[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
I shrink back from the oppressive presence, feeling small and alone in the face of overwhelming power. Gasping for breath, I shut off my new Skill and clamp down on my mana. My body is trembling, wrung out from the emotional rise and fall of the day and from the strain of expanding my core space without the proper support of a working core and channels. The glass cores can only help so much; now that I’ve earned a third Skill, I’m struggling to function properly, and it’s dragging down my entire being—body, soul, and mind.
The last several hours crash over me again. The meteoric heights of our victorious clash with the lizard monsters and finally earning a new Skill. The abyssal depths of stumbling across something greater than I can truly fathom. The constant, nagging worry for my teammates. The mystery of the Rift that’s clearly not a Rift.
It’s all too much.
I fall back bonelessly, collapsing into the soft, pink ferns and moss that cover the jungle floor like a luxurious carpet. For a long moment, I don’t move—can’t move. My breath is a reedy, rasping rattle that comes quick and shallow. I stare up at the purple sun in the foreboding sky, licking my dry lips, and fight the urge to vomit. At times like this, when I reach the end of myself, I wonder why I’m driven to explore and create. I love adventure, but why can’t I just be content to stay home with my family? I miss them right now.
“Nuri, be calm. You’re safe now,” Lionel says softly, placing a hand on my forehead. He smiles down at me, although the skin around his eyes is tight with worry over my condition. Still, it’s more reassuring than I ever thought Lionel could be; for all his goofiness, he’s taken well to becoming a [Healer].
Like a cool breeze on a summer’s day, the refreshing mana from his Skill sinks into me, easing the effects of overdrawing my magic and clashing against a strange entity so far beyond me. The [Healing Touch] flows through my body like a gentle stream, washing away the anxiety and damage from the inside out, leaving me feeling clear-headed and more stable.
Melina joins Lionel by my side, kneeling in the spongy undergrowth where I’ve fallen. Her face is creased in concern. She tuts at my condition, mops my sweaty, sticky brow with a handkerchief, and helps me drink from my flask of water. “We need to keep moving, Nuri. Can you walk, or does Mikko need to carry you?”
“Unsure. Give me a moment.”
“I’ll cradle you like a baby if you need me. But I’d prefer it if you get up,” Mikko says. He smiles at me in his good-natured way, but there’s a tightness in his voice and a trembling in his hands that’s hard to hide. Our battles have shaken him more than he lets on.
“Melina’s right. We can’t stay here. Something found us. Someone, maybe? I’m not sure what it was. Hide your mana signatures and move,” I croak out. Whatever that vast, alien will belongs to, it’s buzzing with wrath and a sense of wrongness, like a mouthful of vinegar setting my teeth on edge. I withdraw my mana further, terrified that I’m too easy to find.
Ignoring the burn in my channels, I extract the last few precious drops of energy from my glass pseudo cores and bring them within. I hide them in my mana pool to separate them from the outside world. The barrier won’t last forever, not with my broken condition, but if I focus hard enough, then I can keep this small amount of mana imprisoned.
“One thing at a time,” Melina says crisply. “We’ll deal with that after we make sure you’re all right. Let us help you, Nuri.”
“Thanks, but we should get moving,” I mumble, although I’m still too drained from the strange encounter to stand up. Whatever my new [Arcane Domain] Skill is, clearly I can’t take it lightly. I need to be more careful when I’m testing things out.
Mikko forces a chuckle, drawing closer to listen in to our conversation. He never takes his eyes off the tree line, however, and his glass hammer is still in his hands. “Your call, bro. You know I’d love to tell the story of how I had to rescue you from a Rift. You're not going to take that joy from me, are you?”
“Help me up? If I can’t walk, then you get to play hero and carry me. But we shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to.”
“What did you see, Nuri? Is something after us?” Melina asks. She twists her fingers into the handkerchief. “What was it, anyway?”
I shrug, at a loss for words.
