The Fall

Time seems to slow down. The metallic sound of the machine creaking behind her made Snow bolt as fast as she could. She could hear a high pitch wind, picking it up from behind her. Even the dark smog that called out to her from the depths became stronger, becoming a loud whisper of gibberish in her ears.

"Don't stop!" Mike shouted, jolting everyone from the lull of the voice. His voice was clear and powerful, a charm that could pull anyone out from the darkness.

Snow could feel the powerful magic lingering in the air when Mike shouted. It helped her focus, narrowing her eyes.

The bridge pulled back faster. What happened next threw Snow off guard. Her foot caught onto a mechanical contraption that pushed out from below her. Hands out, she rolled out and back onto her feet. One would have thought she had done an acrobatic feat, but nobody was watching.

Her legs shook, getting back into a rhythm to get back into speed took a bit longer than she would like. Looking behind her, she saw the bridge was not even a few seconds away from her feet, ready to pull out from underneath her.

"We're almost there!" Mike shouted from up ahead, followed by Dairen and then Levian.

It didn't take long for Mike to cross over in safety. He slowed down, breathing hard as his hand was on his knees, reeling over to the side. Dairen followed behind not too far, and Levian came stumbling. He tripped and fell, rolling over on the ground.

"Where's Snow?" Mike asked. He was finally able to catch his breath. He turned around, seeing Snow a bit further behind.

The bridge was becoming smaller just as quickly or even more as she ran. Snow could feel the whisper getting louder and louder, pounding in her head.

Mike was waving his hand over his head, shouting. The only thing Snow could hear was the heavy beating of her heart as she was too focused on running.

A deep shudder ran up and down her spine. She knew that she couldn't stop. With one foot into the ground, she pushed off into the air. Her right foot landed first, propelling her forward. She stumbled, falling onto the ground, and rolled a few good rounds.

Eventually, she stopped. Her body hit against a jutted rock. Air escaped her lips. She stayed crumpled on the ground, breathing heavily. It has been a while since she had to run so hard.

With steady hands, she pushed herself up. Her heart slowly but surely calmed down, allowing her to control her breath.

"It's good to see you make it over. I thought that last jump would have gone out from underneath you." Mike sighed, glad to see Snow was fine. "We can't go back the same way we come from."

"I agree." Snow was able to talk normally. "The only way is forward."

"Do you think you can continue?"

"Yes."

"Well, then let's move out."

Snow stood up straighter. She looked behind her shoulder one last time. She was glad that she had made it through the first obstacle, but she knew that they had to go through more of these bridges up ahead. The floating lands connected with different bridges that moved on a whim, and from where she stood, they had three more to go through to get to the cathedral.

They continued carefully from one area to the next. Sprinting through the next one to not get caught up in the next bridge. But, half way through the bridge, they noticed that the bridge didn't move. Still, they ran across without stopping. Nobody wanted to wait to see if the bridge would collapse under them or not.

For the next three, they were able to get across without any problem.

When they finally arrived at the fourth floating giant rocks, they stopped.

Out of all the other floating giant rocks, it was the second-largest covered with gravel and rocks. There were dead black trees entwined into the very rock. Though, the dark energy encircling below was a lot stronger, the closer they got to the cathedral. Dark mist was spilling over on the side, trying to reach the center.

Snow observed her surroundings. Something didn't quite feel right as they have gone across three without any problems. She wasn't a firm believer that her luck will last for a long time.

Suddenly, she tensed. Her sword was in front of her.

"We're surrounded!" Mike shouted. He got ready to fight.

They were surrounded. Everywhere Snow looked, she could tell that the monsters were demons. Their humanoid bodies were completely black with jutted out horns. Their eyes were red with black irises that gave off a deadly glare. Deadly claws formed from their fingers, while some had thick tails and at the end were bulbous hammers.

Many smiled with an evil grin, showing off their white, sharp teeth. Snow had a feeling that one bite out of their jaw would tear skin. She didn't want to be anywhere near it.

Suddenly, some of them started to thump their tail over and over again. The ground trembled in beat. The fog around the group flowed upward, covering up to their torso.

Snow gripped her sword, staring at them with a weary beat.

