“A floor lower than this one?” I asked.

"Go ahead. Look."

We each took turns sticking our heads and lanterns into the hole. The opening revealed a mine shaft or chute from the first floor to unknown depths.

We chipped away at the opening until even Castille could crouch over the chute. I lowered my lantern over the yawning chasm.

How far did this shaft go?

I conjured a ball of fire and threw it down the shaft. It sputtered out three storeys down, smothered by the darkness.

"Not bad," Isla said.

She knelt over the hole, conjuring a ball of water that she crystallized into ice and sent tumbling down the shaft.

I knelt beside her, straining my ears. A long moment passed before the faint sound of ice shattering against stone echoed on the walls.

"How deep is that?" I asked.

"Fifteen—maybe twenty storeys?"

"That's well over a hundred feet," Castille said.

"Longer than my rope," I said.

"That's longer than all our rope combined. Unless..."

Castille grinned, putting her arm around Dugan.

He nodded in agreement.

"Wwwhat's your rope made of?"

Isla quirked an eyebrow at Dugan's unexpected speech.

I dropped my pack, handing Dugan the rope I bought from Elmer.

"It's hemp. Why does that… Oh, get it."

Castille slapped Dugan on the back before walking up to the entrance of the shaft.

"Going down is the easy part. Getting back up will be next to impossible, and that’s assuming we aren’t injured by whatever’s down there."

Isla chimed in.

“I think this shaft is part of a system to travel up and down the floors. If I go down, maybe I can get it working.”

Castille sighed.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

She turned to Isla.

"Can you help Dugan get us down?"

Castille’s grey eyes hardened to slate. It wasn't lost on her that the noblewoman had used three different types of Landbound magic. It would make anyone suspicious of Isla’s noble roots.

"Um... Yeah, I think I can.”

"Good."

Castille turned to me.

"Jacob, you're up."

I tensed at the mention of my name.

"What?!"

"You're up."

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"You want me to go down there first?"

"I want you to scout."

"That's a death trap!"

"That's your job!"

Her hard eyes met mine with a level stare.

"If you want to stay in this party, you need to show us—show me that you're a team player."

"I am! I just..."

The eyes of the party were on me. The more I argued, the worse I would look in their eyes—in Isla's eyes. Team player? What was she talking about? I saved her life! Was she still mad that I punched Arwen? I said sorry!

"Fine. I'll do it."

Castille smiled, her face beaming in the gloomy room.

"That’s the spirit!"

I sighed. I couldn’t wait for this night to be over.

# # #

Dugan tied together our rope and secured it around the nearest marble pillar. He closed his eyes, calling on his Landbound magic to extend the rope's plant fibres a few feet every minute. When it was long enough, I wrapped it around my waist.

The plan was simple. I would repel down as Dugan extended the rope. Once I scouted our landing spot, Isla would turn the rope into a rope ladder, and the rest of the party would come down. If there was trouble, Castille and Dugan would pull me up.

I looked over the edge, and I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

The plan was simple but not perfect. What if the rope broke? What if something or someone was waiting for me at the bottom of the shaft? What if something fell from the first floor as I climbed down?

"Hey."

Isla touched my forearm.

"I think you're brave for going down there first."

I smiled, the tension in my shoulders easing.

"Just doing my job."

"Ready, Jacob?" Castille asked.

"As I'll ever be."

I turned my back to the abyss, leaning backward as Castille fed me more rope. Isla passed me my lantern. I nodded to her as I took my first backward steps into the darkness.

# # #

The leather of my boot heels scuffed the smooth surface of the rectangular shaft. It was wide enough to fit three average people lying down head to foot and two across. In many ways, this shaft was like my life: walking backward into an unknown future, looking back at a shady past.

I sighed.

For the first time since breaking into that Sanctifier outpost, I was alone, and I felt… empty. No Isla in my ear talking about something magic-related. No Castille to crack sarcastic jokes with. No Dugan to watch my back and Thor… Eh, Thor could go.

The sound of footfalls in front of me made me raise my lantern and almost drop it.

Ghostly faces flashed in the lantern light.

Faces I knew well.

Kirk. Gren. Mr. Reeves. Mrs. Dulldrey... Cynthia.

They stared at me from the shadows, stepping forward each time I stepped back.

“No,” I whispered. “This isn’t real.”

“You betrayed us, Jacob.”

Their voices were a distant chorus, blending into a haunting monotone.

“No.”

“You replaced us.”

“No...”

“And you’ll do it again… you’ll betray Van Lagos… and you’ll betray Isla.”

“NO!”

“Jacob! Is everything OK?!” Isla asked, her voice bouncing off the walls.

I closed my eyes.

A weapon. A weapon.

I am a weapon.

I opened my eyes, panting in short, hurried breaths.

They were gone.

I wiped away the sweat covering my face with clammy hands.

“Jacob?!”

“I’m fine!”

I was a fool. This is what happens when I forget Sin’s lessons—forget what I am.

The feelings sneak in and, with it, the pain.

I chuckled to myself.

A weapon didn’t care about others. A weapon didn’t feel pain. Being a weapon… It was so much easier.

I looked down at the hemp rope tied around my waist.

There was another way to stop feeling: one little cut, one little bolt of fire, and then a moment of pain followed by peace.

Coward.

I laughed, cackling to myself in the esophagus of the Mountain.

"Jacob?!"

"I'm fine," I lied.

My next footstep touched the air.

"I'm at the bottom!"

# # #

Castille lowered me until my feet touched a stone platform. I untied myself and crouched, burning will into my jacket to hide myself from view.

Droplets of water splashed in shallow puddles. A wet, earthy smell made me wrinkle my nose. Nothing was here—nothing alive, at least.

I raised my lantern. The ceiling around the opening sprouted with stalactites that protruded like teeth. The floor past the stone platform was muddy and not tiled like the floors above. Walls surrounded me on four sides. I was in some kind of room.

I exhaled and stopped burning my will.

In front of me was a wall with two openings. A pale light shined past the doorways. I moved between them, pressing myself against the wall, almost slipping on the floor’s gradual slope. Taking slow, careful steps, I worked to the entrance on my left.

I peeked through the door and gasped at what I saw.