Matt stepped carefully over bodies and puddles of blood—red like the Chancellor—contrasting with the yellow stones. Bile burned in his throat. The girl's leg bent the wrong way. He swallowed, making it worse.

It was too warm. Wind whipped over the causeway as he walked with the two groups, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more air, more cold, more something. Red blood coated her chest. An angry gash split her cheek from nose to ear.

They did this, he thought. ‘Impress us.’

The high-up path seemed to go on forever. He recalled hearing that the Great Wall could be seen from space. Was this as long as the real thing? He hoped not. It certainly wasn’t the right color.

A man slumped in the entrance to the watchtower ahead, his arm charred black and flaking. Matt hesitated. Pale eyes stared blankly. A huge brazier blazed on the tower roof above.

"Wait there," Sharkie said. Inky shadows bloomed around her. They sucked her in and she was gone.

A heartbeat later, Chels did the same. Matt stepped back and clenched his weapons. They had waited ten minutes after the last of the crowd, but none of them knew how far the obelisk was—none of them wanted to find out.

Fallyn tucked her hair behind one ear but said nothing. She leaned into her bone-white staff and watched the body in the entryway. Her brown waves lifted and fell softly in the wind. The corpse seemed to staring off at the mountains from beneath a bloody brown bowler hat.

Matt must have tried to tell fifty people over the last week. Hardly anyone would listen. It was that first attempt at the abbey again and again. They were laughed at, ignored, and even accused of being the ones trying to pull something.

Miles gave him a sad smile. At least he and Chels had listened. “Can’t be much farther.” Miles scratched the permanent stubble on his cheek.

Then Sharkie’s yell sounded, “All clear!”

Matt nodded then stepped around the body. Poor guy.

Val entered behind him and adjusted the man's hat. She leaned back, considering, and then tipped it down to cover his eyes. "There you go, Mr. Hat Man."

Matt pressed his lips into a line. With a slot machine ding, the red ‘0’ beside ‘Megabowl score’ flipped to a ‘1.’ “Did you guys just?”

Val beamed.

“Guess someone liked that.” Kurtis shrugged.

“What happened?” Chels asked.

“Our benevolent overlords gave us a point,” Matt said.

“Not our group.” Chels frowned.

They kept walking.

It was another half hour before the castle became visible, dark lines against the mountains ahead. At first, Matt thought they were some sort of striations, sharp cuts like the ones on the last corpse. He hadn't seen a body for 10 minutes now. They’d tried straightening more hats and collars on the way but their scores hadn’t budged.

As they trekked closer, the dark slashes became spires. Obsidian columns stretched high, melding to gray rock. They were almost like crystals that had forced their way from the depths, shooting through stone and air as if there was no difference. Matt felt a deep sense of wrongness, staring out at the formation. While it should be reflective it absorbed the light. It even seemed to dim the sky.

The three moons hung at their backs as they emerged from the final watchtower. It was a straight shot from there, perhaps two football fields’ distance, down the yellow bricks to a black spiked gate. Matt’s gaze drifted up the ebony spires. It was anyone’s guess how vast it was inside.

“Stop,” Fallyn said.

Though barely above a whisper, the entire group froze.

“There.” She pointed.

Matt squinted. Then he saw the tiny glint of metal and a dark shape waiting by the gate.

“I think we say our goodbyes here, folks,” Miles said. “Make a run for it.”

Matt nodded and took a deep breath. “Good luck everyone.”

“You guys are going to do great!” Manuele tipped his swords outward and smiled.

“You guys too.” Matt forced a smile. “Stay safe.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Kurtis was staring off at the gate, ears flared, tail in an oven-mitted hand.

“Hey,” Sharkie said softly with a light tap to the cat-man’s arm.

Kurtis started.

“You know you’re like family to these guys now.” She nodded to the group. “With everything you’ve been through. Hell, I’d jump overboard with you.” Then she smiled and said more loudly. “Nice being at the end of the world with you all. See ya on the flip side.”

Val stretched out her right hand with Wiggles's tiny fingers. “Come on.”

Matt humored his friend, stacking his hand on hers. One by one, the others did the same.

“Val?” Manuele said. “You’re supposed to say something.”

“I was waiting. Dramatic effect.”

Manuele rolled his eyes.

Val guided their hands down then up. “Teeeeeeeeeeam beaver!”

“Eee!”

The red ‘1’ changed to a ‘2’ with the slot machine ding.

“Got one!” Chels said.

Val raised both arms in celebration. “See!”

“Run as soon as we’re in combat,” Fallyn said, “or twenty feet from the gate.”

Matt nodded. So did Chels and Kurtis. Then they started their final approach.

Matt marched quickly, scanning the area for movement or light. He had no chance of spotting any rogues. His shoulders tensed and his hands felt sweaty. He clutched his shield close. The fleck he’d spotted seemed to come from a rock. He started to question his eyes. Then, halfway to the gate, his heads-up display flared.

“Run,” Matt breathed, already moving, air pushing against his shield.

