Syllis was taken aback. When she had initially been given her diagnosis of ‘a few hours,’ she had essentially given up. She did not feel the pull of a fable rift and Aura would have spoken out if she had felt it. Yet, despite the apparent impossibility of the task at hand, Aura still wanted to try.

“Alright,” Syllis said. A slight smile grew on her face.

Aura lowered her hand down to Syllis with a calm expression.

Syllis grabbed hold of the offered hand and placed her right over the top of the ephemeral crow. She grabbed hold of a bumped bone and hoisted herself up.

The ephemeral crows were tall, much taller than horses were. As such, they were difficult to mount. Aura had an easy time as she was able to beckon the crow to lower itself for her. Syllis though—along with Korman and Clyde when they were still present—had a difficult time.

As Syllis wrapped her arms around Aura’s waist, she felt the two crows begin running forwards. Though Aura seemed calm and almost indifferent outwardly, it was apparent through this surging speed of the crows that she intended to do all that she could.

‘To think that she changed so much over the course of only a week…’ Syllis was somewhat stunned. She could not help but feel there was some deeper concept responsible for the short transformation.

Syllis felt thrown for a couple minutes as the crows made a series of rapid turns.

“This city is truly incredible…” Aura muttered, her words trailing out into the deep abyss.

“How so?” Syllis asked. She peered behind her as the crows stopped making turns.

Far behind her was the entrance that they had been trying to make it to so desperately. The four suns’ flame raged violently outside, fighting the abyss for entry.

‘You can’t win, not until you four split again!’ Syllis antagonized the four suns inwardly. A prideful grin spread across her face. The abyss always winning against the four suns’ assault was almost like a fable in itself. It was like the hero always prevailing against a villain. ‘Ironic, typically the light is the hero and darkness is the enemy that consumes all.’

The secare nymph had heard plenty of such stories. There was the occasional one from her father but most came from her short few months at Lurgica.

‘Thinking back on it, maybe they were fake…’ Syllis did not have the most confidence. In a school full of prideful nobles, what stories could be real?

“The buildings are much more complex—actually…” Aura stopped for a moment. “These ‘structures’ are more complex to build. In reality, they are much simpler in nature. The base of the majority of them are even and smooth squares. On top are a mix of other shapes such as triangles and rectangles.

“The only non angular shapes in this city are these brown roots that seem to wrap around damn near every building. Part of me wishes that I could explore but… we don’t particularly have the time for that.”

Syllis enjoyed listening to Aura’s description. It was not flawless, all she got from it was that the buildings were smooth shapes and that roots flooded the area. ‘Where's the sense of grandeur Aura?’

“Don’t worry, Aura,” Syllis reassured her. “You will have plenty of time to go back and explore every inch of this city after my passing.”

“That’s not nearly as comforting as you believe it is…” Aura’s voice trailed out again. She seemed completely absorbed controlling the movements of her two crows.

Syllis found herself pondering over the intricacies of Aura’s bond again—something she had continuously found herself doing recently. She shook her head a couple of times.

‘I should not think about something so complicated in my final few hours…’ Syllis scolded herself. ‘Instead I should be reminiscing… right?’

“Syllis, do you want to know where we’re going?” Aura asked her.

“Hmm?” Syllis was snapped out of any internal conflicts and replied, “Sure, why not?”

“There’s a great tower in the center of this city—the center of the abyss. Naturally with such an important landmark, I figure that with only a few hours, it’s our best shot at… well anything.”

“Isn’t it too far to reach in a few hours?” Syllis questioned. She thought back to the time her and her companions traveled from the main Abyssia to the wall. It had taken around a week.

“Don’t worry,” Aura said. “This city is much smaller in sheer size. All of the buildings are tightly packed together. It's similar to the difference between central Asanoch and the middle ring. Maybe an even better example is between central Asanoch and Aklilan. Yes, the difference in density is closer in the second one.”

“Alright, I’m not against doing everything possible to live,” Syllis said. “I hope that by some miracle, we can both make it out.”

“I hope so too,” Aura said.

