Luna sprinted down the corridor, the massive gate ahead growing larger and larger with every step as she closed in.
"Yes, go on! This way, fast!" Niva called out, sweat dripping down the edge.
"Be careful, please… Luna!"
Niva's eyes locked on her as she neared, his arm outstretched from the edge.
"You… you don't look too good…" he said, voice tight.
Glancing down at him, Luna whispered, barely audible,
"…It's because of you"
Her balance faltered, her run turning unsteady as she veered slightly from side to side. Her hand shot up, clamping over her mouth.
"…"
A sharp ringing pierced her skull. "Ugh… I feel nauseous" she thought, staggering.
As she reached the gate and stepped out onto the bridge, a sudden flood of light from far above struck her eyes, forcing her to squint.
Blinking rapidly, she scanned her surroundings for an escape route—only to see hundreds, no, thousands of stony bridges spanning the massive fissure, connecting the right side to the left at every elevation.
Decay was everywhere. Tiny stones crumbled loose beneath her feet, tumbling into the void below.
"You call this … a bridge!?" she thought
The stench hit her like a wave, and she instinctively covered her nose.
"…What is… this decay?"
"That's not—no…" Niva started, but his words caught as he looked down.
…
The soles of Eyril's boots pounded the earth—thud, thud, thud—kicking up the mud with every stride. Toes dug, heels lifted, his feet a blur as they raced over cracked stone and tangled roots. Each step landed harder than the last, faster, and deliberately.
Stopping to a halt turning sideways he slides to the middle of the bridge, grabbing the hilt of the sword under his cloth
In a millisecond as if the time was stopped he slowly pushed up from the sheath
…
"Dodge!" Niva roared, his voice raw with desperation.
Luna hurled herself backward just as a flicker of light flashed in her eyes—razor sharp, blinding.
For an instant, the world seemed to hold its breath. The air went eerily still.
Then it happened.
Every bridge spanning the ravine split clean in half with a sound like screaming steel. Half of them crumbled instantly, plunging into the abyss below. The others hung for a heartbeat longer—then shattered as debris cascaded down in a deafening roar, leaving only a few bridges intact or dangling precariously over the void.
The ravine convulsed. The ground shook violently beneath her feet as chaos erupted, the entire chasm collapsing in on itself like a dying beast.
Eyril bent his knees, the bridge groaning under his weight as he coiled like a spring.
Then—release.
With a thunderous snap, he launched into the air, the force of his leap fracturing the bridge beneath him. It crumbled and vanished into the void, but he was already soaring high above, eyes locked on Luna like a hawk zeroing in on its prey.
He crashed down just to her left, boots slamming into the stone with enough force to send cracks spidering outward.
Luna whipped around—instinct kicking in. No hesitation. She slashed her sword in a wide arc toward his chest, a feral cry ripping from her throat.
Eyril didn't flinch.
He let the blade come, then snatched it mid-swing with his bare hand. Steel screeched against skin.
His grip tightened around the edge—and twisted.
Luna's wrist jerked sideways with a sickening angle.
"AGH!" she gasped in pain, staggering—but her grip didn't break. She clung to the sword. She clung to Niva.
Eyril released her, his gaze dropping to his hand. Blood welled along his fingers, but he stared at them, distant, as if the pain was non existent.
Luna didn't wait.
She spun toward the edge and leapt off, dropping to the bridge below in a desperate escape.
Eyril sighed—slow, heavy—and stepped toward the edge. He watched her stumble across the next bridge, jumping from one to another like a hunted animal.
Without breaking stride, he stepped forward and let gravity take him. His body dropped, landing with bone-jarring force on the bridge below. Then he walked—unhurried, inevitable.
Luna's legs burned. Her breaths came in sharp, uneven gasps.
"What do I do now!?" she thought, head spiraling. "My head… it's spinning… I feel sick—Niva, do something!"
She leapt to the next bridge, her boots scraping the crumbling edge. Mid-air, Niva's voice rang in her skull.
"I can't. I'm only as strong as you are."
A sudden wave of guilt washed over him, his eyes drifting down to the hilt hidden beneath Luna's trembling grip.
"…Okay," Luna whispered, eyes narrowing.
She braced.
Her feet slammed onto the next bridge.
And it gave.
The stone split, cracked—and vanished beneath her.
There was no time to scream.
She plummeted into the abyss.