Of Cables and Stakes

Three figures sprinted down a darkened corridor, their boots splashing and plodding over the blood-soaked floor as they scrambled forward through the shadows. A blonde checked a room on their left - just a storage closet. Her boyfriend checked the next room on the right - a lone office.
As they kept going, more doors led only to more disappointments and more dead ends.

Undeterred, John, Ela, and Moira pressed on, **** to find a way outside the crumbling ruin they’d been trapped in. Every second that passed felt like an eternity with the sounds of the ever-growing storm and the collapse overhead echoing all around.

Led by the light of the Warden’s hammer, they kept moving, continuing the search until they were stopped by a sudden CRACK from above. The stone slab of the ceiling splintered, spraying dust and bits of concrete down onto them. Pops and crashing sounds and a giant slam offered a fresh reminder of the upper floors beginning to cave in. The whole world tilted as the building shook, violently, throwing the group off their feet.

John barely got his arms up in time to stop himself from landing face-first in the bloody muck.

Grimacing, he pulled himself up away from the thin layer of flesh that had grown over the floor. As he did so, he nearly fell again. He hadn’t just imagined it - the building really was listing off to one side now, leaving the floor at a twenty or thirty degree angle. Cautiously, The Gamer stepped over to one side, straddling the corner of the floor and wall.

“John, Moira, are you alright?” Ela called out, also carefully testing her balance on the off-kilter floor.

“I’m fine,” John replied, shaking the gunk off his gloves. “I’m more dirty than hurt.”

“Likewise,” the Warden shouted back from where she stood, ahead of them both.

As they all finished adjusting to the uneven ground they stood on, Moira raised her hammer back up so that the party could see the destruction they’d found themselves in.

The stone slab above had snapped, but not quite given out completely, held together both by the steel rebar within and, ironically, the fleshy sinews that had grown over it. Unlike the relatively clean upper floors, this lower section was covered in significantly more undead flesh, just like the subway and the Living Prison’s boss area had been.

Despite how disgusting he found the corruption of this part of the building, The Gamer had to admit that it was probably holding things together better than the concrete at this point.

It was also the best indicator he had that they must be going the right way. If they could get back to familiar territory, they could try to find their way to the atrium that was open to the outside, and jump out into the snow from there.

More crunching sounds from overhead stirred John away from those thoughts. Looking up, he saw more hairline cracks begin to web their way across the ceiling and decided that he didn’t have time to ponder the architectural merits of undead flesh. Hopping cautiously between the now-sloped floor and wall, he scrambled away from that section of the building and up next to where Ela was standing.

He didn’t even have to say anything. As soon as he tapped the blonde knight’s shoulder, she nodded, and they moved together to catch up with Moira, who was staring off into the faint gray haze that her hammer’s light projected forward down the hallway.

“See something?” John asked, pausing just a few steps behind her.

“Yes,” the Warden said, turning to address the other two. “Up ahead on the right, just past the light, I believe I see a turn in the hallway.”

He **** out a smile, trying to be calm. “That’s something, at least. Let’s check it out.”

Together, the three started moving down the hallway again, hopping over broken tiles and rubble while balancing between the sloped floor and wall. They tried to hurry as much as they could, spurred on by the creaks and groans of the concrete above, but the change in terrain had slowed them considerably.

Fortunately, they didn’t have far to go before they reached the intersection that Moira had seen.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a turn off to another hallway at all - it was an elevator, or at least it had been many years ago. Now it was little more than a relic of long-gone civilization. Its entryway had snapped in the last quake that shook the building, sending the rusted iron doors careening down the shaft into the darkness below, leaving the wide opening that the Warden had spotted before.

Moira’s light offered precious little insight beyond that. The glow of her hammer stretched just far enough to reveal the taut steel cable hanging from above, stretching down beyond what they could see.

John stepped forward, cautiously placing a hand on the frame to hold himself up. Looking down over the edge, he tried to make out anything he could. Despite his best efforts, neither his normal eyes nor his [Unawakened Eye] skill could make out anything. That was until, just as he was about to give up, a faint flicker of light caught his attention - a brief glow that illuminated another open doorway some distance below.

“Wait, I think I remember this,” John muttered, furrowing his brow. “Yeah… Ela, didn’t we pass an elevator before we got to the boss room last time?”

The blonde blinked for a second, thinking back to the last time they’d explored the hospital. “Yes, we did. There was one next to the stairs we took.”

“I don't see any staircases now,” Moira said, looking around them.

“I think that they only went up to the second floor,” Ela replied, looking between her two companions. “What do you see, John?”

The Gamer stepped to one side to make room for his companions, pointing down the shaft at another dim flash of light. “Look down there. I think that’s the lightning from the storm outside reflecting off the walls. We’re a floor higher up than I thought we were, but that’s gotta be the boss room with the broken wall.

“If we can get down there,” he continued, “then we can get out.”

“Easier said than done,” the Warden said, tersely, stepping forward to shine her light into the dark space. “I don’t see any kind of maintenance ladder.”