Syllis fidgeted around for a second with a slight icy-blue construct in her hands before saying, “could you promise me something Aura?”

The woman nodded as she continued to look forward towards their destination. Her dirty, pitch-black hair wafted behind her. The knotted strands were illuminated by the light of the ephemeral crow they were riding.

“It might be a bit much to ask but don’t give up if I die, ok?” Syllis monitored the woman’s hesitance and continued, “and made sure to spread great stories about me as well. Give some of the glory to me, in my honor.”

“We’ll see,” Aura said. “It isn’t looking good but I’m not particularly interested in losing you before we get out…”

‘So it’s fine as long as I die once we escape!’ Syllis joked inside. She was not keen on ruining the moment.

They bickered about meaningless topics for the rest of their ride to the tower. Syllis’ responses gradually lessened until being reduced to almost zero by the time they had arrived at the tower.

‘This is bad…’ The secare nymph had understood and felt her decline but it was only now. Now that she was about to enter her final bastion, the pressure truly got to her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“A—Aur…” Syllis wanted to call out for her companion for comfort but the words got caught in her mouth.

“Hmm what’s wrong?” Aura asked.

“It’s nothing…” Syllis said as the both of them prepared to push open a large door.

The door was similar to the primitive one they used previously to exit the—presumed—reservoir. This one though, was much larger, almost three times the size. It was also thicker making it much more difficult to push open. This one did not have a lock though.

‘How much… How much longer?’ Syllis ruminated over the thought. ‘It can’t be very much longer I can already feel—’

The secare nymph shook her head. She muttered to herself, “What point is there in dwelling on that possibility? Either I make it or I don’t.”

The abyssal door opened, slowly. This was further proof of Aura’s theory that whatever occupied the ‘second Abyssia’ had some superhuman qualities to them.

Behind the door was a large, withered tree. It was filled up close to the entirety of the room at the bottom of the tower. The trunk of it alone extended as far as either of them could see. This was especially impactful considering Aura’s enhanced vision through her ephemeral maggots. The little room left was taken up by many hundreds of steps formed out of the abyss that spiraled upwards.

Syllis, exhausted and overwhelmed by the feeling of her own body’s imminent collapse, spoke in a panic, “we better hurry…”

Any words that she spoke were exasperated. Before breathing had been merely uncomfortable. On the way to the tower it became difficult, requiring great effort. Now, Syllis was actively thankful for every breath that she found herself able to take. This meant that there was no time to be picky about her tone.

“Right,” Aura said. She beckoned her ephemeral crow to follow them as they climbed the smooth, abyssal stairs.

The further they climbed, the less faith Syllis had in her escape. The act of ascending in pure darkness was nerve wracking at the least. It had been during their many hours of climbing the steps of the empty reservoir. Now, when she could feel life falling away from her, it was much more than nerve-wracking. Now, she felt a keen sense of despair as they stepped higher and higher.

Aura’s quietness did not help. She did not update the secare nymph on their progress which could only mean one thing. That she herself could not even see the end of the staircase yet. It could go on forever as far as they knew.

As the despair in her heart rose, Syllis was overcome with emotion as feelings of sonder rushed into her. Now—more than a month later—she truly understood how Korman must have felt as his death approached him.

Syllis had not merely killed Korman. She had killed a person. All of his experiences, all that he was going to experience, all that he could have been. She had killed all of it.

‘And here I arrive at the constant in everything—fate. Would he have ever lived longer?’ Syllis shook her head again. ‘There’s no way to redeem it. I killed a man and now? I will die too.’

“Syllis, I see the end of this staircase.”

Syllis laughed wryly as she slowed her pace slightly and said, “does it matter?”

“Of course it—”

“It doesn’t,” she interrupted. “Remember all that we were taught? I remember all that I was taught and well—you were in Lurgica for much longer. Surely you know ever better just how futile this is.

“I don’t feel it, do you? No—you don’t feel it, the pull. There is no pull. That slight tugging on our mind is absent and so too is any hope for my future.” Syllis smiled self-deprecatingly.

“Enough, Syllis!” Aura roared in a low voice. “You know as well as I do that this fable is an oddity even among the most bizarre.