“It’s not like you to go all silent on us,” Avelina says, her head poking into my view just above her twin’s face. She casts a shadow on me, blocking the sun overhead. The shade is a relief to my burning eyes, which sting from the bright sunlight. She squints down at me from just above Lionel and Melina. “Something got you spooked, huh?”
“Guess so. I . . . I found something. Or it found me. Within my new Domain. And I think it’s sending company our way,” I whisper, my eyes darting around nervously. “Don’t use mana. It can sense us.”
“You said that already,” Melina says patiently, but she shares a quick, worried look with Lionel that makes me concerned that I might be worse off than I realized.
“No time to argue. We need to go!” I say, my voice low and urgent as I beg them to listen to me. I’m pleading: my voice, my eyes, my posture. So why aren’t they paying attention?
Melina nods her head. “I trust your judgment, Nuri, but you hardly look like you’re in a condition to run. Let’s head back to the inn and rest up.”
“We don’t even know what we’re dealing with yet. I hate leaving without more information about what we’re up against,” I say, sitting up. As soon as I do, the world starts spinning around me, but I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on breathing.
“Any guesses?” Mikko asks.
“If I were a betting man, I’d say that whatever I stumbled on—whatever noticed me—is the Rift itself. It didn’t feel particularly intelligent, but it’s definitely aware.”
Avelina groans. “Great. And now it knows where we are. Mel, stop trying to convince him to take it easy. We should run while we still can!”
“I agree. Let’s go back to the inn and regroup,” Mikko says, cutting in before Melina can reply to her twin. “We’ll talk with Rakesh and come up with a plan.”
“You’re sure it was the Rift?” Melina asks. She frowns, reaches down, and touches the back of her hand to my forehead, as if expecting me to be feverish.
I pull away. “C’mon, Mel. I’m worn out, not crazy. Am I sure it was the Rift? Of course I’m not sure! It wasn’t a being of emotion and intellect. It certainly didn’t come with a label.” I snort through my nose in derision, and Melina smiles back at me thinly. “But if I had to describe it, I’d say it was, like a bundle of primal forces and urges. I couldn’t tell much, but I did get the distinct impression that this is its home, and it doesn’t particularly like outsiders. We’re intruders, and it’s probably going to defend itself. Does that make sense?”
“All the more reason to get out of here.” Mikko reaches down and hauls me up to my feet after I explain my theory. “Take a few steps. I’ve got you.”
I’m still wobbling like a newborn calf, but between my brother’s strong hand holding me up, and Lionel’s restorative [Healing Touch], it’s enough to get me shuffling again. I turn and walk toward the portal back to the real world on shaky legs, but an instant later, I draw short with a sharp intake of breath.
The eye-searing, overly-green vines are moving again, slithering like snakes instead of plants. It defies my understanding of the natural order, but there’s no denying what’s right in front of my eyes. The thick vines, covered in a profusion of wildflowers, grow across the path as though an entire season just went by in the time it takes me to blink. They choke off the way back to where we entered the Rift.
I can’t help but think that the trees and vines are following orders from the immense presence I encountered earlier—marionettes moving to the puppetmaster’s commands. It’s not going to let us out, not this easily. The thought makes me shudder, as though someone poured cold ice water down my back.
“Don’t cut a path,” I snap, stopping Mikko as he’s about to swing his machete. “We don’t want to alert it to the damage we’re causing. Something tells me that hurting the plants will only tick it off. Pull your mana inward and clamp down. All of you. No scanning, no Skills to boost yourself. Try to hide while we move, so it can’t find where we went.”
The bite in my voice seems to be enough to convince my friends to listen to me at last. They fall in line, and we set off at a right angle to our original path, slipping through gaps in the brush. It’s slow going, but I’m serious about not disturbing the equilibrium of the place. Who knows how the Rift will respond if we anger it further?
