by Heath Pfaff
I tried to match what I saw, though it was much more difficult for me than it looked like it was for them. I noticed immediately that I was able to move more smoothly, but I felt like I was expending more energy on the climb. It took me a little while more at it before I realized that it wasn’t that I was expending more energy, but that the energy I was expending was more evenly mixed between my arms and legs. I was also more stable on the wall. My arms were clearly a weak point, however.
Still, I found myself at the top of the first obstacle much more quickly than I’d anticipated, though I was far from the first of the first years to make the climb. I was somewhere near the lower half of those who’d made it, though I might have been the second or third female. That wouldn’t matter eventually. Men and women were expected to perform to the same level here, but for those of us just starting I didn’t think it was terrible. Women weren’t really expected to be physically strong in normal society. I let myself have a small moment to feel good about finishing so quickly, and then immediately turned my body and mind to the next task.
The beam in front of me was exactly as I remembered it, but it wasn’t covered in rain water and mud today. It looked like it might be a bit slick with condensation from the fog, but it still seemed like it would be far easier to get footing on then it had last time. I was about to take my first step onto it when a large boy who I didn’t recognize pushed me out of the way and charged past, running at a dangerous pace across the beam. He’d clearly never run the course before. He disappeared into the fog, and a moment later I heard the scream as he reached the middle and ran out of places to go. There was a satisfying moment as his scream dropped down into the fog below and I could hear him bouncing off the lower beams on his way down.
I moved forward and got on the beam myself, testing my footing before I committed fully to my course. It wasn’t terrific, but as I’d suspected it was far better than it had been last time. I began to make my way across the beam. Around me others were attempting the same crossing, most of us doing so cautiously, though some few were apparently in a mad attempt to make up perceived lost time on the hill. After my first day it all felt remarkably fast this time.
I reached the center and knew that it was going to be a difficult section of this run. Even when not as slick as it had been last time this wasn’t an easy thing to do. I took a deep breath and pushed myself out onto the narrow ledge, grabbing for the edge of the central wooden pillar. The wood was much easier to grip this time, but my hold still felt tenuous. I told myself I shouldn’t look down, but truthfully I could only see about two handspans beneath my feet anyway. I couldn't even see the first row of sub beams, though I could faintly hear people moving below. It sounded like they were wading through water which made me think that the bottom of the pit varied greatly depending on the weather.
I made it around the first corner and onto the second which I began to inch my way around. To my surprise my breasts were of great difficulty here. I’d never really thought of them as big or in the way all that much, but while trying to stay close to the wall so I didn’t fall it seemed that they were impossibly large. I got one foot around the corner and was almost all of the way around the beam when I suddenly found myself unable to correct my balance.
I needed to lean forward to counteract the backwards motion that had started while coming around the corner, but I couldn't. There was no way to lean forward with the wall in front of me. In desperation I kicked off and pushed myself in the direction of the beam I was trying to reach. I hit it on my side and looped my other arm around, which slowed my slide downward and left me partially hanging from the narrow wooden walkway. I was shaking, terrified suddenly of falling. In my mind I knew that it would hurt, but that I would survive and there would be water down there to save me, but looking down into the fog beneath me it seemed like the pit was bottomless and that falling meant never getting back up again.
I growled with determination and pulled myself back up onto the path forward. It took a good deal of what I had in me to do, but somehow I made it and got back to my feet. I pushed ahead and soon I was off the beam and further into the Rift than I had ever been before.
The next area that opened up before me was difficult to get a feel for initially. I stepped into a wooded area. The fog made it difficult to judge accurately, but the ground was littered with debris from trees, branches, small sticks, a layer of detritus, and I could make out the shape of trees in the fog. The ground seemed bumpy here, covered in hills and ruts, but I stumbled forward anyway, moving at a slow jog. This all seemed too easy.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d somehow broken out of the course when I fell over flat on my face. I looked back to see what I’d tripped on and noticed a thin trip line. It had been all but entirely hidden in the underbrush. Well, that hadn’t been too bad , I thought to myself.
“Move!” A metallic voice grated from somewhere in the fog and I jumped to my feet and began to go forward again. Not being able to see the golem, and knowing what it was, sent a spike of fear through me. It was a monster hidden in the mists, and it would come for me if I didn’t keep moving. Fear is a primal force, and it propelled me onward at a pace that I knew wasn’t safe.
I ran forward, rounded a tree and slammed face first into a wooden pole that was running across the span between two trunks. I hadn’t even seen it before I smashed into it and hit the ground hard. I’d hit my forehead and right eye mostly. Blood trickled down my face and into my eye as I staggered back to my feet, shocked and confused for a moment.
“Move!” The voice yelled again, and I began to stumble forward, still dazed from my hit. It was difficult to get my bearings straight at all. I wasn’t even sure I was still going in the right direction. I tripped over another tripline and landed on my chest, knocking the air out of my lungs. The moment I hit the ground something huge swung by me, passing just over my head and I rolled over to try and see what it was. I caught sight of something large vanishing into the mist off to one side.