“It’s like you—an anomaly within Asanoch. How could a random juvenile kindred from the outer ring rise above almost all of the rest? How can someone like you remain skeptical when you yourself are such a miracle?”

“I’m tired of this hopeless hope, Aura,” Syllis said. “I’m sick of this feeling. I’m sick of these interwoven threads of dread and hope that are caught in my throat and mind. I’m sick of believing that this unbelievable tale that is only ever extraordinary in horrifically hostile ways could possibly yield anything positive.”

“You don’t understand, Syllis!” Aura yelled. “Those threads are what make up the fabric of fate. All you can do is try and try and try and try and hope. You have to hope that you reach the perfect section of that fabric, smooth and unblemished.”

“Lord you too, Aura?” Syllis laughed wryly. “You and Clyde both act like slaves to the concept of fate! You two accept what is coming to you like it is set in stone. What kind of existence should govern all that you have and will be? What kind of entity should control what you are fooled into believing you seize?

“Wouldn’t you rather go against it? To rise up and conquer that which controls that which you cannot control?”

“Of course I want to!” Aura cried out. “But that is beyond both you and me. All that we can do is shield ourselves and take the brunt.”

“Since when has being lesser ever stopped people from wanting and taking just that?” Syllis asked.

“And what about you, Syllis?” Aura asked. “Can you really fight against something like fate? Hell, there are things that are beyond your control, thousands of things. Where fable rifts appear, what they contain within. Even leaving them, you fight the possibility of being torn and ripped apart on the spot. Tell me, can you fight back against that?”

Syllis smiled as she sped up her steps and said, “No, I can’t.

“But I can spite them. I can spit on these ideas until I become something that can thwart each of these. I can threaten until I have the ability to break them. And if they try to smite me down? Then I will survive and smile at this absolute proof.”

“Feel free,” Aura said. “But first, try taking a deep breath and discover the ends that fate can go to eradicate you.”

Syllis remained silent. Her breathing was indeed worsening—and quickly. At this rate, she would be dead within twenty minutes.

The lantern that gently tried to illuminate any surrounding finally was able to reach out to a roof above the both of them.

‘Let’s see if ‘fate’ is feeling nice today…’ Syllis thought as she and Aura stepped up the final step, arriving at a room.

There was no fable rift and no pull. There was no hope but Syllis had expected that by now. She spat on fate and was ready to die with a sense of dignity but… she still had fifteen minutes to look around.

“Looks like fate had the last laugh, Aura…” Syllis chuckled slightly. This time there was no wryness within. She was content.

Syllis heard slight mutters behind her. She turned to face Aura.

The woman had crouched down and was wiping tears from her eyes as she said, “Sy—Syllis?”

“Yeah?” Syllis responded kindly, crouching down beside her.

“I don’t w—want to be alone.” Aura continued crying. Her teardrops seeped into thick branches that coated the floor.

The top of the enormous tree extended to the top of the domed room and its branches, withered and broken, had fallen to the floor below. Only some were still attached but even they were close to breaking off and joining the rest.

“I’m sorry, Aura,” Syllis said, earnestly.

“I—I really thought that this was it, Syllis,” Aura said as she scanned the room around her. “I mean the tree and the dome and the position of the tower. Everything seemed so special.

“But I guess you were right…”

“Aura,” Syllis said, “I have faith in you getting out. You will only be alone until then. After that? You can get Edward to restore Clyde and my bodies—if you want to lug them around of course. Stand up.”

Aura rose and stood in front of Syllis. She stared into the secare nymph’s dulled, seafoam eyes.

Syllis stepped forward and pulled the crying woman into her embrace. She held Aura’s head close to her chest and whispered, “It’s going to be alright…”

Syllis pulled away and stepped a couple of feet away. She sat down before lying flat on a large root, peeling from the ground below her. She looked at Aura longingly before turning away.

“Goodbye, Aura.” Syllis’ vision gradually faded as the sounds of her breathing seemed to reduce to nothing. Like a body under the harsh and unyielding, four suns’ flame.