Mikko supports me with one hand, his glass hammer in the other, and leans close to talk quietly as we walk. “We should still try to leave. Let’s circle around and make for the portal. It’s a bad idea to stay without better preparation.”
“We can try, but what if it’s got a way to defend the exit? Let’s find a place to hole up and recover first. I need mana, and so does Avelina. We can’t fight our way through right now.”
“I don’t like it,” Mikko growls.
“Me neither, but I don’t see a way around it,” I reply. “Until we’re back in fighting shape, it’s just you against whatever bars the way. Melina’s great at supporting, but she isn’t a fighter like you are. Lionel’s not a good matchup for the armored lizards, either, if we’re honest.”
Mikko grunts, but I can tell my argument will win him over. Running into a single pack of monsters will doom us all. Avelina and I are the only ones with viable ranged firepower.
Our group trudges along, huddled together for support. We don’t talk much, saving our energy in case of an emergency. Every shadow grows more ominous by the minute. The longer we go without encountering an enemy, the worse fate my mind’s eye conjures up.
As we hike deeper we move into the forest, I’m amazed by the sheer variety of plant life all around us. This space is far more vibrant than any of the Rifts I’ve been in before, with both old growth and new. It seems more established, somehow, like it’s lived in; the roots go down deep. The sensation is so strong that it’s hard to reconcile this foreign place with my experience of other Rifts. In the same vein, the wild riot of color seems at odds with the malevolence of the entity I encountered. What’s actually going on here?
“This place feels alive,” I mutter. “Not like a Rift at all. The colors are all wrong, but the world itself is real.”
Melina shivers involuntarily. “Other Rifts aren’t real? You mean that you got pulled into a dream, or a parallel dimension? What makes this one different from before?”
I pause to catch my breath, leaning on Mikko’s arm for support. “Yeah. Rifts are real, but not in the way you’re used to—they’re like an idea made solid, a manifestation of imagination. The ineffable becomes tangible for a brief moment, all powered by the primordial miracle of raw mana.”
“Poetic,” Avelina snickers.
I narrow my eyes at her, but otherwise I don't rise to the challenge. “Thing is, Mel, they’re not like our world, with history and permanence. Maybe the ones with Labyrinths come close, if the Wraiths have a real civilization like Tem says, but I don’t know enough to say either way.”
Deep baying in the distance cuts me off. The eerie, basso sounds resonate the entire world, like the ringing of a struck bell. The ground vibrates; my rib cage rattles.
“Bloodhound trackers,” Mikko growls.
“We’re gonna die in here,” Lionel moans.
I snap my fingers. “No, this is good!”
“How?” Mikko demands, scowling.
“Fine, guess it’s both good news and bad news. But look on the bright side: it means that the Rift needs eyes and ears. I don’t know how much it can sense through the trees and plants we're touching, or if it can triangulate our position through the tremors of the earth when we walk, but I’ll bet almost anything that it sent these dogs after us, which means it’s not able to track us without help.”
“They sound like they’re coming from the direction of the exit,” Melina says. She pulls the straps of her pack tighter, like she’s getting ready to run. “Might mean that doubling back so we can return to the inn will need to wait after all.”
“Then let’s go to the last place they’d expect. We’ll head inward, toward the core.”
“So we can destroy it?” Avelina asks.
I nod grimly. “Burn it all.”
“Burn it all,” Avelina repeats reverently, with almost religious fervor. She lifts her jaw and squares her shoulders, a new determination burning in her eyes.
Lionel tugs on my sleeve. “Hey, remember when we used to steal milk from old [Farmer] Yttin? I went by myself one day, and he sicced the dogs on me to teach me a lesson. I knew I couldn't outrun ‘em, so I climbed a tree near his field, waited until they lost interest, and then backtracked by swinging from branch to branch. He never expected me to come back to the scene of the crime.”
“Clever,” I say. “Same plan?”
Lionel winks. “Swiped his lunch on my way home, too. Let’s see if we can do the same thing here.”
