by N Felts
stairs, forgotten beneath the murky water. “It’s now or never,” she proclaims, desperate to pull him from his trance. “Let’s go!” Hesitating for a moment longer, Rift takes two rapid steps through the shallow water, leaping out and over the span of churning liquid. “Here!” Mai shouts, grabbing hold of his hand and propelling him forward. The top of his foot splits through the rising torrent with a large splash as he soars further toward his goal. Beginning to descend once again, he is still a fair distance from his destination, already plummeting back into the hungry water. “Now!” Mai exclaims, appearing further ahead and grabbing hold of his hand once again. This time, both legs dip through the water as Mai slings him all the way to the large staircase. Landing in knee deep water, Rift wastes no time charging up the stairs, and to the locked door.
Plunging the key into the lock, Rift pulls the heavy door open as the key vanishes. With a gleeful sigh of relief, he continues up a spiraling flight of stairs leading even higher into the structure. “See?” Mai asks, sounding extraordinarily tired. “How do you ever doubt me?” She jokes, her fading voice implying she is close to losing consciousness.
“Hey,” Rift mumbles, stopping in his tracks on the dark, moist steps. No reply. A faint source of light peeks downward from somewhere above as the rising water works its way to the stairwell. “Mai?” He asks, his eyes darting around the open air. “Are you there?”
“Y-yeah,” she weakly responds. “Sorry, that last stunt took a lot out of me.”
“Oh,” he replies, feeling guilty for asking so much of her.
“We’re almost out. Just be careful.” A more determined nod is the only answer she needed as Rift marches up and out of the stairwell through an arched opening. The dim light of the dark dimension’s sun reveals they’ve emerged onto the temple’s rooftop. The overgrown vines and trees hang on to the crumbling structure for dear life as it continues its slow descent into the swamp. The roof is mostly flat before sharply dropping down a sloped story, its cracked and creviced walls leading all the way down into the water far below. The lofted bottom floor has nearly disappeared into the churning bog, but the ruined bridge is holding strong for the time being. Considering how to escape the sinking ship of a temple, Rift fails to notice the beasts carefully stalking him. Emerging from the vegetation-shrouded corner of the roof, two Void Wolfos take offensive positions on either side of the boy. An aura of bluish-silver radiates up from their paws and over their forms. Crystal white fur stands strait up on their backs as if they were falling at tremendous speed. Their eyes glow a dead blue, like a full moon on a windless night. An odd growl grabs Rift’s attention, the sound seeming to echo in some inverted way. A cold chill runs down his spine upon hearing the noise. Nearly toppling off the roof in shock, he takes a passive sort of defensive stance, unsure how to proceed.
“H-hey, you ready?” He asks, taking small steps backward from the approaching animals. Silence. The animal directly in front of him lowers its head in an offensive manner, but a shuffling of claws on the rocky surface behind him reveals the distraction for what it is. Spinning around, the razor-sharp teeth are already closing in on his neck, and with no warning from Mai, Rift feels helpless. Raising his arms in an X, the hungry jaws are repelled by the magical metal. Still, the beast knocks Rift to the ground, snarling and snapping at the boy’s head while he struggles to push it away. Kicking at the animal’s chest produces no perceptible result, the weak strikes hardly even registered as the beast angrily tries to claim the boy’s vulnerable throat.
“Be strong,” Mai’s voice whispers. “Use our gauntlets.” Managing to position one hand on the wolfos’ neck, Rift pulls back his right and delivers a punch square on the nose. The animal is knocked from its advantageous position, stumbling to keep its footing as Rift regains his own. Not wasting a moment, the second beast lunges in, slashing diagonally across the boy’s back with its claws. A tormented scream echo’s throughout the swamp as Rift falls to his knees in pain. The scent of blood finds the beast’s nostrils as it circles away, ushering it back in for the kill. “Rift,” Mai whispers once again. “Don’t leave me. Please.” Though he is intimately familiar with the feeling of regret, the sensation now boiling in his gut is completely new. Mai is the best thing that has ever happened to him, and now he sits, waiting to be ripped in two, as if he is eager to leave her. As if he wants to show her how little she means to him. He is not brave. He is a cowardly weakling, but he knows Mai deserves more of him than what he has been. She deserves to see what he can be. What he can do, if it is for her. Time itself seems to slip in this critical moment. The lunging predator speeds up dramatically in short bursts, then stops completely, paused while flying through the air to acquire its meal. Rift’s palm glows brighter than ever before, the swirling vortex consuming time itself as the gauntlet concealing it turns transparent. A switch he never knew existed flips somewhere in the back of his mind as he gazes at the window into the void. Suddenly, everything is inconsequential. He ceases to care about the beasts, the temple, the dark dimension, his pain, and even Mai. His eyes focus upon his palm, the deepest questions and answers of the universe spiraling out as time is pulled in. He feels as if a part of himself is pulled from his chest as his eyes change from black to the same dead blue as the animals he faces.