The demons took a step, bodies slightly leaning forward.

Low grunts could be heard from all around them. They were talking to each other.

"Well, this isn't looking so hot," said Levian. He pulled down the mask that made him just as scarier as the demons, and his sword dangerously gleamed with a hint of blood lust.

"What do you expect," Dairen growled. "We just burst through this dungeon without any information."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Levian snorted at Dairen's word. "What you should be worrying about is getting rid of all of them before more comes."

"Just stand back." Dairen scoffed at Levian. Black swirls of energy roared in excitement. His shadows extended outward, creating a black glow in the fog. It was an eerily feeling, but a sense of slight relief was seen on his expression. Many different shadows appeared like sprouts, changing shapes into skeletal creatures with swarms of darkness, giving them shapes. If the skeletons were the frame, the darkness was the muscles that kept everything together.

Even the armors around each skeleton were of high quality. A handful of unique skeletons stood out from the rest, showing that these were the strongest.

Snow noticed that the number of humanoid skeletons had increased by a lot. There were only a handful that she could count on her hand in the past, but now, they were more than she expected. A nagging feeling that these skeletons were probably Dairen's past enemies that were converted. They were covered head to toe with expensive armors and weapons that were also warped by dark magic.

Every time Snow looked at them, her arms would have a tingle of goosebumps that made her light magic react strongly against Dairen's. Sometimes, she could harmonize with him, but other times like now, her light magic was on the offensive lure.

Stamping their feet in excitement, the demons rushed in.

The swarms of skeletal armies clashed against the hordes of demons, keeping a large number of them at bay. Still, the stronger demons pushed through the line, throwing the skeleton's over their shoulders or breaking them in half.

Dairen shot arrows after arrows, each one attached with magical energy. Upon impact, each one of the arrows burst into flames blowing up a second later. A few demons were eradicated entirely, leaving nothing behind but black smoke.

Mike was going head-to-head with the largest demon that broke through from behind. His sword gleamed with electricity. They smashed among each other like a wild stag locking antlers, trying to topple the other.

On the other hand, Levian was phasing in and out from one demon to the next. He was light on his feet, sneaking from behind, destroying the others effortlessly. There were times when he was caught up among a group of three, which he was still able to hold himself.

On the other hand, Snow blazed through the area like a bolt of light. She danced in and out. Her holy light created a powerful blind light that caused many demons to rear back. None could get too close without getting cut in half by her sword or were severely injured. Poison spit out from the blade Black Widow, causing an acidic hiss. An ugly hole was quickly created, eating away at their flesh.

Snow smirked. The rush of excitement of fighting washed through her. Her eyes glowed gold, giving her a fierce lion's gaze. The feeling of stress that she had when she was running through the gates was gone. Instead, it was replaced with the hunger of a fight. She missed the feeling of the hunt.

With quick steps, she stepped forward into the guard of one of the large demons with a club. Her sword flashed on, slicing into the abdomen in its chest. The demon screeched, Snow pulled back. A black, greenish goo spat out from the wound, and the poison gurgled and popped with ugly blisters.

Snow sidestepped to the right, a few centimeters away, where the club swung and missed. Her sword flashed, slicing off the arm that swung the club.

A high pitch scream followed after, raising its stumpy arm in the air.

With a vicious roundhouse kick, she threw the demon back.

Quickly and efficiently, she moved through to another. Her sword, cutting through the flesh of the demons. Following behind were headless, armless, and even legless demons, who couldn't do much against her speed.

Even when surrounded, she maneuvered around them.

Snapping to the side, she saw a demon encroaching behind Mike. Raising up her sword, she threw it straight at another demon, who was about to tackle Mike from behind. With a loud thud, the demon dropped dead.

Mike glanced over his shoulder, shouting thanks. Suddenly, his expressive gratitude warped into alarm.

But before Snow could do anything, a powerful kick landed on her chest. She was flung backward, thrown into the air. A stinging pain could be felt, making her chest strained. Time slowed, she was afloat, and she missed the edge.

"Snow!" Mike shouted. He killed the large demon with a heavy blow.

Snow fell into the dark abyss as the smoke devoured her.