The Rifts of Psyche by Kyle West (i love reading .txt) 📕

“Hard to say,” Fergus said. “Duration, intensity, and overall number of immolations can vary. One thing is for sure. You don’t want to overdraw too much, or you’ll have a nasty surprise down the road.”

“It’s unavoidable sometimes,” Serah said. “You empty your pool and you need to draw more, drinking the poison all the while. Do that too many times, too fast, and your body starts to reject it. Leads to passing out. You don’t want to get to that point, because then you really are dead.”

The rest of that morning was Lucian catching Serah up on everything. He did the best he could with that, knowing it was too much information. But she had a sharp mind and asked all the right questions. Within an hour, she knew as much as Fergus and Cleon.

Now, he would have to wait on her answer.

“It’s too much,” she said. “But I’ll tell you what. I was going to Snake Rift anyway, and there’s safety in numbers. Let’s get there first.”

“Sounds fair,” Lucian said.

“It pains me to say this,” Fergus said, “but we need you, Serah.”

“Your persuasion skills are second to none, Fergie. Let me translate. You need my Gravitonic Magic. I’m a busy woman, and I don’t help people just because they are on a quest to do something as foolhardy as it is utterly impossible.”

“Is there anything we can do to convince you?” Lucian asked.

“There’s nothing that you can give me. Just don’t push me on this. For now, this is something for me to do, nothing more, nothing less. I’ll probably change my mind later.”

“This isn’t a vacation,” Fergus said.

“It is whatever I want it to be,” Serah said. “Until I decide it isn’t that anymore.”

Fergus’s expression was a mask of frustration. “You can’t just . . . look at the world how you want to see it!”

“I think you just summed up my entire philosophy, actually.”

“We’re wasting time,” Lucian said. “We’re glad for your help, Serah. Welcome aboard, as long as you want to stay.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to be appreciated.”

Once they had eaten and packed up, Lucian’s mind became preoccupied with his immolation. He felt fine now, but how many more of these would it take to fray? He couldn’t help but look at Serah’s left arm, where the fraying rot had already taken hold. That gray, scaly skin looked almost reptilian. How much longer until his skin looked like that?

He brushed away these thoughts as they ate a quick breakfast. Serah seemed to be making point of not looking his way. Had she caught him staring at her arm? He felt doubly bad, because he hadn’t even thanked her for the balm, and now, she was even risking her life for him. He wanted to make things right, but he didn’t want to say anything with Fergus and Cleon right there.

Once packed up, they crawled out of the cave. Lucian thought it would be a relief to get out of the Cave of Claustrophobia, but with one gust of the bitingly cold wind, he was ready to go back in.

They stood on the ledge for a moment, Cleon standing in the lee of the rock face and shivering.

“How do we get down there?” he asked.

Serah turned back, her blonde hair blown sideways. “That would depend on how much you trust your friend here.” She nodded toward Lucian.

“Trust me?” Lucian asked.

“And if I don’t trust him?”

“Then you’d better hope you’re a good climber.”

Fergus frowned. “You’re not going to create an anti-grav aura around us?”

“No. That would be suicidal with this wind, not to mention too much ether to cover four people.”

Cleon’s scoffed. “As if Lucian tethering us down there is any safer.”

Serah ignored him. “Beyond this ledge is a much flatter slope that leads to the Snake Rift. There’s a stand of rocks down there. You’ll need Radiant Magic to see through these clouds, but once you do, you’ll see those rocks clear as day.”

“I catch your meaning,” Fergus said. “You want me to light it up so Lucian can tether us down there?”

“Precisely. If that Orb is as strong as everyone’s saying, this would make the perfect test.”

Lucian had a bad feeling about this. “What did you mean by light it up, Fergus?”

“Radiants are the best for seeing the unseeable,” Fergus said. “Watch, my boy, and learn.”

At that moment, Fergus became wreathed in an aura of green light. His eyes, normally brown, now shone green, taking on new intensity. He peered into the mists for a moment.

“Found it.”

Not a moment later, something glimmered in the distance. The rock, invisible before because of the fog, now shone like a miniature sun.

“Can you reach your Focus that far, Lucian?” Fergus asked. “Most Binders would burn themselves out in seconds trying to move a pebble that far.”

Lucian thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t sure what the Orb of Binding was truly capable of, but it had done things he would have deemed impossible. But now, others’ lives were in his hands. It made his stomach drop.

“Is there another option?” Lucian asked.

“With this wind, my Gravitonics will be no help getting us down,” Serah said. “We’d have to climb, but there’s a crevice that’s impossible to traverse without magic.”

“So, the only other option is backtracking to the Snake Pass.”

“And that’ll be a slog,” Serah said. “If the Zephyr comes on us there, we’ll have no hope of escaping.”

Lucian sighed. The fact that everyone’s lives would be in his hands made him sick. Everyone was watching him. Why couldn’t they just give him space?

“Do all of you trust me to do this?” Lucian asked.

“Hell no,” Cleon said. “But I’m not going back to the Snake Pass, either.”

Fergus watched Lucian, stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll go first,” Fergus said. “It’ll be far easier for me to stream if I can get closer to that rock.” He looked at Lucian. “My life is in your hands, Binder. Make it go as quickly as