“Aura, let’s go!” Syllis called out. She had finished forming a shackle for the ephemeral crow. It was much smaller than the one she made when they first entered the chasm. There was much less water to carry now. There was only enough for around two weeks.

‘What’s the point in bringing any more of it?’ Syllis grimaced at the sight. The situation was devastating. Korman was dead, Clyde as well. Aura was only sticking around for a few more days. Together, her and Aura would only drink three days worth. Alone, Syllis would be left with eight days of water.

‘It really isn’t enough time…’ Syllis stared at the opening to the second abyss. Despite how close they were, it still felt extremely far from her. ‘Will Clyde’s body really be enough to convince the Boorne family?’

“All set to go, Syllis?” Aura wondered. Her gaze traced the ground in front of her.

“Yeah, yeah,” Syllis said. She gestured towards Clyde’s coffin. “I can’t exactly pick it up myself.”

“Then, let’s hurry up and do it,” Aura said. She knelt down beside the coffin.

“Aren’t you a little eager for someone who wants to die in three days?” Syllis followed suit, squatting down at the far end of it.

“Don’t mock me for giving you your fair shot,” Aura said. “If you push it too far, I might just go limp on you.” She laughed slightly before her mouth curved into a frown again at the sight of Clyde’s coffin.

With the combined effort of two kindred, the coffin seemed no heavier than a jar of water. They carefully carried the icy-blue coffin to the front of the shackle. Dropping it would prove more than problematic. Clyde’s body would be exposed to worldly bacteria again.

Syllis already needed to risk this earlier. She had forgotten to remove his clothing. She got Aura to accomplish this task. It felt like a suitable punishment for the black haired woman. Forcing her to de-clothe the body of a man she herself had killed.

‘Perhaps it was a bit hypocritical?’ She had found herself thinking throughout the whole process. In the end she decided that it was fine. Aura would have spoken out if she had any qualms.

They slid the coffin onto the front side of the sort of basket, sliding it back until it hit the back. Then, Syllis sealed up the front with another piece of conjured ice.

Syllis noticed Aura standing silently in front of the fully formed basket. “Let’s start heading forwards.” She wavered and took a couple steps around the woman before placing a hand on her left shoulder.

‘That was close!’ Syllis would have let out a sigh of relief if Aura was not right beside her. She nearly placed her hand upon her shattered shoulder.

Aura nodded and called the unburdened ephemeral crow over. Her bond also valued keeping aspects of it out in the world, as opposed to dismissing them and calling them out again.

Syllis wondered if this was a rule that all bonds followed. It seemed like a natural concept.

The flames of the ephemeral crow dwindled slightly, becoming more reasonable. Aura climbed on top of it and extended a hand down to Syllis. She gladly took it.

The secare nymph let out a sigh as she looked ahead of her again. Typically, Clyde and her had an easy time making conversation. Before then, even she and Korman could get by. Now though, Aura was not nearly as talkative as she once was. It was going to be a long ride.

“Aura, how far out of reach is getting to the chasm today?” Syllis asked. She wanted to make the most of these three days. If they could reach the chasm then the need to sleep and wait out the sun would be eliminated.

Aura took a couple moments to examine the way forward in front of them. “Depends, I guess. We would have to deviate from our scouted path. There would potentially be groups of taran that we would have no idea of. I don’t have the sanity to search all of the pockets in the way.”

“I don’t care about that. What’s the point of doting on the possibility of dying in such a way in this fable?” Syllis asked. “We might as well risk it for the greatest chance of getting out in these three days that we have.”

“Then, we could make it—probably. It would be tight though…” Aura trailed off at the end, likely ruminating over the specifics.

“I’ll take responsibility,” Syllis said. Her voice was hoarse, like Vernim's. It sounded cold, like it had deteriorated over countless hopeless years.

Syllis thought of all of the time they had spent in the fable. They had spent a week making it to the wall, around three months fighting at the foot of it. Then a couple of more months making it to the center of the sky chasm. Finally, they had spent almost a month making it to this point now.

‘Half a year…’ Syllis was astounded, the number was sort of absurd. That was around a thirty-sixth of the time she had been alive for—even less of that was time that she had been truly conscious for—spent in this fable. ‘Have I really become a callous scarecrow? Have I really been bested here?

