This chapter was Beta read by akasoeki.
Chapter Fourteen: Struggle For Life
The difference in their size was truly amazing. Once the Beast had jumped down from his lookout it was much easier to see just how truly massive he was. One of the Saint Beast's tree trunk thighs was thicker than Kuwabara's entire body. His yellow eyes were locked onto the boy before him with a hot rage that promised a painful, messy death.
Kuwabara seemed a bit stunned at his opponent's impressive size. His spirit sword was held off to the side, no where near a recognizable defensive position, and in a somewhat lank grip.
The Beast's energy started reacting to whatever his internal commands were. I could see his skin darkening to a purple hue that looked similar to what his cat beasts had done when he'd given them more energy. The reddish purple of his energy cloaked around him ominously.
"What are the odds Kuwabara starts calling for his mommy?" Yusuke snarked.
"Probably about equal with yours," I flashed a smirk at him and he flipped me off.
"Hah! I can smell your fear," Byakko growled. "Clearly your body knows something your brain does not..."
"What's that?" Kuwabara growled.
"If the sword is your most powerful weapon then you cannot hurt me..." The Beast sneered. "To tell you the truth, you'd be better off attacking me with your little fingernails..."
I could tell he'd just pissed off Kuwabara, which was bad. The boy needed to keep his head, he was already tired and wounded. Not to mention I had a bad feeling.
"I think," I started, "that we're about to see why exactly Byakko has a reputation for slaughtering opponents with energy based attacks."
"Well, I'm sorry if I don't believe you!" The redhead yelled at Byakko as he ran forward with his glowing sword. He managed to land a slice right across Byakko's mid section, the beast hadn't even moved. "How's that?" Kuwabara sounded pleased.
Byakko growled and punched at him, but missed as Kuwabara dodged backwards. The impact sent little spider web-like fractures into the stone. While he was overextended Kuwabara jumped into the air and slashed the Beast right across the face.
"Okay, maybe the tiger will be calling home," Yusuke grinned.
I wasn't convinced and neither, it seemed, were the two demons behind me. "Something's wrong," Kurama muttered and Hiei agreed.
"What does he mean?" Yusuke asked Hiei.
Hiei's impassive gaze was still locked on the battle ahead of us, "Try looking closely at the two fighters. Judging from the attacks, Kuwabara's obviously had the upper hand, but by the looks of them its as if Kuwabara is the one taking all the blows." He wasn't wrong, the redhead was gasping for breath and covered in sweat.
Something about the scene clicked in my head and I bit my lip, reopening the earlier wound. As blood dripped into my mouth I heightened and adjusted my senses, confirming the theory, "Fuck!" I cursed. No wonder my ancestor's barriers didn't work. He was consuming the energy like a leech!
"Could it be?" Hiei was working things out on his own.
They gasped as the Beast's form grew larger. His aura shimmered yellow with Kuwabara's stolen energy. Kurama figured it out first and explained the situation to Yusuke.
I felt a thread of fear shimmer through my own senses. There was little I could do to help against this creature if he could just drain the energy right back out. "This is bad. At this point I won't even be able to heal Kuwabara reliably until Byakko is dead."
Kuwabara focused and brought out more energy to compensate for the siphoned off section of his spirit sword. He dropped to his knees for a second, before staggering back to his feet. The boy couldn't seem to catch his breath and they came in quick exhausted gasps.
When he did get up he started to swing his sword again, but paused when Yusuke yelled, "Are you crazy? Hit him again and he'll just get bigger. Don't be stupid!"
"Leave me alone, Urameshi! Nothings gonna make me stop fighting now!" He yelled.
I sighed and sat down, ignoring the look the others shot me, and dug through my bag to pull out Takara. What do the Scarred do when faced with such an enemy?
Takara didn't bother filling up a page with her response, she just thrummed it through our connection, You act as if you don't know what -should- be happening. They use weapons over energy if they have the skill.If they don't possess the skill they rely on partners or friends.
I groaned and began rubbing my temples. She was right, it would have been faster if Hiei, or Kurama even, had taken on this beast, but Kuwabara had laid claim on him and made it about personal pride. There were lives at stake and this was taking too damn long.
I sighed and looked up when I heard Yusuke speak. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. Kuwabara is helping him," Kurama answered.
I placed Takara on my lap and sat my Byakko on top of her, before closing my eyes and entering fugue. My sense of the surrounding area jumped into a sharper focus and registered on more levels as I spread my awareness out.