The carnivore descends upon its target with primal eyes, but Rift suddenly spins into a back-fisted attack, throwing the animal across the rooftop with a savage strike to its head. Moving through the stolen portions of time, Rift is now able to dodge and attack through nonexistent spaces. The other hungry mammal decides to catch to boy by surprise, lunging at his back, but a sudden elbow rocks its head to the side as it struggles to remain on its feet. Rapidly combining his strikes in imperceptible movements, Rift ducks in and uppercuts the animal’s furry chest, sending it flailing into the air. Without even thinking about his next move, he slaps both palms to the ground, rocketing him into the air just before teleporting through time at his target. Twirling into a somersault just before catching up to the wolfos, he clasps one hand in the other, hammering down on the beast’s exposed back. Spiked down like a volleyball, the defeated animal plummets into the swamp water far below, hitting the surface of the bog with a large splash. Descending back to the roof himself, he is an instant from being torn open when the remaining enemy leaps at him. With no time to react, Rift vanishes from its vision, reappearing after tilting himself horizontally and thrusting his arms upward. Biting the air where its target once was, the second wolfos is thrown high into an arching path, squirming about all the way down into green swamp some distance away. Knocked from his falling trajectory, Rift hits the rooftop harshly, rolling to a stop just before reaching the ledge. Lying still for a moment longer, he doesn’t notice his triangle begin to fade back to its neutral blue shade.
“Are you alright?” Mai asks, sounding much healthier.
“Y-yeah,” Rift responds, pulled from his trancelike state upon hearing her voice. His eyes fade back to black as he holds his head, and the sting of pain across his back returns.
“That was amazing! You took them both out without even needing my help,” she reveals, sounding excited up until the last few words.
“Don’t leave like that again,” Rift half demands, his voice tinged with emotion.
“I’m sorry. It’s not like I wanted to,” she sighs, waiting within the awkward silence before eventually adding, “we need to get out of here.” The first floor of the temple having vanished beneath the murky lake, it continues to pick up speed as it dives deeper. Jogging across the roof, Rift spots the bridge a distance below. Out of options, he plants a foot on the ledge and prepares to jump.
“We can make it, right?” He asks, sounding as determined as he’s able.
“Of course,” Mai smirks, delighted by his newfound willpower. With that, Rift leaps forward, the wind whipping across his face as he falls past the edge of the bridge. “Here!”
Mai shouts, using his ample momentum to swing him back upward. The second his feet land upon the stone, the pillar succumbs to the whirlpool below, quickly toppling over. A dashing leap allows him to continue forward, adrenaline charging through his veins as the bridge begins to collapse all around him. Sprinting down the falling path, his heart sinks when a pillar falls to the left just as he leaps for it. Landing upon the already tumbling slab, he is thrown outward, doomed for the watery grave below. “Here!” Mai shouts, grabbing his hand and spinning along a diagonal arc, throwing him back toward the lofted path. Not pausing for an instant, he continues to sprint forward, every section traversed quickly falling in his wake. Suddenly, a massive span of the bridge falls, the path ahead lost all the way to the archway resting upon solid ground. Unable to pause for even a moment to think, Rift dives into the air as the final pillar drops out from beneath him. “Here!” Mai calls, latching onto his wrist. “Hang on!” She warns, not letting go as he swings forward. Gaining momentum, she spins the boy in a complete loop before releasing her grasp. Sailing