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As the day brightened, we flew directly south over the xenoforest. The trees were a blaze of orange and pink, glimmering in the crimson morning. The forest ended on the horizon, the land rising toward a jagged line. I couldn’t see beyond that line, but I knew it was the beginning of the Crater. As the minutes passed, the line became bolder, but I still couldn’t see over its edge.
In time, that line moved and I could see into the Crater itself. Its size took me aback, because it was so much larger than I had expected. I knew Ragnarok Crater was about one hundred miles wide, which meant the whole thing couldn’t be seen in its entirety. All the same, I could see the curvature of the rim, wrapping from horizon to horizon. To the south, there was no way I could see the other side. A thick haze blanketed the Crater’s interior, making it impossible to look far within. It was probably large enough to have its own weather patterns. From what I could see of its descending slope, nothing grew inside it – not even xenofungus.
The rim fell away in a sheer cliff, dropping thousands of feet into the cloudy murk: sheer, deadly, impassable. There was no way down except by air. Even if we had managed to get here on foot, we would have had to go through that. I thought of the meteors destroying our ship – maybe they had been Askala’s way of keeping out unintended visitors.
Looking down into the Crater, I wondered how Askala’s monsters even got out. There must be tunnels that led from the Crater to the surface.
A meteor as large as Ragnarok had been would have struck deeply into the Earth’s crust. Visibility was clear for the first mile or two into the Crater, but anything further was lost in reddish haze. Depending on how deep the Crater went, the atmospheric pressure would be greater than on the surface. If it went down for even a few miles, the pressure would be substantially greater.
Askal and Quietus flew side by side, bearing us over the rim of the Crater. We began our descent. No movement or sound came from the surrounding haze.
Askala and Quietus glided downward in silence, rarely beating their wings. I looked behind and saw that the Crater’s edge was fading through the miasma. We were far below the edge by now.
The air warmed as we continued to descend. Soon, all we could see was the haze – I couldn’t see the sky above, or the ground below, and the cliffs had been left behind. This journey was nowhere near over.
The minutes passed in silence. The air thickened and became hotter, until sweat collected on my skin. The air reeked of sulfur. And still, we descended. All was silent save for the flapping of Quietus’s and Askal’s wings.
The heat became altogether sweltering, and the air thick and difficult to breathe. In time, through the haze, the ground itself appeared – black, scarred, and cracked. Thick smoke billowed from vents. We passed right over one, sending me into a fit of coughing. Askal did his best to avoid the smoke, but this was impossible at points.
A red glowing abyss materialized in the distance. This was the entrance we were looking for. Fissures had cracked away from the opening, smoldering with molten heat. Smoke hissed from the vents, adding to the thick atmosphere and oppressive heat. Heat waves riddled the air, and the thick, red clouds clung to the ground.
If there was a Hell on Earth, we’d just found it.
Over the opening of the abyss, several dragons spread their wings, rising in the hot updrafts. The hellish Radaskim glowed red from the light of the magma below. Their high-pitched shrieks shot through the air, piercingly loud.
For now, the dragons seemed unaware of our presence. We had to get out of this heat and find refuge underground, hopefully in a dark passageway. Otherwise, we’d be cooked alive.
Askal and Quietus, however, didn’t seem to mind the heat. They flew at the same speed and with the same intensity as they had been. About halfway from our position to the fiery edge of the abyss, a dark tunnel opened into the ground.
Land there, I said to Askal.
Askal changed trajectory, flying toward the opening. Quietus followed suit.
“We’re going in there?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. Getting out of the heat is the number one priority.”
As the ground neared, it became even hotter. The heat, I realized, was being reflected from the rocks. This entire crater was a heat trap. The atmosphere was thick, so any heat that entered would never escape.
When Askal landed, I jumped onto the ground immediately. I stripped myself of my jacket, leaving it on the Crater’s floor. As everyone else rid themselves of unnecessary garments, the heat rose in waves from the cracked rocks. Smoke and haze curled from cracks, and the molten glow of the abyss lit the ground in the distance, about half a mile ahead.
I turned to the dragons, addressing both of them.
Askal...Quietus...thank you. We have to go the rest of the way on our own.
