And I meant it. This had been a difficult and emotional rollercoaster ride for us, and it would only get worse. We’d managed to move past the bitterness, the unspoken and unpopular opinions, the fears and concerns about one another and about our ability to overcome this challenge. We’d accepted one another for who we were, not what we could physically do.
Instead of tearing us apart, the Soul Crusher had inadvertently brought us closer together. We could see past our differences and accept each other exactly as we were. I realized that, until recently, we’d more or less thought of one another as crew members and good friends, but we were still bogged down by our abilities. This time, however, we’d been reduced to an even playing field, where only our wits and characters could save us.
Looking at the crew now, I couldn’t help but hold on to my satisfied grin. We weren’t out of this room yet, but our friendship had grown stronger… and our fears were accepted as parts of us, integral cogs in the machine that would eventually push us ahead. We couldn’t go back. We couldn’t cancel this Hermessi apocalypse, either.
The only way for us was forward. Ever forward.
Raphael
The sense of urgency never left me, but the Soul Crusher’s tricks and gimmicks had done a bang-up job of keeping us distracted. The truth serum had worn off, and we were still debating which of the marked levers to pull—those we’d identified by sound as linked to a mechanism. Whether said mechanism would let us out of this room or try to kill us was a matter of luck, at this point.
We’d made progress with ourselves and our team dynamic, but I worried it wouldn’t be enough to help us survive the challenge. The anticipation of what might come next was taking its toll on our frayed nerves. I’d always felt invincible. And since my genetic design had made me so difficult to kill, I’d stared every potentially deadly scenario straight in the face, fearless and without hesitation. But that perk had been taken away, thanks to the Soul Crusher’s magic… and my enthusiasm had dwindled. I was more than eager to keep moving, but I couldn’t ignore my own fears. Not anymore.
“I should pull the next lever,” Amelia said, her voice trembling. “Come on, we’ve been at this for long enough.”
“If more toxic gas is released, we’ll be in a heap of trouble,” Eira replied. “Your blood heals, but not as fast as the potions or the volcanic lake water.”
“Then we keep the doses for those of us who actually need them,” Lumi declared. “Taeral, Eira, and I will not use any. Since we can’t be killed, we’ll survive whatever the Soul Crusher throws at us. That way, there will be more for the rest of the crew.”
“Okay. Here goes nothing,” Amelia said, and pulled one of the levers. A split second later, a hatch opened beneath her, and she dropped into the hole with a bloodcurdling scream.
“Amelia!” I gasped, and reached down to try and catch her.
We all heard the heavy thump at the bottom, followed by Amelia’s cries of pain. The crew gathered around the square-shaped hole. My heart skipped multiple beats. The worst of my fears had come true.
“Amelia!” I shouted, but I could barely see anything. My voice bounced off the shaft’s walls, echoing frantically. I tried to think of a way to get down there. “Amelia, are you okay?”
“No!” she bawled. “I broke my friggin’ legs!”
“Holy crap,” Herakles breathed, downright horrified. “How deep is this thing?”
“Are they open or internal fractures?” Lumi asked Amelia.
“I… I don’t know, it hurts like a mother—”
“Babe, hold on, I’m coming to get you,” I said. I’d have to slip down, since the shaft was too narrow for me to use my wings. They were a part of my physiognomy, so the Soul Crusher couldn’t take them away—nevertheless, they were useless in this instance, since there was no room for me to fly down there. “How the hell do we do this?”
“Hold on,” Varga replied and took out a small flashlight. He always carried one with him, a reflex since his early days of training with GASP. He switched it on and pointed it down the hole.
My stomach tightened at the sight of Amelia at the bottom, her calves bent at unnatural angles and tears streaming down her cheeks. “That’s a hundred-foot drop,” Varga said, giving me a blank stare. “We’ll need rope.”
“I’ve got it,” Eva replied and pulled out all the rope she’d put into her backpack. She tied a knot at the end, thick enough for Amelia to use in order to anchor that part of the rope around her waist. We’d done this in training many times. She let the rope fall into the shaft, but it wasn’t enough. “It’s too short. Did anyone else pack rope?”
Eira nodded. They pulled Eva’s back and tied it tightly to Eira’s, then tried again, but it still wasn’t long enough. I cursed under my breath, while Varga kept a light on Amelia at all times.
“I’m coming, babe, almost there,” I shouted.
She shook her head, gawking at her knees—I could tell they were swollen beneath the leather fabric, even from this distance. It scared the crap out of me, because her vampire nature would’ve muted the pain by now. “It’s not healing. I can feel it… throbbing and burning,” she managed.
“What the hell?” Taeral croaked. “I thought the Soul Crusher couldn’t take her healing ability away.”