“It would be easier to look if we could see,” Ela said, placing a hand on the frame so she could lean in. “John, do we have any flares or rope left?”

“Um… flares yes, rope no,” The Gamer replied, opening his inventory to draw out the correct supply pack. “I didn't expect us to be climbing buildings, so I only grabbed one rope, and we used it and lost it climbing down that other hole.”

Ela grimaced, taking the bag from him. “Right.”

While his girlfriend dug out a pair of flares, John took a quick, nervous breath, forcing himself to calm down and focus. Then, he started trying to figure out what options he had. Despite the effort he’d put in to get it, he doubted his meagre flight capabilities were any use here. There wasn’t much room for him to try and get the wind into his suit in the confines of an elevator shaft.

’Not that I could carry anyone else down anyway.’

Giving up on that idea, The Gamer took a step back and considered his core abilities. A quick check confirmed that his [Reshape Matter] and its derivatives could affect the steel and concrete that made up the sides of the elevator shaft. Learning that, he considered if he could try and make a staircase for them out of the raw material in the walls.

He was almost certain that the idea was feasible, at least in terms of shape, but he had no clue if the constructs he created could support any real weight. Most of the things he could do were transient, like his [Lesser Earth Spike]. He’d never gotten to see how long his [Lesser Frost Wall] or [Swirling Mirrorjade Barrier] could last either, and the latter also seemed to want constant input.

’Not even sure I’d have the mana to make the attempt…’

While John was running through the math behind that plan, Ela finally struck fire on the first of the flares she’d dug out, suddenly bathing the area around them in pale red. She held it out for a second, dangling the stick over the void as it spat crimson sparks down into the darkness. Once she was sure the flame would hold, she let it go, sending it down into the shadows.

The trio watched it fall, its pale red light reflecting off stone and steel as it fell.

As it passed the level immediately below them, John took note that there had been elevator doors on both sides, though they’d at some point rusted or been knocked out by the passage of time. There were a few other support beams and bars along the sides that caught his eye, but he still wasn’t certain that he could manipulate them well enough for it to matter.

The flare picked up speed, passing the floor with the flickering light in an instant, but, instead of continuing on further down, it came to a sudden stop with a loud clang. Squinting, The Gamer could just make out the dull shimmer of corroded metal and the faded mustard yellow of safety paint.

“Is that the elevator?” he asked, incredulously.

Ela tilted her head. “It appears so. It must have been left at the bottom.”

“Hey, that’s something going our way, at least,” John continued, smiling wryly. “It’s basically a floor where we need to land. Now we just need a way to get there.”

“I see one way,” Moira said, looking up at the space in front of them.

“Wha- oh…” The Gamer paused, staring up at what had been hanging right in front of them the whole time. “You want to try climbing down the cable? …Is that safe?”

“Safer than being inside this building when it gives out,” the Warden retorted, sternly. “We’ll need a running start to jump to it, but we should have the room. These cables are made to carry elevators full of people - it can hold our weight.”

He frowned, considering the prospect. “I would be more worried about the stability of whatever it is attached to, rather than the cable itself…”

“Have you-” Ela took a step forward, preparing to speak, but was cut off as the building rumbled again. A crash from above shook their world, almost sending Moira careening down the elevator. John and Ela grabbed her arms, holding on to the sides as the shaking passed.

“Thank you,” the redhead said, her tone softening again. Then, she shook her head, regaining her composure quickly. “We need to go.”

John nodded, reassuringly. “Yeah, you’re right, we don’t have time to debate. This’ll have to do.”

The two looked over at Ela, who nodded her assent.

With that decision made, they backed up from the broken doorway and took a moment to prepare. John and Moira stored their weapons away in their respective magical spaces, and then the latter shrunk her shield down into its charm, draping it back over her neck. Meanwhile, the Bookworm Knight lit an extra flare so they could all see before returning the bag of lights to her boyfriend.

“Be a dear and carry this, too?” she said, sweetly, holding her axe out.

“Of course.” John smiled, tapping her axe and sending it away into his inventory.

Slinging her shield over her back, Ela paused, tilting her head towards him again. “I was going to ask… Have you ever actually climbed a rope before?”

“Once... in Gym… And I might have fallen and broken my arm.” He shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. He knew he’d failed though, so he continued speaking to try and allay any concerns. “I’ve gotten a lot of extra stats in the last few days, and I’m the one whose limbs get put back together for free. I’ll be fine.”

The blonde knight frowned, clearly unhappy with that answer, but she offered no protest. “We do not have much choice.”

“No, we don’t.”

“Let me go before you,” she said, tension straining her voice. “If you fall, I will catch you.”

John nodded. He didn't really want to think about falling as a possibility.

The couple stood in silence for a moment, each checking their gear over one final time. In front of them, Moira did the same, making sure that all the various plates and straps of her armor were secured. Another rumble shook the building, and they all knew that the time had come.

The Warden stepped forward. “This was my idea, so I will go first. If the cable snaps. My shield and Blessing should be able to lessen the impact.”

