Chapter 176: Chapter 183: Death March

‘Four hours…’ I muttered in my head over and over, until half an hour passed and I started to feel ridiculous for focusing so hard on the arbitrary number.

‘If I actually do the math… It seems safer to assume that it would only be 2 from here right? Especially considering how long it took for us to descend. That was still a long walk though. Probably around 6 miles or so left, I think he was a bit off. That's not… As bad…’

I was beginning to fall asleep standing up. Even though I knew it wouldn't be as long as he said, the words still weighed me down just as much. ‘I just want to go home.’ “I just want…” I began to stumble, tripping and catching myself more than a few times as we started going up a hill. ‘Maybe I should ask Air to carry me after all.’

Keigan stopped us and turned around for a moment “Siya, you're clearly exhausted. Here, I'll carry you back.” He opened his arms wide and reached out. It was a tempting offer at first. But suddenly it was like a jolt shot through me when he got close. I forced myself back, tripping and falling back into my brother, who thankfully caught me.

“I'm… fine… let's just keep going.” ‘I have to be strong. I’m just a bit tired, and we're almost there, this is nothing.’ I glanced back at my brother who didn’t say a word as I got my balance back. He didn’t show it, but he was probably beginning to wear down as well since he was doing most of the fighting, watching our flanks without any support… Since I was slacking off.

‘It's only 2 hours… I can do it… just two more hours. I'll be fine…’ “Maybe… A short break though…”

They refused… Or no one heard me, either way, I didn’t have enough energy to say it again, so I just kept trudging forward.

Another 15 minutes later and I couldn’t take it anymore. I waited until we reached a relatively safe stretch of tunnel, and then let my body hit the ground with a groan.

“You alright?” Airsidh asked, squatting down next to me and rubbing his eyes.

“I just need a few minutes and I’m good to go.” I stretched my legs out with another groan, taking the weight off my feet. “My feet are killing me.”

“It’s always something with you isn’t it.” Setting down his pack for a moment he signaled the other two to hold up and pulled out some medicine. “We brought all these supplies and it turns out you're the only one that needs any of it.”

Recognizing the familiar black sludge in the bottle I quickly pulled my feet back underneath me. “There's, no need for that is there?”

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He rolled his eyes “If you’re planning on walking more than another mile then it probably is. Or do you expect me to believe you somehow don’t have blisters and scrapes by now? Probably infected ones considering what we have been walking through.

As he started walking towards me, for a moment I felt as though I saw Keigan in him. I jumped to my feet, still remembering the pain from the last time, and backed up against a nearby wall. “It’s really fine. We should wait till we get out to treat them…”

He let out a sigh. “Then you're going to have to let our father carry you…”

Keigan took a step closer, only making me back up more as my breath grew short and I grabbed my knees. “Just… Give me…” It felt suffocating. ‘Give me what, space… Time? The only thing that will make me feel better will be getting out of this hole… I just want to go home…’ Starting to recover I Tried to stand up straight again bracing myself against the wall. ‘Right, being afraid of medicine is just childish any–’

“SIYA!” Airsidh yelled as everything went dark.

I opened my eyes but I couldn't see anything. My head rang as wind rushed past my face and grinding stone echoed loudly, hurting my ears. My body was aching, but for a moment I became weightless. “Airsidh!” I cried back. But nobody answered me. The moment I touched the wall I was swept away by a trap, just like Zu was. ‘Good thing the dark doesn’t bother me…’ I closed my eyes focusing my soul. ‘Darkseight.’

The achiness and soreness from overuse were gone, thanks to the magic spring, so aside from my mental exhaustion, my body was in top shape. It wasn’t ideal, but if I did have to fight again, I was confident. Everything lit up around me in an instant, and the thick black fog only confirmed where I was. ‘The abyss.’

I looked around, and sure enough, there was nothing but a void. Since I wasn’t standing on the ground, my feet felt fine. The scent of death surrounded me, but it was preferable to the stench of undead, so I was taking that as a win too. Finally, my aching body felt weightless, as if I was floating through space and all my joints were being supported by an invisible pressure. Ironically, everything about the abyss that was normally a “Downside” made me feel better if anything.

‘So it’s time then is it?’ I pulled my sword, waiting for the ghoule to make its entrance. My body felt like someone had lit me on fire, but the fire didn’t burn. Instead, Intense energy surged within me, and my skin was marked black by my magic. It flowed even through my head, waking me up more than any energy drink ever could.

I was alone and lost in the dark, that much was true. It was different than before though. I focused my energy on my sword and it surged with power, the darkness flowing down its blade, engraving it, and enveloping it in a black fog.

The power I felt when I was in the abyss was unlike anything else. It was almost like the abyss was MY home, not the demons. My heart quickened, and my breath followed pace as the heat raged within me. More energy flowed through my body and a thin layer of translucent frost slowly covered my skin “I see you…” My voice didn’t sound like my own, as if echoing through dark mist.

With a single slash of my blade, I cut through the thick misty air, revealing the demon, and unraveling any illusions it had cast. In the end, it hadn’t been changing at all… Even that was an illusion. It had never even healed, despite growing in power.

It was batted and beaten, metal shards and blades sticking out of it like a wounded beast, and a bright lightning scar running from its chest and back down its arms, spiraling into burn scars underneath the chains.

It was standing in the corner, covering its face, as if blinded by a light, but after a moment it stopped, standing straight up and rolling its neck. “Everybody Drowns…” It screeched in its original breathy voice. It still freaked me out a bit, but I was used to it. The kind of voice you would expect from a creature without a face.

It took several steps toward me, like it was moving away from a dark corner, and out into the open. With a wave of its hands chains erupted all around me, not just around the ghoul, but through the air, spiraling like they were weaving in and out of the dimension itself.

‘Rafi, I hope you are watching…’ I felt myself swallow as I kept my eyes sharp and readied myself, forcing my point of view out of my body and into the air so I could see from every angle. “Drown? I mean, let’s be honest, at this point learning how to breathe water wouldn’t be that crazy for me…”