|Ace>

  I cracked open the door and peeked back into the hallway. It was empty again, so we snuck out and headed a little deeper, checking the next door down the line.

  This one opened into a small room lit by a pair of crystalline lanterns that cast an eerie blue glow over the interior. The opposite wall was made entirely of thick glass, forming a window that looked down into a dark chamber below. Outside the glass room was a thin concrete ledge with a metal ladder that descended into the darkness of the pit.

  The room was sparsely furnished - just a small desk with some papers scattered across it and a chair pushed back as if someone had left in a hurry. I moved to the desk while Cherry approached the glass wall, pressing her face close to it to peer into the darkness below.

  "Can you see anything down there?" I asked, rifling through the papers. They were covered in handwritten notes, diagrams of the human body with shadowy patches marked at various points, and lists of names with notes beside them - 'failed', 'partial success', 'terminated'.

  Cherry shook her head, then walked over to the ledge and squinted into the darkness. I joined her and looked down, trying to gauge just how deep it went.

  "Thank you for going down first." I said.

  Cherry snorted. "I'm not going down there at all! Send the drone!"

  "Oh, that's a good idea." I opened my inventory to retrieve Liz's drone, but before I could spawn it, something slammed into my back - a person's hand shoving both Cherry and me over the edge.

  We fell screaming into the dark pit. On impact, Cherry immediately rolled, springing back to her feet. I took a little longer to scrape myself up.

  From the bottom, the observation room was brightly lit by the intense, iridescent glow of the lanterns. The figure standing inside was silhouetted by the light, but I could make out the shape of a skinny, bald man with glasses.

  "Elizabeth McElroy and John Thompson." the man called down. "I welcome you to the crucible."

  Cherry put on her best smile. "Well thanks for having us - it was great to be here! But, uh, I think we left the oven on!"

  The man's voice remained calm, almost disinterested. "You are not improving your standing with cowardice. What you are currently in is a test of your valor. While I see some shreds of competence in your actions, it is greatly masked by an air of what I can only perceive to be intentional idiocy."

  Cherry and I exchanged glances, neither sure how to respond to that.

  "Here, I give you a chance. The bargain is simple - succeed, and you are free to leave. Fail, and you will be another flame to better the rest. Now... show me you have the drive I desire."

  The man snapped his fingers, and something clanged in the darkness of the room - a metal door sliding open. Something large shifted in the shadows, a scraping sound like claws dragging across stone. Then a pair of yellow eyes appeared, glaring at us.

  I stepped back, glancing up at the ladder. Only now did I notice that it didn't extend all the way to the ground - the bottom section was telescoping and had been retracted, leaving a good ten-foot gap between us and the lowest rung.

  The thing in the darkness let out a distorted, gurgling, feral growl.

  "Krav maga us out of this one, Liz!" I shouted, backing up until I hit the wall.

  Cherry screamed, "Is that the last thing you want to say to me?!"

  "Kinda - you're the one that wanted to come here!"

  The monster lunged forward, a mass of writhing shadow with those terrible yellow eyes fixed on us. Cherry shoved me hard to the side, then dove in the opposite direction. I hit the ground with a thud as the creature barreled past, its form barely visible except where it blotted out what little light reached the pit floor.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Blaming me isn't very valorous, Jack!" Cherry shouted from the other side of the chamber.

  She let out a war cry and charged at the blob of darkness, her fist cocked back for her signature move: the Fruit Punch. Her fist connected with the dark mass, and she immediately bounced off, groaning and shaking out her hand.

  "Ow, ow, ow! That thing's like punching a brick wall!"

  I pushed myself to my knees, watching as the creature turned its attention to Cherry. She was right - while this whole mess was her fault, saying that wouldn't get us out of it. I had to do something.

  I stood up and drew the basic starter knife I still had equipped. Screaming my lungs out, I charged in and thrust it into the dark beast's flank. It felt like plunging a butter knife into frozen butter - the blade wobbled against the hardness of its hide, barely penetrating.

  The beast swirled, and, before I could react, my whole arm was gone. Sheared off at the elbow. I stumbled backward, the wound leaking a puff of glowing dust that dissipated into the darkness.

