The sun bled out across the horizon, dragging the last of the light with it like a wounded animal crawling off to die. Both of them knew what darkness meant on a mountain full of things that could see in it. They were fucked. Specifically, they were the kind of fucked that comes with a countdown timer and zero margin for error.
Gavriel: Do you know how much further?
Serena: Not exactly.
Gavriel: "Not exactly" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
Serena: Up. The answer is up.
Gavriel: Incredible. Thank you. I feel so oriented now.
Serena: You're welcome.
Bodies fell and more replaced them instantly, a conveyor belt of violence that had been running for hours and showed absolutely zero signs of a shift change. They were being driven uphill. Luckily, that was their goal. Unluckily, the mountain seemed to know that and was making it personal.
The path ahead narrowed.
Dramatically.