“I like the plan. Let’s give it a go.” I lean my head back, squinting up at the pastel colored tangled canopy soaring far overhead. “One problem. I don’t think we can climb that.”
“I still think it’s smarter to get out instead of looking for the core,” Mikko says, glaring at every bush with suspicion. He hefts his glass hammer in his free hand. “I’ll fight if we have to, but I don’t want the entire realm coming after us and tearing us apart.”
I shake my head. “Lio has a point. Most intruders will flee, not try to infiltrate the Rift’s seat of power. They’re going to block the exit, but I’m afraid they’re heading our way already. It’s not going to take long to pick up our trail.”
“You’re not exactly selling this plan,” Avelina says, chewing on her lip. “But as much as I hate to admit it, I’m useless in a fight until I regain my mana. Regeneration is pretty fast in here, though. It’s nice.”
“Careful not to overdo it,” I caution. “We still don’t know how much the Rift can sense. If we’re sloppy, we might as well put out a sign announcing where we’re hiding.”
Avelina nods. “Noted. We’ll do it your way. Oh, I brought rope. Why not send Mikko up there with a coil? See that enormous branch? It’s so big we could build a house up there! He can climb the tree and pull us up one by one.”
“That does sound like a dashing, heroic entry in my story about how I saved your butts in the Rift,” Mikko says, stroking his chin. He grins. “Let’s do it!”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Avelina quickly unslings her heavy pack, tossing it down to the ground with a thud. She rummages about for a brief moment, scowling fiercely with the tip of her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration, and soon emerges from the back pack with a huge bundle of rope. “Aha! I knew this would come in handy. Every adventure story I’ve ever read needs a rope at some point. Didn’t want to be the fool who’s unprepared.”
Mikko shrugs one end of the loop over his shoulder. He settles the thick bundle across his chest. “Oof! This is heavy-duty stuff. I can’t believe you dragged this with you all day.”
Excited barking echoes through the jungle. I give Mikko a small shove. “Show us how strong you are, bro. And for the love of all things good, hurry!”
Gathering his strength, Mikko crouches down. He bursts his mana, not worrying about giving away our position now that the bloodhounds’ cries are getting closer and closer, and launches himself up to the massive branch. It’s easily as high as the multistory inn where we’re staying in town, and as wide as one of the rooms there.
Mikko reaches up and snags a thick, study branch sticking out of the side of the even bigger branch, swings his legs up, and straddles it like he’s riding a horse. With a grunt, he pulls himself up and over to the main tree branch. The enormous tree limb is so thick that he disappears from view on top of it.
“No time to go higher!” Mikko calls out. He tosses down the end of the rope. “Ready when you are! Tug the rope to signal the ascent.”
Avelina’s hands blur, tying a bowline as soon as she catches the line. She slips it over her head and shimmies until it fits snugly under her armpits. She tugs on the rope twice. “Pull me up, ya big lunk!”
“Only you would insult your charming rescuer, Ava,” Mikko says with a laugh, heaving on the rope and lifting her up in the air. “Ooh, look! I think I caught a big one. [Fisherman] Kofi will be so jealous!”
“You better not catch and release me, Ko!” Avelina shoots back, giggling as she reaches the top of the climb a moment later and clambers up. She braces her feet against a knob on the smaller side branch, and gestures for my brother to grab on and pull her up the rest of the way. Soon, she too disappears from sight, safely hidden beside my brother on the gigantic limb.
“For once in my life, I'm glad to be caught,” Avelina says, so quietly I can barely hear her. Her laughter echoes through the jungle, and she stops abruptly. “Now, look out below!”
“Nuri next. He’s about to collapse,” Lionel says, catching the bowline and helping me hook it in place. He also tugs twice on the line to signal that we’re ready, since they can’t see us over the curve of the branch, and Mikko hauls me up hand over hand.
