The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 257 249: Luna - A Luckless Trial

The walls of the small dead-end closed around her, too dark too see, too close not to feel. She sobbed into the elbow of her thick hoodie, desperately hoping the sounds carried no further. She'd been so, so confident when she'd entered the trial three days earlier! Her luck was in the 50's now - practically godlike compared to when she'd started - and it had been her constant friend and companion, guiding her gently and safely through every encounter. Only now was she realizing how much of a crutch it had become. Luck was only your friend when you had options.

When you had none, even the highest of luck was simply a pretty flower resting on a tombstone.

Her trial was a maze - No, she thought, a labyrinth. She didn't know the exact differences between the two, but she was pretty sure that if it had a minotaur that refused to let you rest for even a few moments then it must surely be a labyrinth. The first part of the labyrinth had been pretty easy - she'd avoided traps on instinct, found the right paths through, and even discovered hidden alcoves that held weapons or that could be used to hide as the sound of clomping hooves tromped past her, echoing down the long, narrow stone hallways as it did. Those echoes were often the only warning she got, and even they weren't always enough.

She'd found the sword - a short thing, barely as long as her arm and deadly sharp. Later she'd found the small buckler shield - perfect for fending off skeletal undead without getting bound up in the tight corridors. Those had been scary, although not as scary as the zombies, but she'd prevailed. At first she'd thought they would be easy - the tight corridors forced them together had prevented them from surrounding her. Her luck held as she struck, taking off heads and grasping claws with abandon.

The danger only started to show itself when the creatures had turned from one, to a few, then to many. Then to a LOT. Luck didn't make her arms strong enough to keep swinging long after the sword had begun to feel like a lead weight. Luck may have kept her just out of reach of the first strikes, but when the rest continued to come in unrelenting waves there was no amount of luck that would keep them from slashing into her. She didn't know how many she'd killed, only that it had been a lot - and yet never enough. When the last zombie horde had broken past her shield and one had clamped its rotted teeth onto her Cogslinger Gauntlet her only option had been to turn and run.

And so she had - blindly and with no plan, trusting her beleaguered companion, Luck, to guide her to any safety it could find. That had become her life for the first two days - run, hide, pray for any moments of peace and rest to last, knowing that they wouldn't. The zombies and skeletons were mindless, yet always seemed to find her. Their groans and clattering were loud enough to break through even her minutes of restless sleep and she would crawl from her space to run again. Sometimes she made it out before they got to her, but many times she didn't - her bloodied and tattered sweatshirt was a testament to the close calls.

Her last run had brought her to the most open space she'd seen yet - the corridor opening to a wide half-circle of stone that ended at a deep and unfathomable depth. There was a ledge on the far side, much, much too far for her to jump to. Even as she looked for a way out she could hear them coming - the groans distant but inevitable. Something tickled the back of her mind and she followed the impulse, eyes frantically scanning the area until she saw a rope laying limp on the lip of the cliff face. She ran to it and realized that it was tied off on the other end, only needing to be anchored on her side. She grabbed the end and began searching frantically, a small glint from one of the always-present torches drawing her eye to a thick metal eyelet that was embedded in the wall above the entrance. She'd run right underneath it without seeing it and if the zombies had already reached her she would never have been able to get to it.

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She sprinted that way, her breath hitching a sob as she realized it was too high to jump to. She cast a nervous glance down the dark passage, the sounds of the horde getting ever closer.

"Come on, come on, come on. Please - if I ever needed you, it's now! Please work!" She didn't know why she did it, but she kissed the end of the rope before tying a small knot in the end. She put the sound of the horde out of her mind and closed one eye, focusing on the eyelet above her. Face screwed up in concentration she reached towards her Well and begged her Luck to hold out. She threw, wanting to watch but closing her eyes on reflex.

She heard the knot land at her feet and she groaned, opening her eyes to see it laying there. Her eyes widened as she followed its length upwards - through the eyelet!

"Yes!" She hissed, pumping her fist in the air. She rushed to it and pulled the knot over the rope, tying a sliding knot. A squeak of fear erupted out of her as she saw movement flicker pass one of the torches down the hallway. They were here and would be at her in moments. They didn't run - never ran - but they always caught up. She pulled with all the strength she could muster, throwing it over the rope again and pulling even harder to tighten the knot down. She was so concentrated on the rope that she missed the swipe that almost caught her across the face.

"Oh no!" The shout sounded too girly and childish to her, even now, but she was who she was and had no time for introspection. She stumbled backwards, the rope slipping out of her hands as she did.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no!" She stumbled again as the rest of the horde began to emerge. She prayed to her Luck again and felt it pulse inside of her. A skeleton walked into her rope and the knotted end that was hanging low got caught in its ribcage. The rope went taut and it was halted in place, lunging forward but not able to move. The crush of bodies behind it pushed it forward and, as they did, the rope itself began to tighten. Luna's eyes went wide as she saw the rope go from slack to taut, hope springing alive inside of her - electric and dangerous. She slid the sword through her belt - there would be no fighting this many creatures, especially backed against the lip of the pit like the was. She had moments, and only moments, as the last of the horde pushed their way out of the hallway and onto the ledge. She didn't even need to look into her Well to know that there was only one thread of reality that kept her alive. She stamped down her fear and burst into a sprint, running straight at the horde. At the last moment she slid to a stop, bumping into a zombie in the front and sending it stumbling backwards into the ones behind it.

That bump had opened up a split second of opportunity and she took it, turning and sprinting back towards the lip. The rope above her was too high for her to grab, but it angled downwards into the darkness, disappearing from sight just beyond the edge. She angled herself underneath the rope and ran like she was racing death itself. She felt something tug at her hoodie and she pushed away from it as her foot touched the lip of the edge.

With a final breath and a prayer, Luna leaped into the darkness.