“I lied,” the Soul Crusher replied. He didn’t sound amused, but rather apologetic. It wasn’t enough to stop me from formulating a bloody revenge plan against him, once he got out of Zetos—because there was no way we’d let him do this puzzle nonsense to anyone else, ever again.
“You son of a—”
“I had to!” He cut me off. “Otherwise, you would’ve taken twice as long to press another lever. You’ve all become so accustomed to your powers that you no longer do proper assessments of the risks you take. You just jump in all gung-ho, because hey, what the heck, you can heal, you can fly, you can teleport and whatever! I need you all to understand something here. These puzzles, as much as I love them and as much as I enjoy messing with you people, are meant to evaluate your worthiness of touching Zetos. Superiority doesn’t come from your genes. It comes from your ability to overcome obstacles. So, stop wasting time and use your heads. Otherwise you’re all screwed.”
“Oh, you are definitely screwed when we get out of here,” I muttered, and shifted my focus to Eva and Eira. “Give me the knotted end of the rope. I’m going down there.”
“Even with you, it’s still about ten feet short,” Eva replied.
“I’ll manage. Just hold on to it,” I said.
Taeral watched me, concern drawing shadows between his eyebrows as I tied the rope around my waist and positioned myself on the edge of the shaft, my back at the hole. Eva, Herakles, and Varga managed the other end, holding it firmly as I began my descent.
“Hang in there, Amelia. I’m coming down now!” I shouted.
They let the rope loose, one or two feet at a time, allowing me to ease into the shaft. It wasn’t more than five feet wide, and its walls were annoyingly smooth. My boots had trouble and frequently slipped, until I pushed my back into the wall and kept my legs propped against the opposite wall.
“Keep it steady,” Taeral instructed Eva, Herakles, and Varga, while he watched me carefully.
Glancing down, I could see Amelia clearly. Lumi had taken over the flashlight duty. I continued the descent, constantly keeping myself stiff between walls during the few seconds of rest. The entire process was working my leg muscles into overtime, but I still had a long way to go.
“How are you holding up, Amelia?” I asked her, looking to keep a conversation going and to help her stay focused.
“I’m currently planning ways to make the Soul Crusher pay for all this,” she replied, panting as she tried to keep herself calm. I had to give this girl credit: even with the unbearable pain, she still managed to stay focused. I’d fallen in love with the right one, for sure. I just needed to rise to her level. “Also, waiting for someone to get me the hell out of this damn hole before I scream my head off!”
“I know, I know. I’m coming, babe. Almost there,” I said, carefully moving deeper down the shaft. There had to be more to what the Soul Crusher had done to reduce our powers and abilities. I’d been designed to be virtually indestructible, and yet I could barely recognize myself. Climbing down a rope should’ve been a lot easier than this, but I didn’t want to voice any of these concerns. Everyone in the crew suffered from stress and anxiety, already, and they didn’t need me piling on top. Maybe the Soul Crusher had anticipated I’d be more of a handful than the others. Maybe he’d done something to me—something I was unable to identify, but definitely slowing my physical systems down. Either way, I couldn’t let it hold me back from getting Amelia out of this hole.
My palms were sweating, making it increasingly difficult for me to maintain a good grip on the wall. This, in turn, forced even more pressure into my leg muscles, and my knees were aching. I had peak physical training, but this was an incredibly uncomfortable position to work with.
I reached the end of my rope, and there were still more than ten feet between Amelia and me. She was quick to notice, her eyes puffy and red. “Dammit.”
“Not done yet. Wait,” I said, and looked up. “I need something long. A stick, anything of the sort! Amelia can grip it, so I can pull her up!” I shouted.
“Can’t you just get off the rope, grab her, and jump back up on it?” Herakles asked.
“No, genius, because (a) her damn legs are broken, and she’s not as light as a feather,” I snarled and paused to look down at Amelia. “Sorry, babe.” I glanced back up at Herakles. “And (b), it’s a narrow space, and it’s insanely complicated. Just throw me something. Oh, wait, I know. Give me Eirexis!”
They all paused. The silence was annoying, to say the least.
“Come on! It’s not gonna break!” I added, rolling my eyes. “It’s long enough for me to do the job right and get Amelia up with minimal effort.”
“Just make sure you catch it,” Taeral replied.
I could barely see them from this angle, as the light flooded the shaft’s top frame. But I heard Eirexis come down, its ends hitting the walls along the way. I caught it and held one end, using my other hand to wipe the sweat from my face. The rope dug into my hip muscles. Soon enough, it would cause burns.
“Here, babe, grab this,” I said, balancing myself on the rope. Angling my legs upward, I managed to reach down. Eirexis was only five feet away from her. I felt myself slip and quickly spread my legs, both feet pressing against the walls in order to keep me in this position.
