Page 59 of Conflicted Fate
“Probably becausenobodyis coming up after us. For safety reasons.”
A light dusting of soot dropped onto my face courtesy of his movement. I shook my head and blew it away as best I could, but several flakes still rested on my cheeks, the itch of their presence threatening to drive me mad.
“What’s wrong with climbing a furnace shaft like this without any sort of harness and rope?” Kiel said. “Seems fine to me.”
“That’s not quite what I meant,” I said.
“I figured not. Go on. Give it to me.”
“This one would be because of a lack of protection against fire from the furnace. Which they’re quickly bringing to life below us.”
“Crap.”
“Yeah.”
There wasn’t much else to say or do. We were either going to make it to the top, or the heat building below us would cook us to a crisp. There was no middle ground, not anymore.
By the time we reached what I estimated to be the halfway point, the furnace below was beginning to glow a merry reddish-orange, and heat was building uncomfortably against my ass.
It certainly acted like a shot of adrenaline, pushing us on faster. I’d closed the gap to Kiel to within ten feet, even with his faster movements. My burning muscles were relegated to a background concern. If we didn’t reach the top soon, a lot more of me would be burning.
The walls were heating up as the Nehringi and others stoked the furnace, probably adding endless fuel to it, far beyond what was necessary.
“Next time,” I said through the smoke starting to drift upward as well, “we destroy the forge we’re using as an escape vector as well, okay?”
“Deal,” Kiel said. “The next time we sneak into Nycitum to stop a maniacal and deranged immortal Alpha from binding seven shards of a goddess into a single sword in an attempt to conquer the world, we’ll make sure we don’t get cooked alive on the way out.”
“Good. I’m glad it’s settled,” I said with an unexpected laugh. Even in the face of near certain death, Kiel somehow managed to make me smile. A good talent, considering how often we found ourselves facing such steep odds.
About three-quarters of the way up, the going got tricky. The walls were uncomfortable to touch, my skin warning me that I would have some wonderful burns from constant contact to the heated stone. We were both coughing from smoke inhalation, and our bodies poured sweat. To make it worse for me, Kiel’s sweat dripped onto me.
“Go faster,” I urged as a fresh surge of heat cooked my underside a bit more. “Must go faster.”
“We’re getting there,” Kiel said before hacking up fresh soot.
“So is my ass. Much more ‘getting there’ and it’ll go from rare to well done.”
Climbing and climbing, we went up the shaft. My knees and legs were screaming, my shoulders and palms blistering as they touched fresh hot stone. I shoved the pain to the side, bottling it up and forcing it into the depths of my mind, refusing to let it take over. All that was necessary to send me hurtling straight down to a fiery death was one wrong movement designed to lessen the pain.
I had to embrace the pain. Each new throb meant I was properly wedged into the shaft. Each stab of agony a reminder that I could still get out, that I had that chance.
Onward, we went, my skin covered in sweat, my muscles and joints wobbly and ready to give out. Smoke flowed past us nonstop as oxygen was flooded into the forge. Each cough threatened to be the one that would pull my shoulders away from the walls just that extra bit.
And then, just like that, the top was in reach. Cold mountain air stilled the encroaching heat, driving it back. Kiel grunted, lifting the grate free and climbing out to safety.
In another ten feet, I would join him. I moved slowly, forcing myself to do everything with agonizing precision. I had reached the most likely point of failure, I knew. With the end so close, impatience set in. I had to fight against it. To shove it down and not listen to the internal urge to get it done.
“Almost there,” Kiel said, leaning in and extending a hand. “You’ve got this. Slow and steady.”
I inched upward. My hand went over my head to grab his.
At that moment, the entire worldgroaned, a physical thing that transcended rock and skin, felt by everything animate and inanimate alike.
I slipped as the weight of it hit me and pressed down, my knees buckling as I fell.
“Gotcha!” Kiel cried as his fingers clamped around my sweaty wrist with vise-like strength.
But I barely saw or noticed it. My mind was being taken elsewhere. To a cave far away in a room where a ghostly green figure floated.