I spin helplessly in the air, trying and failing to ignore the pain of the rope cutting into the soft flesh under my arms. It only takes ten or fifteen seconds to reach the top, but it feels like a small eternity. And all the while, the snarling and snapping draws closer.
“Hurry!” Melina calls, her voice pitched low and urgent. “I’m just starting to pick up a few mana signatures now. We have less than a minute. I’ll speed you up.”
I’m only halfway onto the branch by the time Avelina drags the rope off me and flings it down to her sister. I clutch at our [Flameworker] in terror, too dizzy and weak to climb up over the rough edge by myself after all I’ve been through today. Tears spring up in my eyes. I’m the leader; I shouldn’t look so frail in front of them. I can’t recall feeling so exposed and vulnerable, not even after I lost my hand in the lesser Rift, but Avelina doesn’t let go.
“I've got you, Nuri,” Avelina whispers.
“I can pull you both up at once!” Mikko yells. “Hang on and don’t look down. I can see bushes swaying in the distance. They’re almost here!”
My heart leaps to my throat. Once Avelina hauls my body to safety on top of the broad branch, I shift sideways and peek over the edge to watch. Each time the bloodhounds on our trail howl, I flinch involuntarily. I reach back and squeeze Avelina’s hand as hard as I can, not trusting myself to hang on if I lean too far over the edge.
My eyes track Melina and Lionel with trepidation as the last two members of my team fly up in the air under the combined effects of [Strength of the Forged Gods] and [In the Blink of an Eye]. Even with their combined weight, they move more quickly than I did as Mikko heaves on the rope and grunts in exertion. I can barely stand to watch in case they fall, but I can’t bear to look away, either.
Dangling like two flies caught in a spider silk thread, my friends ascend upwards toward salvation. It feels painfully slow to me, but I have to trust that Mikko will come through. All I can do is pray that they’re fast enough. If we’re gone when the hounds arrive, then we can wait them out. If not—
Don’t finish that thought, Nuri.
Strong, callused hands grab hold of Melina and Lionel, pulling them up to safety. I let out a quiet sob of relief, scooting back and leaning against Avelina for support. Electric fear courses through me. My entire body threatens to go limp, but I drag myself back from the side of the big branch so that they can’t see me.
That was terrifying.
Avelina pats my shoulder. She eases me along, guiding me down the center of the wide limb. Her voice is soft and encouraging, but her grip is like steel. She doesn’t once let go until we reach the huge trunk itself, where we’re hidden by the bole of the tree. I lean back against the odd, crystalline bark, side by side with my friends and plenty of room to spare, and breathe out a sigh of gratitude.
“We’re alive. Good work, team.”
A minute later, the ground shakes as a pack of enormous bloodhounds thunder by underneath us, circling the massive tree and sniffling the ground. Their savage barking and deep baying shifts into a frenzy of confusion and anger.
They know we’re here.
I can’t stop shaking, but Mikko grips my shoulder with his strong hands, and Avelina clasps my hand, feeding warmth from her latent flames into my cold body. I’m spent, devoid of energy, but I can’t relax with the raucous snarling in the clearing far beneath us.
Close your eyes. Ignore them. Keep your mana still. Wait it out. You can do this, Nuri.
A wet, snuffling wheeze from right below us makes my hackles rise. It's all I can do to resist the temptation to burn them all with a blast or my [Greater Heat Manipulation], although I don’t have enough mana to cast the Skill. I’d gladly spend it all, even risking the potential wrath of the Rift, to clear out the hounds.
The day seems to stretch on forever. We’re frozen in time, trapped on the side of the tree with only the alien, purple sun high above to keep us company.
After ten harrowing minutes of crisscrossing the clearing and digging in the dirt below the huge tree, the trail seems to go cold. They huff back and forth in agitation, but grow silent at last. I’m terrified that they will sound the alarm, correctly deducing that we were stuck in the tree, but apparently size and speed are the only blessings of mana-empowerment. The monstrous red and black bloodhounds don’t seem particularly intelligent; they’re just a pack of oversized dogs, in the end.
