My hands were burned raw; I saw the whites of the bones beginning to show through the flesh as I fell out of the air toward the ground. They begin to mend themselves a little as I level up, but not enough for me to do anything useful with them. I take a deep breath and step calmly to the ground.

Once my feet are back on solid stone I collapse onto the ground and take in huffing lungful, after huffing lungful of air.

“Is it...is it finished?” I ask Ariel.

It is. Came the response. Good job, Monica.

“Now I have to get out of here…how…” I stop speaking for a moment to better catch my breath, “How long do I have?”

An hour and a half.

That short, huh? It's too bad I won’t be able to fully explore this palace. There are probably riches beyond belief here. The baying of the approaching ratmen horde grew near. I downed my last Unwind, and took the things that I would want to study and which were in my immediate vicinity; the ratman king’s crown; the wavy dagger, and the glaive. I gathered the first two in my bag and gingerly took the glaive in my grasp as I pushed through the door. I took a deep breath, cast a Billow on the ground beneath me just as I leaped, and took another breath to begin my climb. The ratmen horde neared the palace now. The stronger ones pushed through the palace gate, and a mournful howl arose from the group.

Elation flooded through me. I was someone who took down an apostle. One of the three people in the continental US to do so, and only one in twenty worldwide. How much stronger can I become? Losing this dive, and this army will be a huge blow to the forces working against Earth.

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When I feel I’m about to lose breath, I cast Billow downward to propel myself up. Higher and higher I climbed. Passing the first mile. The second, and then the third. Every passing mile it grew darker and darker. Then as I climbed the fourth and final mile up from the abyss, I was stepping into darkness, until I saw a light in the distance, and a pair of humanoid silhouettes.

Suddenly, my body felt as if it had been weighted down. What was going on? Exhaustion? Ah. Must be. I continued climbing. It takes me twenty minutes to get up about half a mile, and another ten to nearly reach the rim. Janet’s standing there; a smirk on her face.

“You killed the Underking, huh?”

Huh? How does she know that name? I only knew because of Lawrence.

“Too bad; we would have let you live if you just retreated with us.”

‘We,’ who’s we? Ah. My legs are so tired. It's so hard to move.

She points her hatchet forward, and a flash of blue seizes my muscles and boils the air in my lungs. I let it out in a stream of black smoke.

“Ja...net you bitch.”

She smirks down.

“The White One had ordered us not to go in, but you had to open your mouth.”

That is all I heard as I began to tumble and fall.

Suddenly, a swarm of insects fall down toward me. Flies, mosquitos, ants, spiders…. No...no, why?

I hear the sound of a clap.

All of them explode like packs of gunpowder. My body is rocked to the side, I try to stop myself from crashing into the wall, but it’s pointless. My left arm is out of commission at the moment; one of the insects had gotten into the wound and blown the flesh clean off. I feel the wind whipping by the bones and joints. Why?

“William!”

My voice echoes as I crash into the wall and fall to the horde below, baying for my blood.