There's someone else here!? Hill couldn't believe his eyes. Another human! Thank goodness.
The figure stood there on that small island, a dark shape against the bright magma backdrop. Hill squinted through all the steam and haze but he couldn't make out much detail, but that figure was definitely a human.
Relief rushed through him like cold water on a hot day. Not alone after all—what a comfort that was. He started waving frantically.
"Hey!" His parched throat made his voice crack. "Over here!"
But his actions drew no reaction. Something seemed off about how the figure moved—jerky, unsteady movements. It looked like they might fall any second. Then, they did exactly that, collapsing right onto the ground.
Damn it!
Before Hill could think what to do, magma burst from the lake again but closer this time. The blast of hot air hit his skin which was already starting to blister.
He groaned as the scorching air overwhelmed him. There was no time left, he had to get out. And there was no way was he leaving that person behind.
His eyes darted around the scattered islands. They were too far apart to jump between. He'd end up in the magma for sure.
Seemingly out of options, Hill clenched his fist and focused hard, picturing Lune appearing beside him. Red wisps of smoke formed, and there it was—his phantom hand, fully materialized.
"Lune," he said. "We need to get out." He gestured toward the figure of the fallen stranger. "And we're taking them with us."
For five long seconds, Lune just hovered there. Hill started to worry. Then finally it moved, drifting toward the stranger's island as the gap between them widened.
Suddenly, he felt a strange pain in his right hand that was gradually increasing in intensity. The farther Lune went, the worse his right hand hurt. Then came that familiar mental pressure as Lune shifted from ghostly to physical form.
Hill breathed deep, fighting against the throbbing in his skull. His hand felt twisted, pulled the wrong way. A groan escaped him, but he kept his focus on Lune as it reached the distant island.
Steam obscured his view. He could barely make out Lune's blurry movements near the collapsed figure.
Then—wham!—his right hand felt crushed under sudden weight. It felt like he trying to lift a boulder one-handed. His knees gave out and he crashed down.
"Lune! What the hell?" Tears leaked from his eyes onto the hot ground as he struggled and failed to stand.
The stranger appeared through the haze, and Hill blinked in surprise. A teenage girl with—is that blue hair? Purple eyes, too. How strange.
Her muddy clothes and ash-covered skin showed she'd been through something awful. And the dark circles under her eyes spoke of complete exhaustion.
Lune was carrying her by the wrist, lifting her dead weight like some ghostly crane arm.
That explains the pain, Hill realized. His connection to Lune went deeper than he'd thought. There seemed to be a directly proportional relationship between his pain and the distance that Lune travelled.
There also seemed to be a directly proportional relationship between the maintenance of Lune's solid form and Hill's mental and physical strain.
That's quite the drawback.
The phantom hand set her down gently beside him before floating back. The moment it returned, the weight and cramping vanished. He could move again.
"I hope I never have to do that again," he muttered, massaging his throbbing hand.
The girl lay motionless except for her breathing. Hell, she looked rough—like she'd crawled through fire to get here.
"Hey," Hill said, kneeling beside her. "You okay?" Nothing. "Got a name?"
Just soft breathing followed.
Is she unconscious or just completely drained? He thought to himself as he stared at her in confusion.
He had no idea what to do. He had never dealt with anything like this before. And he had never been this close to a girl either, come to think of it.
Another wave of heat washed over them as magma erupted again, crashing down just behind him. Hot cinders rained everywhere—one landed on his arm with a sizzle.
"Shit!" He slapped it away, wincing at the angry red blister forming. Glancing around desperately, the cavern seemed to stretch forever in all directions. There were no visible exits and the air was getting hotter by the second.
"Lune!" His voice cracked with fear. "Find us a way out!"
Lune gave a thumbs-up and shot left into the haze. Fresh pain stabbed through Hill's hand, intensifying with each foot of distance.
But Lune returned quickly, pointing insistently in the direction it had explored.
"Is that our exit?" Hill asked hopefully. Another thumbs-up.
"We're going now," he told the unconscious girl. Trying to lift her, his weak arms trembled and his legs turned to jelly. The heat was getting to him—his surroundings spinning, vision blurring.
"C'mon," he grunted. "Not now..."
One final desperate effort and he managed to haul her onto his shoulder. Sweat streamed down his face as he staggered in the direction of the escape route.
This was it—the hardest part. Just had to get out of this hellhole.
Taking a few ragged breaths, he shifted his grip on her legs to free his left hand.
"Lune! Take my hand and lift us!"
Lune appeared instantly, its ghostly fingers solidifying as they locked with his.
The sensation as Lune lifted them was beyond strange—like he was somehow lifting his own weight plus the girl's. Pain exploded in his head and hand. He felt like his skull might crack and his fingers felt like they were going to tear off. A scream ripped from his throat as tears streaked down his face.
Desperate not to drop her, he wrapped his legs around her body and clutched her with his aching right arm.
As they flew from the island, the pain got worse, but he refused to let go. No way he'd leave her to die in the magma. He wasn't scum.
So he endured—the pain, the heat, all of it—as Lune carried them through the air. Eyes squeezed shut, breath coming in gasps.
Then, a cool breeze touched his skin. It was just for a second, but the feeling was unmistakable. The air around him seemed to cool slightly, feeling incredibly icy against his burnt skin.
Did we actually make it?
Lune released his hand.
They crashed hard, his body hitting ground and tumbling until he slammed against a cave wall. The girl went flying, rolling to a stop yards away.
Groaning, Hill blinked to clear his vision. The headache remained but was fading fast.
He flexed his right hand. The pain was still there and his fingers continued to throb, but it was nothing like before. Thank goodness.
Slowly sitting up, he realized they'd made it out of the magma lake. They were in a cave mouth that opened up on the walls of the cavern that held the lake, dim orange light filtering in from the lake behind them. Cool air blew across his face, and beyond—the unknowns of a tunnel system.
They had endured and they had survived.