I could see the Beast glowing quite brightly with Kuwabara's stolen energy. Kuwabara, on the other hand, had a much duller color scheme in his exhaustion. Like Yusuke, he seemed to have a seemingly endless supply of "second wind" and after a short moment of bantering back and forth, the two fighters leaped at each other.
Narrowing my focus, I examined how the Beast's own energy co-mingled with Kuwabara's. It was strange, separate, but contained peacefully together...almost as if...
"It's not digested," my head cocked to the side in confusion.
"What are you talking about, woman?" Hiei's attention barely flickered over me before returning to watch Kuwabara continue to feed the Beast, despite knowing it was draining him somehow.
"He has stolen Kuwabara's power, yes, and it is making him stronger, but he hasn't absorbed it..." I was petting my Byakko absently as I watched the currents and swirls of energy with my mind. "That either means it takes a set amount of time or he can't. He isn't digesting it quickly enough. What happens when you're too full?" I didn't wait for a response as I watched Kuwabara shove his energy sword straight into the Beast's mouth, "I don't know how big this particular container can stretch, or even if Kuwabara has figured this out, but its a race to see if the Beast can fill up before Kuwabara runs dry..."
When the energy sword was completely drained it zapped out of existence and Kuwabara fell over. The Beast stood over him with a bit of a pot belly and chubbier cheeks. With the fleshier look, his mane looked more like a mullet. "Thanks," he sneered as he patted his fat belly, "You had more spirit energy on your bones than I thought. Eating all of it nearly got me full."
Kuwabara slowly pushed himself to his knees, "I'm not done yet," he rasped. He summoned his spirit energy, but it was short, no longer than the hilt of a sword. "I dare you to come closer," he taunted.
"Hah, you can't even stand up anymore. You're nothing, but a wounded animal!" With that, the beast lifted his fat foot into the air and kicked the boy right in his face.
Kuwabara flew back across the stone battlefield and Byakko slowly stomped after him, "Thrashing you will be the perfect exercise after my giant meal. As soon as there's room in my stomach that's where you'll go."
"I'm not so sure I can crack jokes about this," I'd never seen Yusuke more tense than when he spoke. "Kuwabara is really gonna get killed now..."
I'd been teetering on the edge of decision for some time now. The fear in Yusuke's voice as he genuinely worried over his friend made my decision for me. "He gets one more chance and then I'm interfering," I stood up, feeling like I was made of pure ice despite the fire that ran through my veins.
I had a lock on Kuwabara's feeble energy and a link spell completed and ready to spark into existence as soon as I gave the command. His death would be a waste, it would slow us down and make the score even. We didn't have time for this crap, so I willed him to finish this so that I didn't have to. I wouldn't be able to kill Byakko, but I might be able to kick his fat ass right off the edge of the battleground if I was careful.
"Wait," Kurama cut in, "You were right, Byakko's body stopped expanding halfway through that last attack. That indicates vulnerability."
"Don't get the boy's hopes up, Kurama..." Hiei's silky tone cut it.
"I'm simply saying he still has a chance," Kurama replied.
"Yes, maybe if you were the one fighting, but that fool will never be able to see it," Hiei's tone was almost agitated.
The Beast picked Kuwabara up by his shirt lapels and then punched him right in the face. The boy slammed into the ground and skittered across the pavement.
"He will. He has to," I was focused pretty intensely on the carrot-top. He had to feel my presence watching, waiting, ready to butt in if he didn't finish things off, but he was just laying on the ground. "Kuwabara," I yelled, "If you don't finish up this fight now I'm going to steal your kill!"
I felt the Beast's attention flash towards me as he snarled, but he continued stalking Kuwabara's prone form. The boy started lifting himself off the ground with a groan. And then it happened, I could feel Kuwabara's awareness focusing on the Beast's trapped energy. I knew he was going to be okay. I let out a pleased chuckle, "Good boy, use your brain."
"Heh, good luck with that..." Hiei snarked.
I just smiled and kept my attention focused and the spell ready just in case. The Beast had made it over finally, "Don't be worried, I'm quick to the kill!" He swiped his claws at the boy.
"I had something else in mind!" Kuwabara summoned up his tiny energy sword, but through what must have been pure determination and willpower to succeed focused it into a full spirit sword to block Byakko's claws. Then, he pulled even more energy out of nowhere, thickening his sword and stabbing it right into Byakko's belly. The world around them lit up yellow until the sword diminished in energy and the boy keeled right over while the beast chuckled.