‘No, it started much earlier. As soon as I was bound to Coryzan. That was when it started. How different would my life look if that had never happened? Forget it!’

The pace of the ephemeral crows sped up. Their flames trailed behind them as they rushed towards the entrance of the chasm. Undoubtedly, they would attract the attention of any hostile entities around. They did not have much of a choice though.

This ethereal green flame combined with the somewhat glowing lanterns made them appear like a star, shooting across the dark sky. Like a beam of radiant hope. Yet, they were nothing of the sort. Deprived of any hope, they were burning the last of their time like a strong fuel that would soon fizzle out. Stuck riding on top of their ephemeral steeds, crossing the barren, ashen fields—they were closer to a symbol of despair.

The hours blended together in the dark night. Syllis did not possess the means to survey her surroundings unlike her broken companions. All that she could see was the slight area around—a few feet or so. This was the extent of the crows’ flames and the lanterns.

Eventually, the blazing suns began to rise again. They teetered just over the top of the chasm. Syllis first saw one that began to illuminate the start of the chasm.

Anxious, she would occasionally call out to Aura, who would reassure them that they would probably make it. Syllis wanted to take comfort in the possibility of it being a joke, but the chances were slim to none. The broken woman was in no state.

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After the next two suns rose, the chasm grew much brighter. Syllis looked back to see the flames approaching them. Their pale-white color used to strike fear into her heart but now… they were mostly just irritating. This increased visibility let Syllis see their current situation in its entirety.

They were far from the entrance to the second abyss, but not too far out. There was more than a great chance they would make it. This only amplified the suns’ position as a pest. It was a bug to inevitably be squashed.

Syllis heaved a sigh of relief and slightly loosened her grip on Aura's waist. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Excited for what? The lack of a rift in that abyss or my impending death.”

“So you can joke…” Syllis remarked, taking another peak at the flames that were approaching from behind, swiftly but non threatening.

“Hmm, what’s the joke? I’d say I’m more excited for death's embrace. Korman welcomed it, why wouldn’t I?” Aura asked, though she didn’t seem to be expecting an answer.

Syllis did not care about this though. “Why wouldn’t you? I can think of a few reasons… You could preach Korman’s tale, his heroism.”

“What heroism? He did not valiantly sacrifice himself, you made that choice for him…” Aura said, her tone growing softer.

“I’ve learnt that the truth isn’t always the greatest solution. Why not lie as long as it helps his family to cope with his death? Why not turn him into the hero that he could have been?” Syllis asked. “No matter the context behind his actions, he still took them.”

“Right, so a person forced to murder in self-defense is just as guilty as the monster that forced their hand?” Aura scoffed, maintaining her gaze forward.

“Of course not,” Syllis said. “But this isn’t you changing the judicial system. This is your ability to make sure Korman is remembered how you want him to be remembered.”

Aura did not respond. She remained silent and stalwart in her efforts to maintain the pace of her ephemeral crows.

Crrk! Crrk! Crrk! Gritty and wholly unusual sounds emanated from what sounded like a hundred feet below them.

The ephemeral crows slowed to a halt and made hellish sounds in their refusal to walk forward anymore.

“Syllis, you better have a way to deal with what’s about to happen,” Aura said seriously as she dismissed the crow beneath both of them.

“What’s happening, Aura?” Syllis asked in a panic. She looked back at the surging pale-white flames behind them.

“The ground is about to break apart.”

Syllis’ eyes widened as she felt a small quake beneath her feet, then a larger one. ‘That witch…’

The ground beneath them almost seemed to sink into a black abyss below as darkness poured out from the cracks between rocks. It was filtered out through the ash on top, becoming a faint mist expelled over a large area.

‘And we’re forced to go with it because of the four suns’ flame…’ Syllis didn’t deny that it was a good plan. She just hated that she was the target.

The ground completely shattered below them. The rocks collapsed quickly falling into the abyss.

Aura remained silent as her and Syllis began to fall into the abyss below. She grabbed onto the secare nymphs leg.