Be careful, Elekim, Askal said. We will help you, such as we can.
I had no idea what the dragons had in mind. All I knew was that we had to get moving.
You are entering a dark place, Elekim, Quietus said. Be on your guard, and choose your path wisely.
I’ll do what I can, Quietus. Stay safe. Save yourselves.
The dragons merely watched, not taking flight, as I turned to the others.
We drank deeply from our canteens. Everyone’s skin was reddened from the heat.
Then, we ran toward the tunnel, the heat from the rocks penetrating the soles of my boots. I remembered that my watch had a temperature setting. I switched the display until a number came up, too large to even be believed.
“One hundred and seventy-two,” I said.
I could only hope that it was cooler underground. Even if it were one hundred degrees, which was still unbearable, it would be a vast improvement.
As we crossed the Crater’s floor, Askal and Quietus took to the air, keeping watch on our progress.
A few minutes later, we had reached the dark tunnel entrance. Cooler air emanated from its depths, a welcome relief. We entered the tunnel, the descending slope so steep that we practically slid our way down. Where the slope evened out, we stood. Samuel and Makara retrieved their flashlights. When they clicked them on, it revealed a twisting, angular path ahead.
“Be ready for anything,” Makara said.
She started forward, the rest of us following her into the darkness.
***
THE TUNNEL TWISTED in tight angles, tending to go down rather than up. As we descended, the air cooled somewhat, though it was still stifling.
After about ten minutes of our navigating the tunnel’s strange angles, it forked into two paths. The right definitely seemed to be the easier path, continuing the same course we were on. The other tunnel, however, was little more than a hole in the floor, its slope steep. Only one person could fit through it at a time.
“Here comes the fun part,” Makara said.
“How do we know which way to go?” Ruth asked.
Samuel shook his head. “We don’t. We have to guess.”
“Well, I know which way I’d rather go,” Makara said.
“We should go with the one that has the coolest air,” Anna said.
I went to the passageway to the right, lifting a hand to test the air. “This one feels the same. Warmer, if anything.”
“That leaves this one,” Makara said, kneeling down. She placed her hands over the opening. “Can’t really tell.”
“Let me go in,” I said, stepping forward.
Makara held up a finger. “No.”
I paused, watching Makara sit at the edge of the opening. She shone her flashlight down.
“It goes down a good ways,” she said. “It’s not a complete drop-off. There’s a slope, but it’s very steep. I’ll have to climb down to see anything more.”
“Let’s just keep going,” I said. “Might be hard to climb out of that if we run into trouble.”
“I agree,” Samuel said.
“Straight, then?” Michael asked.
“It’s as good as anything else,” I said. “We can always come back if we change our minds.”
No one could argue with that, so we proceeded down the tunnel.
It twisted a few more times, dropping in elevation as we arrived at yet another crossroads. This time, there were three different directions: left, center, and right. A molten glow bathed the walls of the right tunnel, while darkness shrouded the other two.
“Maybe we can at least see what’s on the right,” Anna said. “If it leads to that fiery chasm we saw on the way here.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Makara said.
I ignored Makara and picked the right tunnel, at Anna’s suggestion. I wanted to see if it led to the abyss as well. If it did, I could get a good look to the bottom and see how much farther we had to go down.
We walked on. The tunnel ascended in a long, straight line, brightening as we went along. About one hundred feet ahead, the tunnel ended, the light red and fiery. As we walked, the temperature shot up. We’d have to turn back eventually, but there would be no harm in seeing what lay beyond the opening. Probably.
At last, we reached the end of the tunnel and stepped onto an overhang overlooking the blazing abyss below. Looking up, the surface wasn’t far – perhaps a couple of hundred feet. Looking down, however, there was a drop of at least a full mile before the abyss ended in bright, glowing magma. Countless tunnels, like the one we’d just left, opened into this abyss at various points above, below, and around us. Pathways had even been carved into the sides, zigzagging from tunnel to tunnel. I felt like this was some sort of connection hub. For now, it was empty, but if more of Askala’s swarm were here, this place would probably be humming with life.
Whether or not that was the case, we probably needed to head back. We were too exposed out here, not to mention being subjected to the incredible heat blasting from the magma below.
Above, several dragons flew over the opening of the abyss.
