“HOW YOU DOING DOWN THERE?”
Arkay’s shouts were barely audible over the sound of melting metal and animalistic screams. Even telepathic communications were a struggle, barely making their way through the extreme heat of molten steel below and constant slaughter above.
Retvik was extruding white hot flames as he pushed his way through the metal, while Litvir was concentrating on murdering anything that got too close. Arkay was currently holding them both together, protecting Litvir from Retvik’s heat and Retvik from Litvir’s slaughter, while also giving them the space they needed to move. As trapped heat gathered around Retvik, Arkay was funnel it up, past Litvir, incinerating anything that had somehow not already punished from Litvir’s attacks or the molten walls around them. At some point, Arkay and Litvir would probably swap places, but every time Arkay asked, Litvir would refuse. The endless killing of these hideous, black monsters was keeping Litvir somewhat sane.
What was more worrying though was that they had been going at this for at least ten hours now, and that was after a good 30 hours or so of constant fighting and moving. At some point, someone was going to get tired.
“YOU GUYS ALRIGHT?”
Litvir gave a rather weak grunt, clearly preoccupied. Retvik however said nothing, not even acknowledging Arkay. In fact, there was no noise coming from Retvik at all.
Arkay glanced downwards, only to be greeted by a large, black hole with molten edges, slowly cooking. And Retvik wasn’t there.
“Fuck.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.”
Before Litvir could ask any more questions, Arkay grabbed him by the tail and pulled him downwards, through the molten hole and out into the darkness. In the distance, Retvik could be seen, slowly floating off, trying to orientate himself and work out what happened. Thankfully, Arkay managed to get a push off the edge of the hole, giving him and Litvir enough speed to catch up and grab on to Retvik.
“We are out…” Retvik muttered.
“We are, well done…” Litvir tutted. “Now we are just floating.”
As they drifted in the darkness, the Decaylings glanced back at where they had been trapped. A massive, metal sphere, now with a small hole in its side. While a few stragglers had fallen out of the hole in a vague attempt to give chase, the trio finally seemed to be alone, at least long enough for them to catch their breath.
“Have we done it?” Retvik asked.
With a shrug, Arkay created a small, floating platform for them to rest on. Litvir sat down, while Retvik practically threw himself at the platform, lying on his back and staring off into the nothingness, utterly exhausted.
“I… I don’t know. We’re at least out of that hellhole…”
“And I am not detecting any real life around here…” Litvir sighed. “It is just us, alone in this empty space.”
“Hmph…” Retvik grunted. “Arkay, can you move this platform so we are really, really far away from whatever that hellhole was, please?”
“Sure…” Arkay nodded, doing as Retvik had requested, before falling into an uneasy silence. Litvir laid down next to Retvik, taking a well-deserved rest, while Retvik continued staring upwards, twiddling his thumbs.
Time passed, with no words said. The three Decaylings however were all thinking the same thing. Surely they had completed their trial? Why was no one coming to get them?
“Maybe we’re not alone because the three of us are together?” Arkay finally muttered.
“You think we should split up? In this endless void?” Litvir snarled, unamused by Arkay’s comment. “We cannot risk it.”
“We might not have much choice…” Retvik grumbled. “Maybe we should just… try it…” With a sigh, Retvik climbed to his feet. He placed a small, glowing fire between Litvir and Arkay. “Do not move. I will fly upwards with a small light of my own, until you cannot see me. Maybe that will work.”
Litvir and Arkay both nodded. They watched as Retvik summoned bright orbs around himself and took off into the air. He kept on going until he was nothing more than a glowing speck in the distance. But after a long, awkward wait, nothing happened, and Retvik swiftly descended back to their little platform.
“Well that did not work in the slightest.”
“No…” Retvik frowned. “But how can we be alone if we are together?”
Arkay took a deep breath, summoning something of his own. It looked like a plain book to the other two Decaylings, but Arkay was clearly capable of seeing something they couldn’t.
“I have an idea… but you’re not going to like it…”