I climbed to my feet, still trying to figure out what it had been, but then suddenly it was coming back at me, barreling through the fog at a very quick pace. I dove out of the way, barely avoiding it as it swung by me. It had been what looked like a massive piece of wood crafted into the shape of a pendulum. I moved off to one side and watched for a moment as it came swinging back down through the woods again. I had no idea what it was fastened to, or how it kept moving, but it was clearly meant to be there. If that had hit me I could only imagine it would have broken me up pretty well.
“Shit.” I cursed under my breath. I had to wonder how many of those things were out here in the mist. They only made a slight creaking sound as they moved, the rope pulling against the strain of the weight. It would be easy to miss it all together, and it would be impossible to know exactly where the thing was coming from until it was really close.
“Move!” The metallic voice growled at me again, and it was closer this time. I jumped forward and began to move again, though I wasn’t sure where I was going anymore. I hoped I was still going in the right direction at least, but it was impossible to tell.
I didn’t go as fast as I had before. I moved forward a few steps and then stopped to listen, then repeated it all again. I tried to jog between stops to listen but I was afraid to go forward too fast.
I heard the sound of footfalls behind me and fear flooded through me. I knew it was a golem. Every instinct in my body told me one of the monsters was coming after me, chasing me through the fog. I no longer felt excited to lift a visor. I just wanted to be away from there. Fast. I didn't even look over my back, I just began to run. I managed to duck another beam and make it over a few trip lines, and then I heard a creaking sound and looked up, trying to find the pendulum, but before I could spot it I was struck hard from behind and rolled off into the undergrowth as the dark, terrible weight of the pendulum swung by me.
I turned to see what had hit me and there was an older boy standing up and dusting hi
mself off. He had two packs on, one on his back, and one on his front. “Those will brain you if you’re not careful.” He said, turning himself and starting forward at a walk. “You’re going the wrong way, Deady. Back the way you came. Much further and you’d be back to the beams.” With that he started running again and I was left alone in the fog. The pendulum swung back across behind me and I got up and turned, crossing its path quickly and heading back in the right direction.
He’d done me a kindness by knocking me out of the way of that pendulum. I’d thought he was one of the golems. My heart was still pounding in my chest. I’d never been that afraid in my life, even when death had been imminent I hadn’t felt the fear pound through my veins like it had as my imagined horror had loped through the woods behind me.
“Move!” A metallic voice screeched, and I didn’t hesitate to start running again, still chilled from my previous terror. Fear was impossible to master. It struck and then clung on with long claws that sank through your flesh and into your heart.
I moved faster now, but still cautiously, listening and stopping when I had to. I tripped several more times, and was almost hit by a pendulum once, but finally I climbed up a small hill and the trees cleared.
There was a smooth stone wall in front of me that stretched high up into the air, vanishing into the mist. There were holes in it, about three feet tall, perfectly circular tunnels through the wall, though I couldn’t see any light at the other end. I heard a clink behind me and turned to see one of the golems standing at the edge of the woods. It didn't even have to speak. I jumped forward into the nearest tunnel, crouching low to get in. The pack didn't help. It was narrow and tight against my body, but any extra bulk just made things difficult as I moved forward into the darkness.
As The light from behind me became dimmer and dimmer I felt a surge of fear beginning to build up inside of me. How far did this tunnel go? I couldn’t see any light at the other end. I’d thought for sure that I would be seeing something by the time I’d gotten as far in as I was at at that point, and the tunnel seemed to be getting shorter as well. I could no longer just walk hunched down. I had to start crawling on my hands and knees, and even that was getting difficult.
I took a deep breath and noticed that it felt like I couldn’t quite get my lungs completely full of air. It was terrifying. It made my arms shake and for a moment I hesitated, considering backing out of here. The light was so dim now that I couldn’t see in front of me at all. There also wasn’t enough room to look back behind me anymore.
“Move.” The metallic horror called behind me and terror lit in my chest. Was it in the tunnel with me? Blackened, was it chasing after me? I began to crawl forward faster, though I had to get down on my stomach at that point, and each inch forward was harder to make. If i moved too much my pack caught on the top of the tunnel. My arms and legs couldn’t bend all the way anymore. Everything was darkness and panic. I began to breathe shakily. I wasn’t going to make it. Somewhere I could hear water running, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. What if the tunnel filled up with water while I was still in it? How did someone bigger than me get through here? Was I supposed to take the pack off and drag it? Had I done this wrong?
I began to make a low whimpering sound, but I was still going forward somehow, and then I placed my hand forward to pull myself ahead again and it touched on nothing. There was a ledge in front of me and I couldn’t feel the bottom of it. as I pulled my head over it I could hear the sound of the water more loudly. There was water down there somewhere. I couldn’t tell how far down it was. The closeness of the walls made sound echo loudly all around me.
I thought I heard the scrape of metal on stone from behind me. “Move.” That terrible voice crawled down the tunnel after me, and I let out a shriek of terror and pulled myself forward. I hit something ahead of me and realized that this was a downward bend in the tunnel. It wasn’t opening up anymore, just going downward.
