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

when you’re ready. Cleon and I can go first, like on the mountain, then you and Serah can follow.”

“I’m ready,” Lucian said. “Make sure your stuff is secured.”

“Here we go again,” Cleon said.

Fergus nodded, and almost immediately became wrapped in an aura of green light. Not a moment later, a spot shone in the distance.

“Now,” he said.

Lucian streamed, creating the focal point on that shining beacon, what appeared to be a flat rock rising several meters. Binding Magic rushed out of him in a torrent. He streamed two anchor points on Fergus and Cleon.

As soon as the action was done, the magic ripped out of him so quickly that it took his breath away. It took a few seconds for the tethers to be infused with enough magic, and once the tension was sufficient, both men shot off the ledge with yelps, their screams echoing as they blitzed into the cavern. A corona of blue fire surrounded Lucian, his arms extended.

He could sense Fergus and Cleon now, halfway toward the goal, even if he couldn’t see them. His Focus slipped as they gained more distance. The tether flickered a moment before Lucian could reform the Focus, streaming even more magic. The tether burned brighter, illuminating the cavern with a brilliant blue glow. The distance was much farther than he had originally thought, but the Orb only drew more ether, matching exactly what he needed. There seemed to be some strange reticence from the Orb, however, but Lucian was still able to stream without issue.

The stream dissipated as soon as Cleon and Fergus connected with the ground far below.

“You okay?” Serah asked.

Lucian nodded. “I think. The Orb felt a bit . . . strange. It was more draining than I expected.”

“Do you have enough to get us both down there?”

Lucian looked at where Fergus’s waypoint was still shining. He needed to get them both down there before Fergus’s reserves exhausted. “It’s just the distance that makes it hard. I can manage it.”

He reached for the Orb of Binding again. He could no longer hold his Focus as strongly, but he had to. If he didn’t, he and Serah would be stuck up here while Fergus and Cleon would have to fend for themselves below.

That thought alone gave Lucian the strength to firm his hold. This time, though, the Orb didn’t seem to want to supply its magic as willingly. Lucian didn’t understand how he knew that, but he certainly felt it, as if it were a living thing. Lucian didn’t understand why he was thinking of the Orb as a sentient being with its own wants. It wasn’t a sentient being; it was a thing, and he was its master. And as its master, he had to make it work for him.

Only, nothing would come. His vision swam before him due to his effort to stream Binding Magic.

“Serah . . . I can’t. Something’s wrong with the Orb.”

“Rotting hell,” she said. “Fergus is going to run out of magic soon.”

At that moment, Fergus’s light went out. It flickered a few times, before the cavern went dark for good.

With Fergus and Cleon down there, and he and Serah above, they were as good as stranded.

“What now?” Lucian asked. The hope had gone out of his voice.

“Hold on to your ass,” Serah said. “We can’t leave them down there, so it’s time for Plan B.”

They were surrounded by an aura of Gravitonic Magic. Lucian instantly felt lighter on his feet. Serah pulled him and the two of them drifted into the cavern below.

“Serah, what the hell are you doing?”

“Now, you have to stream,” she said. “I can’t hold this aura long enough, and if you don’t tether us to the waypoint, we’ll die.”

He reached again, but he was so tired. So tired, that he couldn’t even be mad at her. Her voice had a dreamlike quality, and his Focus seemed to float in the distance, impossible to latch onto.

“Did you hear me? Lucian. Lucian!”

“Stream,” he managed.

“Lucian! Use the Orb!”

He faded. When he came to, they were still falling. So, so slowly, as if sinking underwater.

“I can’t hold it anymore, Lucian,” she said. “I’m burning up . . .”

He reached for his Focus, knowing all the while he wouldn’t find the Orb. But he couldn’t let them die. The ground could not have been more than a hundred meters below them. He streamed a light sphere to see how far until the bottom. But there was still nothing visible below them.

At that moment, Serah’s Gravitonic aura fizzled out, and instantly, their acceleration increased. Her eyes fluttered closed. He pulled her close and streamed his own Gravitonic Magic. Ether burned through Lucian in a torrent, his pool quickly draining. Maintaining this aura used so much more magic than an antigrav disc. It would only be a few more seconds until his ether had completely burned away.

Lucian let go of the stream. He just couldn’t stream Gravitonic Magic efficiently enough. They had one final chance, as he saw it. And if it failed, then they would both come down too hard with fifty or so meters left. Not even Psyche’s gentle gravity could save them then.

“Lucian?” Her eyes looked at him, afraid. He had never seen her like that. He realized then that she was young, like him. And like him, she didn’t know what she was doing and was caught in a trap.

“This isn’t over yet,” Lucian said.

If the Orb wouldn’t help them, then he would. At the final moment, he brightened the light sphere following them, revealing the rocky ground beneath. It was about ten meters below. Then, drawing as much ether by overdrawing as he could, he unleashed a powerful kinetic wave directly toward the ground, blasting it with a force that was double the gravity pulling them down. The force pushed off the ground, breaking the speed of their fall.

Lucian could only hope their speed had slowed enough.

They landed with a hard thud, bouncing off the rocky earth before hitting