Right as I thought my bones would snap, the sensation stopped. I tried to see what had saved me, but I couldn't move my neck at all. My body was frozen.
Flox said, "Sorry about that, I just need to find the right angle so its not targeting you…"
He moved into my field of vision, pointing a miniature statue at me. The frozen feeling lessened as he changed the angle, but the suit stayed in place. I saw Aleksi approach from my left. He grabbed my side and started tearing huge pieces off the suit. The flesh and plants didn't fight back, and the remaining pressure on my body was relieved. I crawled out of the remnants of the suit in pain.
My sense of danger went back to elevated as I heard the whizzing of a water droplet. It had untangled itself from the coating of oil and was heading right for us.
Flox faced the water droplet without fear and pointed the miniature statue at it. The droplet began to twist and contort until it was the shape of a human. The surface vibrated violently as the droplet tried to break free. Even though I wasn't the one who had trapped it, it still appeared to want to go for me.
With his other hand, Flox grabbed Aleksi and threw him in the other direction. As he did this, I finally took in our surroundings. We had gained lots of elevation in our burst to escape; the forest sloped uphill at an increasingly steep rate. We had reached… the end?
A dark curtain hung from the sky, cutting the world in half. I observed it for only a moment before Flox picked me up and threw me behind it. I hit the ground hard, Aleksi following just after.
I tried to crawl to my feet and go help Flox, but Azarias said, "The droplet can't pass this point. If he wants to create time for us to escape, don't stop him."
Aleksi was muttering to himself in the corner. Meanwhile, Azarias and I both flinched as a painful cry was heard from outside the curtain. The noise escalated as Flox tumbled into the room. He wasn't on his feet but his stomach, and was being dragged around by his own arm. It had grown iridescent appendages that twisted and flopped in all directions. His veins were changing color as swelling and inflammation traveled up his shoulder. Azarias's expression was grave when he caught sight of this.
The appendages were transforming into something else. I saw a mouth, then teeth…
Azarias jumped forward and tackled Flox, pinning his rogue arm on the floor. He snapped the arm, stuffing a piece of robe into Flox's mouth as he screamed in pain. He dodged the slimy appendages as he braced the arm on the ground with his foot, using the torque to rip it off entirely. There was a loud squelch and more agonizing screams. He threw the arm into a corner, then swatted off the rest of the slime from the stump of Flox's arm. He sighed in relief, "It stopped spreading, but there's still a lot of blood. How cruel it is we can revive endlessly in Alavieska, but not where we face the most danger. We need a thicker piece of fabric than just these robes…"
I had an idea. My muscles creaked as I crawled toward the curtain. I used the last of my strength to tear a piece off and throw it to Azarias. As I tore, the curtain was pulled aside for a moment, and I caught a glimpse of the forest. It was both loud and quiet. A giant ship's wheel rolled through the trees; all was dying. The wheel stopped in place and turned to look at me. I shuddered and pulled the curtain closed.
Those who grow old tend towards saying that the ability to die is a blessing.
Death is inescapable, yet Bring Life creates an exception. No matter how many smaller pieces that severed arm is broken down to, it will continue living. How lucky is the soul of the one from which it was severed.
Azarias bandaged the stump while the victim breathed heavily, meanwhile Aleksi was annoyed that he hadn't brought water along on the journey. I suggested that he drink some of the blood, and all three of them glared at me. I got to my feet and surveyed the area we were in.
We had emerged onto a stage. Row after row of empty seats faced us. Crackles and pops filled the air from a platinum fountain filled with sizzling acid in the center of the stage. There were 1000 coins neatly laid out on the fountain's rim. Half the coins looked dark and old, and half looked brand new, but they all had names printed on the faces.
I looked over the names, and vaguely recognized a pattern, although of course my recall wasn't perfect. From what I could tell, the half of the coins that were dark corresponded to people who had died at the start, during the incident in the darkness.
Azarias picked up the coin with his name on it and tossed it into the fountain.
"Aren't you worried that might be a sacrifice? Don't you think we've had enough of those?" I said.
"Read the message," he said while pointing downward.
I looked into the bubbling fountain. There were words on the surface. "Would you like to pay with adrenaline, something else, or both?"
"What exactly are we paying for?" I wondered out loud.
Azarias pointed at the side of the stage, where there was a corridor leading outside. Harsh light reached in. "It looks like using this fountain is optional for passing through this area. But we're the Explorers, who would we be if we didn't try it out? Surely there's something to gain."
Flox raised his hand and said through gritted teeth, "Forget that I'm injured, I'm going first. If I'm lucky I'll get my arm back." He picked up the coin with his name and threw it in, then said, "You can have my adrenaline, but I have nothing else worth selling, unless you want another limb."