"Oooh, you filled me up so much with your energy I don't think I have room left to eat your body." The tiger lifted his foot to crush Kuwabara, but the energy had reached critical mass within him and began reacting violently with it's container.
"Looks like it worked," Kuwabara let out a weak chuckle as he watched the Beast moan and trash a bit in discomfort.
As the redhead stood, so did I, slipping out of fugue. I put the kitten on my shoulder, who was purring contentedly with what was about to be the Beast's end. I held Takara in the crook of my arm.
The demon started to glow yellow again. Strands of pure energy shot off him like mini bolts of lightning until finally he exploded in a torrent of light. The rocks under his feet broke away and he began to plummet down the long fall to the ground.
"And down he goes!" Yusuke cheered.
I noticed that the energy seemed to return instantly back to Kuwabara and we all made our way over as Kurama informed the boy of that so he could stop breathing in the Beast's "fumes".
It was then that Botan called to complain about how long we were taking. Apparently things back at the city were pretty bad and the mayor had declared a riot alert. The call was interrupted when Byakko's very recognizable growl rumbled the castle around us. The tough bastard was still alive.
"Hurry!" Kurama urged, "Its collapsing!" The stone we were standing on had begun to crack all around us and we darted forward hoping to find a safer perch deeper within the castle. Hiei jumped right up to the perch, but the rest of us had to run up the spiral staircase that lead to the archway Byakko had originally been standing in front of. We made it up just before the previous battle ground crumbled into massive blocks and fell, to rain down on the city below.
Byakko's voice laughed mockingly, ringing off the walls from further inside. "So human, you've proven to be quite worthy prey."
"Hey aren't you dead yet..." Kuwabara asked.
"Haha! Very much alive. And to reward your strength, I'm inviting you into my lair." Byakko called. "My Room of Hell."
I pulled my backpack up, stowing away Takara and began rubbing soothing circles on my temples. "This is fucking tedious," My words were English and brought a curious glance from the others.
"I guess Room of Hell wasn't just a clever name..." Yusuke summed up the situation precisely. "That's lava..."
Molten lava, scorching air, and a general atmosphere of fire and brimstone. The room was really a massive cavern with a molten liquid pool to fall into and only columns supporting a few blocks to stand on peppered the room. They looked almost like giant long-stemmed mushrooms.
Kuwabara ripped off some of his torn shirt sleeve and let it float down to the molten lake below, it burst into flames before reaching the yellow-orange liquid. "Feather Fall will not save you here..." I told him.
"We better not fall..." Kuwabara groaned.
"A fine view, isn't it?" Byakko, who stood on the other side of the cavern, mocked the redhead. "This is my private chamber. I come here to...play..." He gave a dark little chuckle at that. Of course when the big dumb cat challenged us, yet again, both Yusuke and Kuwabara wanted to fight him. Yusuke ended up sighing in defeat and Byakko cut in, "Fine, let the swordsman come forward, we have a very pressing score to settle."
"You've got that right, Byakko. And this time I'm beating you up in ways the vet can't even fix!" Kuwabara yelled across the room.
"There's no need to push yourself," Hiei addressed Kuwabara. "You have fought well enough. Now let Yusuke take over the battle so you can heal on the small chance that we need you later..."
"I'm sorry, Hiei, but I just don't think I can do that. See, I got this thing called a code and it says no matter how ugly a fight gets I always finish it. Even if it means risking my life." Kuwabara had an intense expression as his eyes locked on Byakko again.
"Tch...a human with an honor code..." Hiei didn't look impressed.
"You can't argue with the guy, hes like a mule," Yusuke had a flat look, his experience in the subject was quite extensive.
"Yes, he's almost as stubborn as you..." Kurama said exactly what I was thinking.
With a resigned sigh I tapped the redhead's shoulder. "Finish him off quick, yeah? Remember that Botan's counting on us..." It was the only thing I'd be able to do to get this thing to move any faster. The willful kid wasn't going to change his mind.
It seemed to work a little as a spark lit in his eyes. With that, he leaped off the ledge and onto one of the columns, but it crumbled beneath his feet, dumping rocks into the molten lake below. He survived by barely clinging to the rest of the platform.
"Kuwabara! Are you sure you don't want me to tag in?" Yusuke offered one last time.