Syllis’ mind raced as she wondered what to do. She merely cast off the action of Aura grabbing her leg until later. It was certainly peculiar for someone wanting to die.

‘I have to slow us down…’ She did not give up the want to keep Aura alive. The woman was still a great way to prove her innocence…

Twenty feet below her, Syllis formed a slight handle which she eagerly grabbed. The only idea that seemed to work in her mind was more than bizarre. Every five feet, the handle was gradually melded with another small piece of ice. After a hundred feet of falling, Syllis had a completed spear.

Without any time to spare, she jabbed it into the side of the abyssal drop. It immediately snapped under their weight. The change in velocity was too sudden, tearing the spear apart and jerking Syllis—and by extension Aura—closer to the wall. She felt her arm nearly be torn apart.

Syllis gasped as she collided with a set of jagged rocks, jutting out from the wall of the abyss. Although she could not see blood in the drop, devoid of light, she could tell that it had pierced her.

Huu! She tried to take several breaths. The right side of her chest ached as it filled with immense pressure.

‘Later…’ Syllis disregarded the injury. It only mattered if she lived.

The secare nymph quickly began to ruminate over how she could reduce their velocity more gradually. Immediately, she began to form another tool out of icy-blue.

This time, the segments took nearly three hundred feet to form the entirety of her solution. In her hand, she held a large scythe with a long, curved blade. It had taken sixty segments to make.

The concentration required was immense and naturally, pulled heavily on her sanity. She did not know if there was enough room to form another solution while maintaining the coffin.

‘Here goes…’ Syllis held her breath. It was uncomfortable to breathe which could mess up her attempt.

The icy-blue scythe was swung from behind her head, cleaving straight through the abyssal wall. Korman’s mutated arm had the ability to carve into the abyss so Syllis believed it would be easy enough for her to do the same. The difficult part was the angle. The blade had to enter at a shallow enough angle to slow them down at a gradual rate whilst not tearing out of the wall of the abyss.

Syllis felt her organs jerk within her body as she slowed. No matter how gradual, slowing down from such high speeds had a great impact on the body. It was only due to her increased resilience as a kindred that her body was not torn apart from the energy.

Surprisingly, Aura remained silent through the entire thing.

‘Peculiar.’

Syllis felt the scythe stop shifting in the wall of the abyss. It seemed that there was no threat of it tearing. Regardless, she wanted to get on a stable platform as soon as possible.

Without the necessary concentration that was needed while falling, Syllis easily formed two spears which she threw into the wall to the side of her. Then, she formed a thick sheet of ice above the two spears. She allowed the ice to melt where the sheet met the spears, forming a thin layer of water before maintaining each piece again, effectively melding them together.

Syllis threw herself onto the platform and pulled Aura up. She sat the woman up against the wall of the abyss and heaved a sigh of relief.

Then, the pain from her chest flooded back again, the adrenaline of the situation had worn off. It was even more difficult to breathe than before. Syllis looked to Aura for help, she remained silent and unmoving.

Suddenly, she jolted.

“I had complete faith in you, Syllis, nice work,” Aura said, her voice hoarse.

‘Complete faith? You tried to kill me.” Syllis was confused at the situation. She shook her head slightly.

“Aura, my chest hurts, it’s difficult to breathe,” Syllis said. She hoped Aura would have some sort of solution. She could take slight breaths for now but she could feel that soon that would not be the case.

“Do you feel pressure?” Aura asked.

“Yes, take a look for yourself…” Syllis said, her voice hoarse. She gently sat against the wall behind.

“Alright, I can take a look,” Aura said. “The crow seems to have calmed down.” She moved to examine Syllis’ chest, or more specifically if there was any damage to the lungs behind.

A couple hundred of feet above them was an ephemeral crow. Flesh was dripping from its bones and it radiated a warm green flame. It was tethered to a—small in comparison to its size—basket, connected with shackles. It was calm, more so than it had been a few minutes prior. It slowly glided down the abyssal drop. What was a wide and formidable space for Syllis and Aura to fall through was a tight fit for the large crow.

Slowly, the ephemeral creature made its way down the deep drop. It required immense care and nuance, so as not to drop the cargo it carried. It assuredly was taking a great toll on the sanity of its master.