“Back!” I said.
Everyone recognized the danger, stepping back into the tunnel, running along it until we reached the intersection we’d left behind. Even if the dragons had seen us, there was no way they could have followed us.
Now, there were two tunnels to choose from.
“Number one,” Anna said. “Or number two?”
“If this happens much more, we’ll become hopelessly lost,” Makara said.
“We should mark which ones we choose,” I said. “In case we have to come back.”
“Good idea,” Samuel said.
He searched the ground a moment, until he picked up a hard, sharp rock. He went to the leftmost passageway.
“Does this one work?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Sure.”
He scratched a huge arrow on the wall, pointing left toward the tunnel. He stepped back, inspecting his handiwork.
“Good,” he said. “Backtracking shouldn’t be an issue, now.”
We went down the left tunnel. This one dropped steeply, at a nearly a forty-five-degree angle. The drop in elevation was a good sign.
The air was quite cool now; we were far from the magma of the abyss and the stifling air of the surface. The tunnel leveled out, and we found ourselves on a path that was crisscrossed by another. Looking back, I saw there were two other tunnels, besides the one we had exited.
“Sam, mark the one we just left,” Makara said.
As Samuel got to work, Makara strode toward the intersection. She paused at the crossroads, shining her light in each direction.
“Well, this’ll be tricky.”
I stepped forward to see what she was talking about. Whichever way she flashed her light, it revealed the same view – a long tunnel leading in a straight line.
“What do you think?” Makara asked.
I stared down each corridor, trying to notice anything that would lead me to pick the right one. For all I could see, all three were identical.
“The best thing I can see is to choose one and see where it leads,” I said. “We can always turn back.”
“I’m just wondering why it’s so quiet,” Anna said.
“You wish it wasn’t?” Michael asked.
“I like to know what I’m up against,” Anna said.
“We’ll head left,” I said.
After Samuel had finished scrawling his arrow, I followed the left tunnel. We had been walking only five minutes when we arrived at an intersection identical to the first. On our left was a chamber with three tunnels, leading outward. On our right, a straight tunnel, and ahead, our current path continuing.
I chose going straight. Again, after another five minutes, we arrived at a similar intersection.
“It’s repeating,” Anna said.
“There might be a pattern,” I said. “Let’s keep our eyes open.”
A distant shriek sounded in the dark halls, bringing us to a stop. Everyone retrieved their weapons. We waited for the shriek to fade to silence.
“What was that?” Ruth asked.
“The welcoming committee,” Makara said.
“Took them long enough,” Anna said.
Ruth shook her head. “Speak for yourself...”
I listened intently, but it was impossible to tell where the sound had come from. It could be near, far, from ahead or behind.
If this thing was following us, then it might be good to mix things up a bit.
“Let’s go right,” I said.
We turned right into the new tunnel. It was only when we’d been walking for a minute or so that I realized what the pattern was.
“It was going in a circle,” I said.
“What was?” Makara asked.
“That tunnel we just left. It was so slight that the turning was pretty much imperceptible. Each tunnel branching right will have a central meeting point. The layout is like the spokes of a wheel. At least, that’s what I’m thinking.”
“Which means?”
“We’re heading for the center. Something important is bound to be there.”
“Let’s hurry, then,” Samuel said.
We started to run. Even though we had been pushing ourselves hard, I felt strangely energized. I realized if the atmosphere was thicker down here, then there would be more oxygen in the air. We were running harder and faster than what seemed possible.
All the while, the inhuman screams came louder, closer...
“Something’s up ahead,” Makara said.
The tunnel opened into a giant chamber, in the center of which was a shaft, leading straight down into the earth. Mist spilled from its opening, and a sticky, pink substance climbed over the tunnel’s edge, covering the ground around it.
“Fungus,” I said.
The shriek came from behind, much closer. I stared back into the tunnel, but the darkness hid whatever was tailing us.
“We need to go down there,” I said.
That was easier said than done. We ran to the mist-shrouded tunnel. I couldn’t see a thing down there, and the walls were perfectly vertical. There was no telling how far the drop was.
“You’re not jumping,” Anna said.
“None of us are,” I said. “There’s fungus lining the sides. We can use it as handholds on the way down.”