"Shut up! I'm on top of this!" He yelled back as he scrambled back onto the platform.
With another sigh I turned around and walked back to the entrance. Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke were standing about ten feet away, closer to the edge of the platform. If Kuwabara was going to be stubborn about this fight and we were going to be stuck here for a while, then I was going to use my time wisely to recover my lost energy. With a flick of mental will I created a barrier and went right into a restorative fugue.
I hadn't been in for more than a minute or two when a roar and a mass of incredibly offensive power flared to life, so I opened my eyes and looked over curiously.
The cat had used Tiger Scream to turn one of the columns to ash. It looked like Kuwabara had barely escaped. Hiei actually started to explain the attack, "For years I heard of a fighter who could destroy molecular bonds with the vibrations of his voice. I never thought I'd meet him."
"So he can't use his spirit sword on it?" Yusuke asked.
"No," Hiei looked back, "The sword would cause a chain reaction that would destroy his entire spirit."
That was quite handy information. Note to self, do not block with barrier. A type of attack that was impossible to block. With that frustrating thought I let my barrier fall and stood. "I'll be in the hall. Get me if things look dire," with that I moved a safe distance past the door and set a ward spell so I'd be alerted if anyone was coming. It was a bit redundant with my Byakko on guard, but in a place like this you could never be too careful. My body relaxed once I slipped into fugue, as it soothed away my mental aches and physical pains.
Even in fugue, I could hear the rapid fire explosions; and Byakko's insane, gleeful laughter as he and Kuwabara traded insults, banter, and threats. On the surface it was the same as him and Yusuke or Hiei, but there was true intent behind his words.
Before moving to this place, I'd never been around people like this insane little group before. I couldn't speak for the two demons, but Yusuke and Kuwabara were good kids, rough around the edges, but good inside. Back home, fighting hadn't been exciting or fun. It had been terrifying, painful, and messy.
Before my memories could be pulled backwards I found myself focusing on the moment I saw Hiei's face for the first time. I had spent most of my life trying to avoid what happened between me and the unsuspecting demon and now that it had actually happened...I wasn't even sure what the hell had happened. Grams, as much as I loved her, had been wrong about half of what she'd taught me. To her, being a Scarred Mother had meant finding her soul mate with Gramps. It was like a secret order, a sisterhood for just our family, that kept long histories and dabbled in the spiritual arts. Mostly, she kept an herb garden and created homemade remedies of a mundane nature that were sold as holistic healing aides. I don't think she ever dreamed the rabbit hole went as deep as I was traveling.
Mother had always been quite irritated with the whole idea of our curse. She viewed it as something she was excluded from and rebelled in the most juvenile way possible. She left the family, met Abraham Collins, and settled down with the outsider after just six weeks of courtship. To her, love had meant unending forgiveness, no matter what, and when I couldn't agree she stood by while the world around clawed me to bits, blaming me for my own stubbornness while washing the sin from her own hands. To her, love had meant shedding your own desires, following without question, painful sacrifice, and losing one's personhood. She was crazy, though and I could take her experience with a grain of salt, but painful clarity hit me years later on my fifteenth birthday.
My cousin, Amanda, was older than me by five years. She was the oldest of our generation and the closest to me in age. I'd always looked up to her, following her like a puppy at times. She was a Scarred Daughter and showed me the ropes, helping me to cope with outsider perceptions of us strange girls and our weird bandages. She was wild and unrepentant and I absolutely adored her. Amanda often talked about how she wanted to break the curse, but it was one of those thoughts that just sounded nice. None of us knew where to begin and as far as we knew no one had ever managed it.
She, of course, came to my birthday. Others came as well, people I didn't want there. My dad and his religious affiliates, the ones who wanted to watch the freak show. Poor Amanda was instantly bound to one of my dad's nephews, someone who, like my father, thought we were evil, possessed, whores who were sent to tempt good, God fearing men from the path of righteousness. She'd been bound to a man that would hate her and view her with suspicion because of what she was.
By the end of the year both of our lives had been changed forever and sweet, beautiful Amanda had only been freed from her suffering in death. I had been left to live with the memories of that bloody night engraved in both mind and body alone, to be haunted by blinding pain, screams of suffering, and a burning hatred for the Mayfield family curse.