He shoved ahead. He counted heartbeats. They thudded in his chest. Matt fixated on the gate, his destination. It was all that mattered. He just had to get there. But it was closed. The black metal twisted around a round mechanism joining the two halves, a black dinner plate with a rippling sheen.

An arrow clattered off Matt’s shield. A cloud of shadow formed to his right. He kept running vaguely aware of purple flashes all around him. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. Someone grunted in pain. Matt kept running. He stretched for the gate, hand passing through the circle, almost like water. It was cold. Matt’s whole body was cold.

He was alone in a huge vaulted room. Matt turned three-sixty. Shadows played upon arched alcoves that displayed dried flowers. Three massive rings of candles hung from the ceiling. Then Fallyn was there, followed by Kurtis, Val, and Wiggles.

Matt breathed out loudly. “Did the others make it?”

“I think so,” Fallyn said.

“So, we go in?” Val steepled her hands.

Kurtis spread his arms and shrugged. “It’s why we’re here isn’t it?”

Matt opened his map to check where ‘here’ was. It showed the whole zone, the camp, the Tower, the desert, and his yellow gem on the Megacastle. It wouldn’t zoom in. Can’t make it easy, huh? Matt thought. Then he hefted his weapons and stepped farther into the room.

The timer started counting.

Their footsteps echoed in the dim and all-too-quiet space as they made their way to the arched doorway at its end. The emptiness was disconcerting. It felt unfinished like FRC had forgotten the furniture.

The next chamber was much the same until the floor fell out under Kurtis. Matt felt the rush of air, then heard the yelp. It happened so fast.

“Kurtis?” Val yelled.

Matt’s party interface showed his health around 30%. Then it shot up to half but then continued dropping.

“Yeah.” Kurtis's voice was rough, rising from the square pit.

Three angry metal spikes jutted up from the center. One ran through the cat-man’s thigh. It protruded at least a foot. Blood oozed around the wound.

“I can’t heal away the spike,” Kurtis said weakly. “And it’s too tall.”

“We have to get him out!” Val said. “Can you reach him?”

Even Matt’s arms weren’t long enough. He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Can you hold my feet?” Val asked.

“I don’t know if I could pull you both up.”

“Does anyone have rope?” Fallyn said.

“Matt,” Kurtis croaked. “The forest.”

Is the pain turning him delusional? Matt felt sick. He couldn’t look at the spike.

“That day in the forest,” Kurtis said. “You’ve got to have something.”

“Right!”

Matt scrolled through his inventory, found sticks and logs, moss and flowers. Kurtis had teased that he’d have a whole forest in there—he did. Matt pulled an item to the ground labeled ‘Extra-long Stick.’ As thick as his wrist, it bounced off the stone floor with a sequence of clunks. Then Matt fed it into the pit. He maneuvered around to the edge near Kurtis's head. The cat-man grabbed on and Matt heaved. Val and Fallyn joined him. The angle wasn’t right.

“I think I’ll have to pull myself off it. I need you to hold steady.”

Matt grimaced, wedging the branch against the far corner. He anchored it with his weight. “Go.”

Kurtis yelled as he pulled, an inhuman sound.

Matt turned away. He couldn’t watch. But he felt his friend’s weight on the stick, then heard heavy breathing.

“It’s done,” Fallyn said.

Matt turned back, fighting a cringe.

Kurtis was glowing, standing between the spikes and pit wall. The hole in his thigh was almost closed. His breathing settled and he re-gripped the stick. “Pull me up. The timer’s running.”

They did and the score counter increased to ‘27.’ The series of dings echoed.

Matt looted the extra-long stick, then pulled out smaller ones for himself and Val. They tapped them like canes for the blind, while Fallyn and Kurtis used their staffs. The floor dropped out twice more before the end of the room. Matt’s heart dropped to his stomach with each one, but thankfully no one fell inside.

The next archway opened onto a room with three dragon statues. Clustered in the center, each was elevated on a round platform the height of Matt’s shoulder. They looked to be the flightless variety that had patrolled the Megabridge.

Matt tapped his way through the narrow space between them. Barrel chests loomed above, armored in heavy scales. They held swords and shields high in battle poses. Matt was glad they’d skipped them outside.

“Wu.”

“Yes, they are big,” Val said. Her crown glinted strangely.

The room was lit by amber globes, which reminded Matt of Sister Mary’s cottage. They hung in clusters above each statue, cascading their eerie glow.

“Just keep moving,” Kurtis said, swiveling his ears. “The timer.”

Matt continued to tap. He crossed the remaining feet to the doorway. Then black spikes shot across the opening with a rush of air. He jumped. The opposite doorway was blocked as well.

That can’t be good.

Molten light began emptying from the amber globes. It poured down the statues, following the curves of muscles and scales. The liquid was almost alive.

“I don’t like this.” Kurtis flattened his ears.

“Us too,” said Val.

Matt stepped forward dropping his stick. He let it clatter against the stone. The statues began to crack, flooded with the strange lava. Shards of stone flaked as the dragons shivered.