Enraged, the leader howls once more, deep and resonant, with blood-curdling malicious intent, and dashes away. The rest of the pack follow, likely still searching for the interlopers, and their paws thud against the ground with each mighty bound, echoing more and more faintly as they finally depart.
They may have left us for now, but it seems like hours before my heart stops threatening to pound right out of my chest. It’s not until their cries fade away completely in the distance that I can finally breathe easily again.
=+=
My little team of emerging adventurers looks only slightly worse for the wear after our harrowing close call. We haven’t checked on the exit, still too nervous about the possibility of monsters guarding the way out to venture toward the portal. We’ve been huddled up on the top of the giant tree limb for hours, taking turns resting. Two of us stay on watch on either side of the branch, anchored by the rope, while the three in the middle sleep. By the time everyone is ready to go, we’ve spent nearly a day on the branch, by Melina’s reckoning. She’s got the best sense of time, on account of her time-related Skills, so I defer to her expertise.
Mana harvesting is slow, since we’re trying to only allow a little in at a time without letting any leak out, but we can’t help the situation. We need mana in case a fight breaks out. At least the mana density inside a Rift is higher than usual, making regeneration easier.
Despite all my practice with the mana control puzzles, I still have an uphill climb due to my cracked core. The glass pseudo cores allow me to function, but they’re finicky to refill in the best of times. With the extra caution required, I’m having a bad go of it. Even so, I’m not much slower than Lionel, who’s always struggled with mana control. I remember how embarrassed he was about mana leakage when we first started combination crafting back in Silaraon. That feels like a lifetime ago now. I should have insisted on making him solve puzzles with me for extra practice.
The Linas show the highest aptitude for fine mana control, recharging entirely while Lionel and I are still struggling just past the halfway mark. With our strongest ranged attacker topped off at last, we finally dare to toss a second rope over to another colossal tree and begin the arduous trek through the jungle canopy, heading toward the core. After our close encounter with the tracking bloodhounds, I don’t dare attempt to return to the ground.
Thankfully, Mikko doesn’t use much mana normally, since his Skills are either passives or short-duration power-ups, which means the long term mana drain isn’t terrible for him. He's still in good spirits, full of vim and vigor, and in many ways he’s better suited for this life of adventure than I am.
Lionel, on the other hand, is sweating, cursing under his breath as he leaks mana in fits and starts. He's always had the lowest aptitude for controlling his mana, unable to fully suppress his energy flows, but the extra pressure of the tense situation seems to exacerbate the problem, and it’s clearly bothering him.
“Need a mana regulator?” Avelina asks.
Lionel glowers at the mercurial [Flameworker]. “Probably. Why, got one in your pack? Maybe it’s next to the pile of gold bars and pixie dust.”
“Nope! Just tossing out an idea.”
“Your ideas stink,” Lionel grouses.
“Just be glad I didn’t call it a mana diaper,” Avelina says, rolling her eyes. “That’s more fitting, anyway, since you’re being such a baby.”
“Ava! Be nice," I chide her. How can she be so sweet sometimes, and so annoying a heartbeat later? We never did find a good solution for Lionel’s mana deficiencies, but I’m not about to bring it up to him. What’s the point in making him feel bad?
“Sorry, Lio,” Avelina mumbles.
Lionel quirks a half-smile. “Forgiven and forgotten. We’re a team, after all. Besides, it’s hypocritical of me to complain about teasing.”
I sidle up to Lionel and place a hand on his shoulder. “Why don't you take a break?” I say. “We can work on improving your mana control another time. Just lay low and recover your energy. Don't worry about the Rift. I—well, I may have gone overboard when I described the threat. In fact, I suspect that unless I’m actively seeking out its presence, it can’t actually sense us based on Skill usage alone.”