“If it looks bad, you can try to leave the barrier,” John interjected. “I don’t know what it’ll do with us or the rest of the dungeon, but it’s theoretically on the table.”

Moira smiled, confidently. “I do not intend to quit. The Lady has placed these challenges in front of us, and we will meet them.

“Besides, I want to see what all there is to see with these powers of yours.”

He shook his head, smiling. That sounded a lot like what a certain blonde knight had told him the previous day.

There was no further discussion required. John and Ela stepped off to the side, giving the Warden the space she needed. She leaned down into a runner’s stance, brushing a lock of crimson hair out of her eyes as she relaxed her muscles one more time.

Inhale.

Exhale.

As if a gunshot went off, Moira suddenly sprang forward, her boots crunching the broken tiles below as she sprinted to the open doorway. With all the **** and momentum she could muster, she leapt from the shattered stone, flinging herself perilously over open space. John caught his breath as she hung for a moment in the air before slamming into the steel cable and wrapping her limbs around it to hold herself in place.

Metal rang out against metal, the deep bass of the impact sound echoing up and down the elevator shaft.

“Moira?” The Gamer called out. “Everything OK?”

“Yes,” the redhead groaned, her voice muted by the echo around her. “One second.”

Cautiously, she loosened her vice grip on the cable, letting herself begin to inch downward. John and Ela watched with bated breath as Moira began her climb, every creak and groan of the cable sending shivers down their spines. The cable shook with every movement, though it held firm for the time being.

The Gamer could feel the anxious adrenaline begin to build up in his limbs - feelings like pinpricks down his arms and a void in his stomach.

A hand on his brought him back to earth.

“We are going to make it,” Ela said, comfortingly.

He chose to believe her.

The blonde nodded her head forward. “Do you see how she is hanging on? Most of your core stability while climbing a rope comes from your lower body…”

Ela took the chance to use Moira as a visual example of how best to maneuver on a rope, showing John how to pinch down with his legs or feet to hold himself up.

Meanwhile, the Warden climbed low enough to disappear from sight, worming her way out of the shimmering red light of the flare and into the unbroken darkness of the elevator shaft. Walking up to the edge, the couple could just still tell where she was by a silhouette against the flare at the bottom.

“Come on!” Moira's exasperated voice called, echoing up to them. “We don't have time to go one by one!”

“She is right,” Ela said, looking over at John.

“Yeah.”

They backed up, with The Gamer stepping off to the side again to make room for a running start. The Bookworm Knight shook her arms and legs out, a visible pulse of green mana flowing through the woven muscles of her suit. Then, she leaned forward, putting her hands on her knees.

“Give me just enough time to get out of sight, where Moira is now, then, you follow.”

John nodded. “I'll be right behind you.”

He could only watch, heart in his throat, as his girlfriend sprang into action. Her boots rang with a much more hollow thump compared to Moira's as she dashed to the doorway. Legs flaring with verdant energy, she dove forward, arms outstretched towards the suspension cable.

John's stomach flipped inside out as he watched her hang over the void for what felt like an eternity before she finally made contact with the cable, her impact slam ringing out into the hall. Quickly, she found a comfortable set of grooves in the cable to pinch her feet on, holding herself tight.

Then, Ela took a second to pivot around the cable, turning so that she could look him in the eyes again. She gave him the best, most reassuring smile she could, and started climbing down.

He tried to return her look, holding up his smile as long as she was in view.

Once she was gone, John stepped back to about where his companions had started their running jumps. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

Shaking, he crouched down, putting his head in his hands as a wave of feeling hit him all at once. His whole body was tense and cold and shivering.

He was afraid - for his friends and for himself, scared of the collapse and the monster and the fall…

…But the last few days had done an amazing job of teaching him how to keep moving.

John opened his eyes, swallowing hard. Then, he stood back up, leaning down to emulate Ela’s form. Every fiber of his being screamed to stop.

He tapped his boots on the ground one last time, then, with all the power he could muster, he shot forward. His boots stomped across the broken tiles, feeling heavier with every step he took towards the edge - towards the pit. Towards the fall.

He leapt with everything he had.

The Gamer had neither Moira's strength nor Ela's swiftness, but he did have his own craftiness to try and close the gap. Using the [Wind Tunnel] spell he'd created the previous night, he gave himself an extra boost, just to make sure that he would make it all the way to the suspension cable.

He crashed into it with a painful thud, immediately scrambling to get his legs wrapped around it. Adrenaline and fear rushed through his veins as one boot slipped for a split second before he could get his feet to pinch the cable. His ribs and stomach ached from the impact, forcing him to catch his breath slowly.

The smell of rust and age was overpowering.

The booming ring of his crash drowned out the world for a minute, far louder now than it had been outside. Turning his head, he coughed, violently, clearing the debris he'd inhaled from his throat.

“John?” Ela shouted from somewhere below.

“I'm alright,” he said, through labored breaths. “I made the jump. Just gimme a second.”

“Slow and steady,” she cautioned. “Moira is almost at the bottom.”

Exhaling a heavy breath, he nodded, and began his own descent into darkness.