I was in full panic now as I climbed over the edge and slid headfirst downward until I hit some water. It was cold on my arms, and then I had to crawl into it the rest of the way, soaking myself through. I finally pulled my entire body into this new tunnel, this complete darkness, and realized it was angled upward. I was crawling upward as water poured down at me. It was quick running and if I moved my arms incorrectly it flooded up into my face.
Suddenly I realized that there was no way back and I didn’t know how I was going to go forward either. It was so difficult to move. How would I do this with a second pack on? I screamed, terror coming to me as I realized I was trapped down here. It was so hard to breathe, and now water was splashing into my face as well.
I couldn’t do it anymore. I screamed again and began to claw at the tunnel, ripping my nails open and tearing at my fingers as I struggled forward, but I was making such slow progress, and the walls wouldn’t give. They wouldn’t even give me a tiny amount of extra space. Panic colored everything and I was lost in a wave of horror so complete that it threatened to swallow up the world. I was going to die. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t push out against the walls, and there was no light. I was going to die, crushed to death by the weight of the world around me.
I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that, fighting forward, mostly fighting myself, when suddenly a wave of fresh air hit me and I squinted ahead and saw a tiny spot of light. I wasn’t even sure it was real, but I started to crawl forward faster then, digging my way ahead as quickly as I could.
The tunnel slowly got brighter, and then the opening was in front of me, widening a little until I could crawl again, and finally I pulled myself to the edge of that horrible experience and drew in a massive breath. The water was being pumped up through a spigot at the mouth of the tunnel so that it could trickle back down into the darkness, and as I came to the end and got a look out beyond the dark, I could see that I was far above the ground. How far I couldn’t be sure, but I couldn’t see the ground from where I was. I pulled myself to be sitting on the edge, looking down into the mist. Blood trickled down where I gripped the edge of the wall, running freely from my ruined fingers. I had no fingernails left and every digits tip was torn and bleeding, but in that moment I didn’t care.
I took a deep breath, happy to be alive. I knew I had to keep going. I took another breath and pushed off into the fog. I wasn’t sure how far I fell, but I hit the ground hard, not really properly prepared to roll out the impact. I crumpled to the ground and took several scrapes, pushing myself back to my feet with hands that I was now, with the alleviation of my fear, beginning to realize hurt very badly. I took a moment to look behind me and saw openings into the wall that looked like the ones I’d just come through. This was the way back. I’d have to do that again. I turned away from it, shaking my head. No. I couldn’t.
I began to move again, at first slowly, but then a little more quickly. I couldn’t see anything out here, and I wasn’t sure what they had left to put in front of me. After a short time I found myself running. The ground was open, grass covered, and after a time I got confident and began to run a little faster. That was a mistake. I barely saw the hole in front of me in time to clear it. I jumped at the last possible moment and crashed into the ground on the opposite side, rolling over hard and dragging my face along the terrain before I got myself back to my feet. I looked down the pit. It was about eight feet deep with mud walls and hay at the bottom. Those walls would make it very hard to climb out of. I ran on a bit more cautiously, more and more of those holes appeared, but the run was long. I wasn’t sure exactly how long, but it took me a good half an hour of cautious forward motion and jogging to finally reach the end, and it was the end. I reached a small round clearing with thick trees all around it, and there were packs laying on the ground. Stones hung on the trees, weights to be added to packs later, but this was the end of the first cycle.
I started thinking about the point at which I’d seen the first runner headed back in the other direction and I realized just how much slower I w
as than those from the other years. They were incredible. I hadn’t even been halfway and they’d gone all this way. I wondered how it could be possible to be that fast at this. I picked up a pack and put it on my front like I’d seen the boy in the woods do.
I was exhausted, and the weight of the new pack seemed staggering. I felt like I still couldn’t catch my breath, and the tunnels were ahead of me again. I was still shaken. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got there.
Suddenly I was falling face forward at a fast rate as something shoved me hard from behind. The extra weight from the new pack brought me quickly to the ground and I skidded roughly there. I turned over to see who had hit me and there was a golem towering over me.
“Move!” It growled.
Anger flashed through me. It should have been fear, but instead I was furious. I’d felt so much fear earlier that suddenly this golem didn’t seem so intimidating. I jumped to my feet and charged towards it. I jumped up, using the joint of one of its knees and grabbed the visor on its helm, pulling it up as I came to eye level with it.
The creature’s metallic hands grabbed me and tore me away, but not before that visor tipped up and revealed what was beneath.
My breath fled my lungs, and my world froze entirely for an endless second.
It was true. Inside the helm of the tin monster was a meat caked skull, still connected with nerve and lumps of flesh, two eyes hanging gelatinous from their sockets, but sealed behind some strange glass with metal edges bolted into flesh and bone. There were black, slimy looking cords from the suit hooked into the bits of nerve and flesh still on the skull, and the whole thing was fetid and rotting looking. Worse, as the visor had come open I’d thought I heard a terrible, agonized sound pouring up from within the suit.
Maybe it was just my imagination, or my consciousness recoiling, but I thought I’d heard a momentary shriek for help, for release, for death.