“You can’t be serious,” Makara said.
“He is,” Samuel said. “And he’s right. It’s the only way down.”
There was no time to lose, so I knelt at the edge and swung my legs around, facing the wall. I planted my feet into the fungus, finding that it held surprisingly well. I tested its strength by putting my full weight on it. It was slightly elastic, but nowhere near ripping.
“We’re good,” I said. “Come on.”
I began my descent into the mist, everyone following after me. Again, another shriek sounded from the tunnel, just seconds away.
I picked up the pace. The mist thickened as we descended, and after a minute of going down, my feet hit solid ground. Well, it wasn’t exactly solid. The spongy quality immediately told me I was standing on yet more fungus. It was like we had entered a living thing.
I tried to dash that thought from my mind.
I peered up into the mist, seeing the shapes of everyone climbing down. From the top of the shaft came another piercing shriek. It didn’t seem like whatever was chasing us could follow us down.
Everyone now stood beside me. The fungus glowed, providing enough light to proceed. The mist reduced visibility to ten feet or so, the air was warm and wet, like breath.
After we had walked for a minute or so, I stopped short. There was...something...hanging down from the ceiling. It was like a vine, pink in color. Similar vines hung nearby, filling the space by the dozens, like an inverse forest.
“Gross,” Anna said. “Should I cut them down?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think we should touch them.”
“Try to go around?” Makara asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Let’s hang back a bit. Find another way through.”
We walked along the edge of the vines, but they never thinned.
“Keep going straight,” I said. “Don’t touch anything.”
We made our way forward slowly, making sure not to touch the vines. It proved to be almost impossible, and took some creative acrobatics. I wondered, as we went on, whether I was freaking out over nothing. The vines were still, and seemed harmless.
Ruth stumbled behind me; crying out in alarm, she fell into a large vine. Instantly, the vine stiffened and threw her backward onto the spongy turf. This caused her to brush into yet two other vines, both of which came alive and began attacking her. She groaned in pain, rolling away, only to touch another vine. Every time she touched one, it lashed out and sent her careening into another.
Anna withdrew her katana, cutting at the nearest vine. The blade cut through, slicing it in half. A geyser of pink slime gushed from the vine, the cut section writhing on the ground. By this point, the rest of the vines had wakened and had begun to attack.
A vine went for me, wrapping around my right arm. I grabbed my knife and cut it halfway through. Immediately, I felt its grip weaken, and I used the chance to free my arm, grab the vine, and slice the rest of it off. The bottom half of the vine fell to the floor, and I readied myself to face other threats.
Ruth had been wrapped by three vines – two smaller ones for each leg, and a larger one constricting her lower abdomen. With her free hand, she drew her own knife and sawed at the constricting vine. Pink blood spewed from the laceration, the vine splitting as the knife cut deeper. At last, the vine went limp, and Ruth began working on the ones around her ankles.
At that moment, another vine lashed out and wrapped around Ruth’s right arm, yanking on it and constricting tightly. She screamed, dropping her knife to the ground.
Samuel was fighting off his own vines, ripping them from the ceiling with his bare hands. They tumbled to the ground, coiling like ropes as they fell. He fought his way to Ruth.
As a vine tightened around my torso, I followed Samuel’s example and yanked really hard on it. There was some resistance, but after I pulled for a few seconds, the vine snapped from its roots. As the vine fell, I stepped out of the way to avoid getting hit.
Everyone had figured out the same trick. Makara and Anna worked together, heaving on a particularly large vine, using their combined body weight to snap it from the ceiling. Samuel, using both hands, pulled at the two vines that had wrapped Ruth’s legs, yanking them both down. A pink rain fell from above, soaking us with pink slime.
Ruth, at last, managed to cut the last vine from her arm. She shook it off as Samuel helped her up. We made a circle, facing out, but the entire area had been cleared of vines. The floor was piled with their dead.
I noticed, toward our right, the ceiling was free of vines, forming a straight path. I hadn’t noticed it before, which made me think that the vines there had left. Perhaps they had retracted into the ceiling, somehow.
“Let’s head that way,” I said. “It’s leading somewhere.”
“Where?” Makara asked.
“We’re about to find out.”