And now, after a decade of searching for a road to freedom, Hiei literally appears out of thin air and burns all my plans and wishes to ash and cinder with nothing more than a single glance from his smoldering eyes. I knew practically nothing about him, aside from his seeming distaste for humans. That frankly scared the hell out of me after my own father's hatred for what I was. If Hiei was anything like him I didn't have a chance of standing against him.
Before that tendril of fear sunk it's roots in too deep I took a deep breath and went just a bit further into fugue, letting the prismatic light banish the worry away so that I could think with a clear head. After a few minutes I realized I was being silly. Hiei had several chances to bash Kuwabara's face in, but instead avoided conflict, only openly inviting the redhead to violence when Kuwabara had summoned his energy sword and started waving it around in everyone's face. Instead, the short demon dodged Kuwabara's attacks without even lifting his hands in retaliation. Even trapped by the Gate of Betrayal, it had been Hiei that had saved us, even if he did play if off afterwords. Despite his obvious distaste for Kuwabara, he'd even warned him against fighting Byakko the first time and paid him a compliment, trying to talk him out of the second fight as well. Those acts alone showed he was nothing like my father or his Church of Endless Mercy compatriots.
Still, I by no means thought Hiei was a docile kitten who would be sweet, supportive, and happy about the situation. He was cocky, critical, and aloof at first glance, but I had no idea about what could possibly be simmering behind those heated eyes of his. Something in his energy was very predatory, he had a dangerous glint in his gaze that told me he had violently ended lives before, probably more than I could count, and that he would continue to do so at his sole discretion. With a bit of trepidation I vaguely recalled the story of how Yusuke had first met him. The demon had stolen something, kidnapped Keiko, and plotted to create a demon army before Yusuke managed to stop him. It was because of that incident that Hiei was here in the first place, trying to wipe his slate clean and get off the hook.
In the end I knew that there was little I could currently do about the situation. I couldn't even really explain what had happened because the things I'd been expecting to happen, hadn't. The two demons didn't seem to recognize what I was and the idea of having "the conversation" with them was an incredibly unpleasant one. I didn't know much about Hiei, but I could tell he didn't get close to others easily and he would not like what had happened one tiny little bit. I only hoped he didn't slice me into ribbons with that wicked looking sword of his before I could figure out what to do, but what the hell would I say? 'Hey, Demon-guy I just met, I have this weird sorta magic thing going on and it says I'm supposed to, like, hang out with you and stuff?' 'Cause that'll go over well. I sighed and went over the relevant information:
1. I am bound to Hiei and I had no idea what that fully entails beyond: A gentle impulse to do as he asked, which I feel can be overlooked at my discretion. (And if Grams is correct about some things: The impulse to protect him, to care for him, and to make sure he's happy, but I hadn't felt any of those. Takara's past entries support the protection thing, but she still picks and chooses which entries are made available to me and I don't have a full picture.)
2. Hiei is a complete wild card. I have no idea what his motives are now, but not too long ago he was a literal villain. He is a demon, which I know very little about, and an incredibly strong one from what I can sense writhing beneath his skin. Those things frighten me and despite that, I find his acerbic personality humorous and enjoy listening to his cutting wit.
3. I'm trying to make too many important decisions while in an intense situation (our current task) after too short of time. Its only been a few hours and that's not at all a sufficient amount of time to make a proper impression of a person. The best course of action is to shove this thing down for now and mull on it later after I've had time to figure out what the fuck all this means and how to break it to him. And I know I will have to eventually. The one thing I knew about the curse for sure was that fate had a way of making it impossible for either of us to just ignore each other and go on with our own lives.
Between the restorative fugue state and the reassurance that I could put this heavy thought off for a while I felt much better and slipped back into consciousness. My Byakko grumbled a bit as I got up, but I just scratched his ears and slipped back into the Beast's lair.
I was immediately assaulted by the tense atmosphere. Kuwabara, it seems, had been trapped on a single pillar in the middle of the molten lake, the nearest pillar being the one the Beast was standing on and it wasn't close enough for a human to jump to. The Beast was of course mocking the boy.
"Can you reach him Hiei?" Kurama looked over to the shorter demon. It seemed Kurama didn't even see a way out for the the boy.
"If need be..." Hiei answered. A tiny smile, no more than a twitch at the corners of my mouth, appeared at his words.
"You guys better stay put," Kuwabara yelled from over the great distance between him and our group. "You're whispering to each other about how you can rescue me, aren't you? How many times do I have to tell you I don't want your help."
"I don't understand that guy..." Yusuke groaned, "doesn't he understand he's about to die."