“You seemed pretty convinced earlier, ranting about how we were all gonna die,” Lionel says, still looking miffed over his continued trouble with moderating his mana.
“Yeah, but that was before the bloodhounds sniffed around and failed to find us. I just got spooked,” I say. I let out a shaky laugh. “If you felt what I felt, then you'd be nervous too. But feelings ought to be subordinate to facts. Tem taught me that. Always check your gut feeling against what you can observe, and adjust your conclusions accordingly.”
Melina smiles softly. “Sounds like a few hours of sleep was good for you,” she says. “I’m glad to hear you sounding more like yourself and less like a raving prophet of doom.”
“I’m sure there’s still plenty of time for doom to strike,” I say morosely. “But now that we know the immediate danger is past, Skills should be fine. I still think that we should strike a course for the core.”
“Point me at it,” Avelina says. “If you can burn one out, then so can I. My wand and I are itching for some more fire action.”
“And maybe I can even help you keep your hand intact,” Lionel snickers. “It might stretch my healing magic to the limit, but I’ll do my best to help you not end up like Nuri.”
Avelina pats her left hand and smirks at me. “That’s a relief. I already have one annoying twin. I don’t think I’d want another.”
“Twinship is about blood relation and birth, Ava,” Melina says. “Just because you might theoretically have matching missing limbs after braving the Rift core doesn't mean that—”
Melina breaks off from her speech when her sister dissolves into giggles. She crosses her arms and sniffs. “I can’t believe that I fell for that dumb act again. You’re incorrigible, Ava.”
Lionel chuckles. “She got you good!”
“You’re just too much fun to tease, Mel,” Avelina says innocently. “But I do appreciate that you’re always willing to explain things to me. It’s like I’ve got my own walking national Index, right here beside me.”
Melina gives them both a death glare. “Avelina’s theatrics notwithstanding, the point remains that we don’t precisely know which way to go.”
“I’m not sure if I have enough Mana to power up my skill again,” I admit. “And I don't know if I want to, either. I do wonder if I can access my new map without extending my senses and intruding where I’m not welcome. That was not a pleasant experience.”
“Worth a shot. We’re all rested up, and I think Avelina’s recovered enough to burn up any monsters from relative safety up here. We’re in a good spot,” Mikko says.
“Unless they’re flying monsters.”
“Shut up, Lio!” I say, laughing as I elbow my friend in the ribcage. “You’re not helping boost the team morale right now.”
Lionel smiles at me beatifically. “On the contrary, my [Healer] senses tell me that I’m directly and drastically improving everyone’s mental health right now. You wouldn’t want to interfere with a professional at work, would you, Boss?”
“And what do your ‘[Healer] senses’ say would happen if I pushed you right off the tree?” I reply, cackling at the mock expression of horror on Lionel’s face.
“All right, boys, knock it off before I knock your heads off,” Mikko says in a falsetto voice that’s a perfect facsimile of our mother’s warning tone.
Lionel and I glance at each other and start chuckling. I shake my head at my brother. “Nice to be reminded of home. That’s uncanny, Mikko.”
“Thought you could use a reminder,” he says, his eyes crinkling up as he grins at me. “Now, let’s get moving. We’re burning daylight.”
“I don’t think the sun ever sets here,” Melina points out. She scrunches up her nose. “I wish it did. Purple looks strange on you. I’m not used to seeing your faces like that.”
I briefly tap into my new [Arcane Domain] Skill, feeding the meager amount of mana I’ve collected into the constituent runes that seem most likely to have something to do with the mapping function and bracing myself for another potential showdown with an eldritch spirit.
Nothing happens.
I frown, give up trying to parse the runes on the fly, and access the full Skill to pull up my mana map of the area. I keep my senses under tight control, tightening the range of the Domain and not allowing my perception to spread out across the Rift. After a long, tense moment of no alarms , I finally let myself relax.
