pushed down on his aura, pouring from within him in a seemingly endless, shrieking, current. It was like he had broken something inside him, and now, he couldn’t stem the tide pouring out of him.

Kur tapped his shoulder again, weaker now, and from his left side, he felt Gad going down to her knees.

Stop! Stop! Nar shouted. That’s enough!

Bit by bit, slowly, he managed to halt the explosion of aura, until eventually, it was back to normal, just a gray swirl coating his own skin.

Nar’s heartbeat hammered in the sudden, ringing silence, orange sparks flickering in and out of existence all around them in the wake of that massive wave of Pressure.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked.

He feared the answer.

“Crystal, man,” Mul muttered, gasping on the floor. “Can we give him the new record?”

“I don’t know,” Tuk breathed, down on his knees. “He saved us first before he tried to kill us. Don’t they cancel each other?”

Nar looked from them, to the others.

“Some HP damage,” Kur said, panting. “But I think we’re okay.”

Nar swallowed. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Shut up!” Cen shouted. “You saved us! How much aura did you use? Do you have enough?”

“I-I…”

“Answer me!”

Nar tried to pull up his UI, but found that he still couldn’t access it.

“I can’t see it!” Cen said, her eyes going very wide.

“Me neither. But I’m okay though, Cen. I pulled it back in. I-I feel okay,” Nar said, trying to calm down the caster.

“I’ll protect you if you need it!” Cen promised.

“I’m not sure if that will be enough,” Kur said, looking around. “There’s also me, Gad and Viy. We have no idea how much aura we just lost in order to survive that. Another one of those things, and we’re probably gone.”

“So much for 21 days,” Mul muttered, climbing to his feet.

Nar helped Gad and Viy stand back up.

“Thank you,” Gad whispered to him. “I was almost gone. You pulled me back.”

Nar nodded at her, and left her to care for Viy.

“What do we do?” Rel asked. She had a wild look to her, and Nar noticed that she was back to abusing her index and thumb fingers.

“Only thing we can do. We need to look for the exit. Jul? Did anything change by any chance?” he asked the rogue.

“I… Oh. Hold on…”

She stepped away from them, tilting her head this way and that way, her antennae wiggling towards different directions as she tried to understand what she had just sensed.

Nar walked around Viy and Gad, to go check on Rel. She was rubbing her fingers so harshly he wouldn’t be surprised she drew blood.

“Hey, are you okay?”

She jumped. She had been looking around her, her eyes darting from column to column with a frightened look, and she didn’t notice him approaching.

“Crystal!” she muttered. “You scared me!”

Nar gently took her hand, and placed his finger in between her two.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

Rel frowned at him, and then at his finger.

“I… I’m not sure,” she whispered, and Nar heard the fear in her voice.

“It’s okay,” he said, lowering their hands while still holding on to hers. “I’m here. If I can help, tell me.”

She swallowed hard and nodded with a short series of sharp head movements.

The archer stepped closer to him, and he let her.

“Jul?” Kur asked, having observed their exchange. “Anything?”

Jul nodded slowly. “I think I found something. And it’s not too far.”

“An exit?”

“Maybe. It’s a hole in the danger that surrounds us. Less dangerous. Almost safe. I think.”

“We’ll take anything,” Kur said. “We need to get out of here. Gad, you and Viy okay?”

“We’re fine,” she said, for the two of them.

“Which way do we go?” Mul asked, holding Cen’s hand. He glared at the columns around them as if he was considering fighting them.

“That way. Wait! Stop!”

Confused, Nar, and the rest of them, looked at her again.

“Stop!” she breathed, her eyes going wide.

“Jul?” Kur asked, frowning.

“Quiet. Quiet. Shush. Shhhh-shhhhh…”

The shush went into the inaudible range, but her mouth continued making the shape of it. Then she covered her mouth, as if scared that even her breath was too loud.

Feeling a chill running down his spine, Nar too, unconsciously held his breath.

Quiet tears formed around Jul’s eyes, and Nar knew fear.

It paralyzed his every muscle. Like a presence, tightening around him, and squeezing him.

It was so strong a fear that he even felt his bones rattling, and his muscles spasming under his skin.

That was when he realized that this wasn’t fear.

This was something real he was feeling. Not Pressure. Something else.

THUM!

The sound reverberated through the columns, and Nar stumbled as the floor quaked under him.

Dread flooded him. For he immediately remembered that he had heard that exact sound before. And where…

THUM!

“Jul?” Kur whispered, his face blanched and covered in sweat.

THUM!

“It found us…” Jul whispered, through her tears.

THUM!

The very ground trembled beneath them, threatening to topple them.

THUM!

“It's coming.”

THUM!

Nar’s breath quickened, his heart beating to the point of becoming painful.

Something had found them.

Something was heading straight for them…

He remembered those orange eyes in the void.

THUM!

Those were its steps he heard, that he felt, making the whole of that infinite place shake and quake with its might and size.

THUM!

It was coming for them.