The bubbles in the fountain parted to form a smile. "Everyone has something to sell, it's all about accessing it. Just about anything but a memory works, cause there′s already someone trying to form a monopoly on those."
"Something mental, then? I can't stop thinking about when I was killed by the spider. That Germinate power is equally horrifying; I felt every second of being revived. Can you take away the fear?"
"I don't want something that you want to lose. That would make it too easy."
"Then how about you make me scared of something else?"
"Transaction completed. You are now scared of wheels. Five days have been added to the hourglass. Your personal reward has also been applied; try punching something with the arm you have left."
Flox swung his fist at a wall and made a crater. "That's much stronger than before, and I was already the strongest one. What's this about me being scared of wheels? What's a wheel? I'm not sure I've ever seen one, and here's to hoping I never do."
I had just seen a wheel, and I wondered if he'd feel the fear if I described it to him, or if he'd have to see it for the first time and develop his own association.
Aleksi went next. "You can take whatever you want from my mind, adrenaline too, just give me something cool and powerful."
"Transaction completed. You are now even more stupid than you already were, and one day has been added to the hourglass. As for your request… the greatest power lies within! Believe in yourself, and nobody can bring you down!"
"…"
It was my turn, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to be scared of something new. The fear of spiders made things bad enough considering they were always at my feet. Maybe I just wasn't creative enough with the categories, but I was worried if anything fundamental was taken away, then I would be shattered into pieces. Nevertheless, if the others were making offers, so would I. "Make the pain from the suit's attack twice as bad, but only temporarily."
"Transaction completed. One hour has been added to the hourglass."
I doubled over in pain. That was definitely worse than twice as much, but perhaps the scaling isn't linear.
Azarias went next. "Pick a day in my future, whichever one you want. Make it the worst day of my life. Take my adrenaline too."
The fountain shimmered. "Transaction completed. Six months have been added to the hourglass. No extra rewards for you, disgusting piece of trash."
"6 months? Why's that worth so much?"
Azarias looked at the auditorium ceiling. "A bad feeling is temporary, but a bad experience can stick with you forever."
All of us were like empty shells drained of adrenaline and numbed by pain. We walked out of the corridor and into the light without a single smile. Above us was a sheer mountain face of mixed rock and ice.
I saw something resting on a nearby rock. It was an ice axe, and once again, I somehow knew what that was immediately.
Azarias was wearing an uncertain expression, which gave me a sense of joy. "I'm not good with this kind of stuff. This Mountain didn't look much like a mountain until now, and I was hoping…"
There were more ice axes beside the one I had seen, as well as other mountaineering gear like ice screws, harnesses, and ropes. I looked at them for a second, but then looked back at the mountain face. I had a feeling I wouldn't need them, not for the world.
I started climbing up. Even with the mixed rock and ice, it felt totally natural. The others gazed uncertainly from below. "Enza, we want to use the ropes."
"Fine then, I'll set them for you."
I headed back and grabbed ice screws, tri-cams, rope, and carabiners, but decided not to get crampons; I didn't need them. I dashed up the wall, placing screws and other equipment along the way. The rope dropped down to the others below me, who had put on harnesses. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" they asked in astonishment. I didn't have a reply.
Azarias had decent skills despite being nervous, but Aleksi was bad at climbing, and of course the third was missing an arm. I practically had to pull them up, and I was lucky to be strong enough. The one missing an arm was incredibly stoic and silent, which reminded me of how quickly we had moved on from his predicament. Were things like this becoming the norm? I didn't want to consider that, but my calmness acted as an answer.
The sheer mountain wall just kept coming as we ascended. On either side of us were the walls that went up to the ceiling, which hadn't seemed to widen the whole time. When I thought about it, it was the same width as Alavieska.
We pushed on for what felt like hours, it not feeling quite real all the while because it wasn't cold at all. Compared to the one I had visited previously, this mountain felt like a cheap replica. Finally, we crested a ledge and arrived on a flat field of still snow. In the center was a snow globe that could not be called short compared with the cliffs beside it. In the center of the globe was a picturesque village, but no lights were on in the houses.
I stared deeply at the house windows through warping glass. I then wandered to the side of the field and saw a bridge of yarn connecting a high point on the globe to an opposite cliff face. I could barely make out the opening of a dark tunnel.
I showed the bridge and tunnel to the other three. "It looks like you access the bridge from inside the globe, so we have to get inside? How would that work? I'm pretty sure that snow globes are full of water, or at least full of liquid." Azarias said.
A thought occurred to me. "How about we skip the obstacle course and try the sheer cliff face first?"
The others sighed at the prospect as they picked up their gear.