  "Are you ok?!" Cherry shouted.

  "Yeah, but we need to invest in actual gear!"

  There was a crash from the observation room, like breaking glass, and a second figure burst through the door, their cloak swishing through the air behind them.

  The bald man spun around with a startled cry. "You!" The newcomer didn't hesitate - they dove at the man, tackling him to the ground before he could react. There was a brief struggle, then the man exploded into a cloud of blue dust.

  The second figure ran out onto the ledge overlooking the pit. It was Livitha. "Here!" she shouted, pulling something from her belt. She tossed it down to us - her gloves, still covered in sticky magic.

  Cherry ran past the advancing shadow creature, diving and scooping up the gloves. She pulled them on, then turned back toward me. "Grab on, Jack!"

  I swung my remaining arm over Cherry's shoulder as she slapped the gloves against the wall beneath the ladder. The leather adhered to the stone, and she began climbing, hauling both of us up. My feet scrambled against the wall, trying to help push us upward, but I was mostly deadweight.

  The monster let out an enraged howl and charged the wall, leaping upward with its jaws snapping at our feet. Its jaw closed around Cherry's ankle with a sickening crunch, and she screamed - not in pain, but in panic as the beast ripped her foot clean off.

  "Keep climbing!" I shouted, tightening my grip on her shoulder.

  We got another arm length up, and Livitha leaned down from the edge, grabbing us both by our collars and hauling us up onto the platform. We collapsed onto the stone floor, Cherry falling onto her back while I rolled onto my side, both of us gasping for breath. Below, the monster continued to roar and leap, its yellow eyes fixed on us with malevolent hunger.

  Livitha didn't give us time to recover. She grabbed my collar again, dragging me to my feet, then did the same to Cherry. "You're alive - get up; we need to go!"

  I struggled to balance with only one arm, while Cherry hopped awkwardly on her remaining foot. We ended up clinging to each other for support as we hobbled after Livitha, who was already rushing through the facility toward the exit door. We made it back to the entry hall and crashed through the door into the canal.

  Livitha immediately rounded on us, her eyes flashing with anger. "I thought I told you to inform the Prince!" she hissed, keeping her voice low.

  I shot back, "We got involved in this whole business because we can't stop snooping in other people's business!"

  "Yeah, we're not your message boys, lady!" Cherry added. "We're hardcore muckrakers, out to find the truth!"

  "And the truth is that that place is messed up!" I pointed back at the door.

  Livitha sighed deeply, visibly controlling her temper. She glanced back at the door, then up toward the street above. "Come on - we need to get this to the camps."

  The three of us began shuffling through the city. Even when we felt like we could walk again, we realized Cherry was still wearing Livitha's sticky gloves, so we couldn't pull ourselves apart.

  "Man, I gotta smell your BO now?" Cherry complained, trying to put some distance between us but remaining stuck at the hands.

  "Just slip your hands out of the gloves, Cherry." I said.

  Cherry tugged at her wrist, but the glove refused to budge. "I can't! I have to undo that strap, but I can't because both my hands are locked here!" She tried leaning in to grab the strap with her teeth, but couldn't quite reach it.

  "How long does this last?" I asked Livitha.

  "Should only be another hour or so." she replied. "I could break it apart, but the Break mana might disintegrate part of your bodies."

  I glanced down at the empty space where my arm should've been. "Eh, I've got enough parts missing for now."

  "Yeah, I can deal with it." Cherry agreed.

  We limped our way north, making slow but steady progress through the deserted streets. As we reached the edges of the red light district, the city began to come alive again. Despite the late hour, that part of town operated by different rules. Music spilled from doorways, colored lights illuminated the streets, and players moved freely, engaged in business the Guard deliberately ignored.

  Because we didn't want to get arrested again, we split off there, letting Livitha head up to the camps to report what we'd found by herself.

  "So... inn?" I suggested.

  "Inn." Cherry agreed.

  We found an inn, rented a room, and went to bed. Cherry was out immediately, but I had a little more trouble. I couldn't stop seeing yellow lights in the corners of the room, watching us, waiting for their moment to strike.

  Were they just going to let us go after everything we'd seen?