"Perhaps he's still devising an attack..." Kurama pondered.
"Hmm," Hiei doubted. "Perhaps he's a fool."
As Kuwabara bantered with Byakko once more, I found myself looking at the wide gaps between the already broken path. Kuwabara was either going to win or get himself killed so that one of the others had to take on Byakko next. Either way, our only option was to move forward and with the lack of a suitable bridge, I had no idea how I was going to cross. If it hadn't been over a lake of freaking lava, I might have asked Yusuke to help me. Somehow, I found myself not trusting in his dubious dexterity, balance, and strength, considering how far he'd have to jump and how much taller I was than him. Amaru had trained me well enough to jump over rocks and tree branches, but this was a hell of a lot scarier.
I was distracted from the problem altogether when the Beast started powering up from another Tiger Scream attack. This was the end, one way or another. It hit the column in a green and black blast just after Kuwabara jumped forward, flying through the air and downwards, as he was far short of his goal.
"He didn't make it!" Kurama gasped.
Then I watched as energy gathered in his hand and Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword and extended it to hit the stub of a broken column, using it to vault towards the Beast as he laughed maniacally at what he thought was the redhead's end. Kuwabara flew towards Byakko and landed one hell of a super punch to the face, the power behind it knocking the Beast clean off his own pedestal to plummet towards the lava. Kuwabara had been soaring through the air too high and too fast to land, completely overshot the column and seemingly falling down on the other side. I heard Byakko land in the lava with a plop.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled, struck with sudden grief and shock. "You can't die. It's stupid. We're protecting the world, so who's protecting us?"
I didn't let him worry for long, "He's still alive..."
The others looked at me like I was brain damaged, Yusuke showed pain and outright disbelief, so I pointed at the column, "He's hanging off the other side. Go save him, kid."
Just then, Kuwabara yelled, "HEY! CAN I GET SOME HELP OVER HERE GUYS!?" He was literally hanging on by a few threads, bandages specifically, and those weren't exactly meant to be supporting his weight. "I think I can feel something slipping!"
"He's alive..." Yusuke just stared at him in shock.
"How fortunate," Hiei deadpanned as he looked away.
The boys moved ahead to mock Kuwabara while he hung from his precarious position. I was left standing alone on the ledge. Maybe it would be safer for you if you rode in my backpack? I don't want you to fall.
Byakko groaned and looked at me like I was a small, slow child, Idiot, I can just turn into a spirit before I hit the lava and then wait in the sigil, where I reside in the first place. Put me in your pocket. We're all fucked anyways if you fall. After he spoke I just stared at him, open mouthed in shock. I'd never heard him curse before and it was a little unsettling. I did as he asked after his tiny kitty lip pulled back in a sneer to uncover one of his little fangs.
Okay, okay, don't get your tail in a twist, I told him as I did as he asked. With that, I secured my backpack to both shoulders and made a running leap to the nearest column. It was a strange mixture of invigorating and terrifying that I chalked up to being a secret adrenaline junkie. I had to slowly pick my way across, carefully, so I didn't pick a route that had too big of a gap further down. It was like playing a very high stakes puzzle game.
I'd just made it halfway to them while Yusuke was teasing Kuwabara about needing to fight the last two Saint Beasts and how we might just leave the redhead to dangle there when Murphy's Law reared its ugly head. See, Murphy's Law states that "anything that can go wrong will" and while I try not to be a complete pessimist I understand that at times some people have no fuckin' luck, like me. As I landed on the next column, there was a terrifying crack before the damn thing started teetering.
Fear made me jump to the next platform, but the column I'd escaped followed, crashing into the new one. I jumped again, but a chain reaction had been started and I had to keep ahead of the crumbling platforms. Unfortunately, I'd backed myself into a bad spot and had to make a desperate leap from the column I stood on as it started to give way under my feet. I knew I was in trouble, the target platform was just too far away. As I soared through the air, I stretched out as far as I could. My hands scraped across the stone, ripping skin and fingernails away as I tried to find purchase enough to catch myself, but it just wasn't enough. My hands slid off the side and I started to free fall towards the lava. My brain couldn't focus beyond the panicked thought, After all that, this is how it ends?
A/N: My Beta reader had some colorful things to say after this cliffhanger and was glad she could read ahead. Hope you're enjoying the show. I decided to post this a day early. :) Next Chapter: Shit. Gets. Real.
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