“The core is that way,” I announce, pointing. “The underbrush looks like it’s thicker than ever, so I’d like to stay in the trees, if possible. Mikko, do you think you can jump from branch to branch? If you tie off the rope, we can shimmy over behind you. That’s probably the safest way to travel without exposing ourselves to ground-dwelling monsters.”
“Easy,” Mikko replies confidently.
“Excellent. We’ll follow your lead.”
=+=
Three tree-jumps later, “easy” is the last word that comes to mind to describe our escapades. My hand is chafed and raw from rope-burns, and I’ve almost fallen twice since I can’t hold on as well as the rest of the team can. Sliding my bodyweight plus my pack of supplies along the rope is far more painful than I anticipated when we started.
Even Mikko is starting to get tired, since it’s on him to scout out the route, jump to the nearest tree, and haul over the ropes and most of the equipment we’re carrying. Thanks to Mikko’s powerful build and robust Skills, I always think of him as utterly indefatigable, but he’s only human. I’ve pushed him to the limit today, and I’m afraid that I’m about to demand more from him. I’ll do it anyway, because I have to.
Being a leader is awful.
“How much further?” Lionel groans, flopping down on the latest massive branch we’ve just migrated to seconds earlier. It’s not as wide as the first one, but we all still fit.
“How much farther,” Melina says.
“Huh? What’s the difference? And why does it matter?” Lionel asks, stretching out on the tree limb and rubbing his eyes. “I’m done with school. I don’t wanna go back.”
Melina hunches her shoulders defensively. “One has to do with progress, while the other is a measure of relative distance.”
Lionel cracks open one eyelid. “Fine, what’s our progress to the core? Is it close? Or is the distance still inordinately, stupendously, superlatively far away?”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Melina says sarcastically.
I check my map, wishing it came with a sense of scale. “Looks like we’re close. You two, save your energy for the enemy. We’re all in this together.”
“Sorry I’m so cagey right now, Lio,” Melina murmurs, rubbing her face. “I’m just tired and on edge.”
“All good, Mel. Me too.”
“Me three,” Avelina chimes in.
“Me—”
“We get it!” I interrupt Mikko before things get any more out of hand. “Let’s focus on our fact-finding plan. We should get to the core in a few minutes, and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
“What’s there to discuss? Get in, shut down the Rift core, and get out. Easy as ready, set, burn,” Avelina says brightly.
“This is why you’re not in charge of planning, Ava,” I reply quietly, but her enthusiasm in the face of danger is making it hard for me not to laugh. “I want to have eyes on the keep as soon as possible. Once we scout it out, then we can relax and catch up on sleep if we find a suitable spot to rest. Safety first.”
Despite his grumbling, Lionel is up on his feet and moving before I finish giving my speech. They seem to want to be done with this delve as much as I do. We fall in line behind Mikko again, and he soon blazes us a trail right up to the edge of the towering trees.
Overlooking the keep, I immediately see a few problems. A series of winding walls form a maze-like approach to the main gateway, with numerous switchbacks and dead ends. A few packs of the armored lizard monsters roam the grounds, sweeping back and forth and leaving few gaps vulnerable to infiltration.
But the worst part is the guards.
As we inch back into the camouflage afforded by the trees and the profusion of big, leafy fronds that make up the jungle canopy, I turn toward my brother in utter amazement. “No wonder Rakesh thinks the [Magistrate] acted without the [Lord]’s awareness. Or approval. The guards down there all bear [Lord] Dimitri’s sigil. And based on their lazy postures and bored expressions, they're used to this kind of work. That means they’re not fighting monsters or clearing out the Rift.”
Mikko gazes back at me with a similarly disturbed look in his eyes that slowly hardens into resolve. He puffs out his cheeks, then blows out the air slowly as he thinks. “I don’t think they’re keeping monsters in, Nuri.”
I nod, coming to the same chilling conclusion, and finish his thought for him. “I think you’re right, Ko. They’re keeping people out.”