The Crushing Cycle

"Your sweat is staining my clothes," Koala grumbled as we trudged forward.

"This is all part of a healer's job. Get used to it," I shot back, lazily covering her mouth with my hand before she could argue.

"Humph!" She scoffed but steadied herself.

Looks like she's got some pride as a healer.

Still, I wasn't complaining. Her constant healing took the edge off my exhaustion — barely. My legs felt like lead, and every step was a battle against an invisible mountain pressing down on me.

Everyone else had mana to soften the gravity's pull. Me? Just a powerless noble hanging on. At least I got this soft, vanilla-scented mana battery to lean on.

"Hey, my shoulder hurts," she whined, squirming a little under my weight.

"Shut up. Did you think about my back when you jumped on me?"

"Mmhmm… mmhmm," she mumbled, giving me the saddest, most pathetic puppy eyes I'd ever seen.

Did she really think I'd fall for that?

I ignored her and looked ahead. If this kept up, we'd all collapse before reaching wherever the hell this trial ended. We needed a plan — fast.

"Commander!" I called out.

The group halted, eyes turning to me.

"We need to stop walking and figure out how to get past this. We'll drop dead at this rate."

The commander's expression tightened.

"Well, would you look at that — our genius young master finally caught on," Garrick drawled.

"Shut your stinking mouth," I shot back, glaring at him.

The commander cut in, his voice grim. "You think I didn't consider that? Staying here's a slow death either way."

"Why is that?"

He paused, hesitant. Then his voice dropped. "The air here... it's getting thinner. Every second."

My stomach twisted. Air thining?

"But moving forward doesn't guarantee survival either."

"Don't worry. The mage can handle the air problem," he said, nodding toward a robed figure in purple.

I wasn't convinced. Even if the mage fixed the air, this crushing gravity wasn't letting up. And who's to say it wouldn't get worse?

A knight's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "Commander! What is that?"

I snapped my head around.

A thin, ghostly white mist was creeping toward us from behind, barely visible — like the air itself was turning solid.

The commander's voice came out low and grim. "...That's not a mist. It's a vacuum."

The word hit like a hammer.

A vacuum? A space with no air — no way to breathe. And it was moving toward us, slow but inevitable.

"Move! Now!" the commander barked.

Our exhausted march turned into a desperate scramble.

"What's a vacuum?" Koala panted beside me.

"It's like someone choking you. You wanna find out firsthand?"

"Ehh... but how do we outrun it? It's already hard to move!"

She wasn't wrong. Every step made the gravity worse. This wasn't a trial of endurance — it was a slow execution.

Think. Think!

Each step forward… it only got heavier. But backward didn't reduce the gravity. Without moving, though, how could we go forward?

Wait… a realization struck me. I'd been so focused on the steps that I missed something obvious.

We didn't face the weight until we got off the horse. And… my bag wasn't affected either. Only steps triggered the gravity.

My eyes darted around. The only things still standing tall.

Trees!

"I've got an idea!" I shouted, voice strained. "Can we tie a rope between the trees and climb across instead of walking?"

The commander looked at me thoughtfully, then glanced at Selene. She nodded in silence.

"Dain, can you do that?" the commander asked his vice commander.

Dain, a young man in his twenties, stepped toward a tree. He placed a hand on it, and a thin golden layer appeared on his body. His skin paled, and his ears elongated.

An elf…? What's an elf doing in a human knight's order?

Murmurs ripples through the group.

Thick, sturdy vines emerged from the trees, twisting and weaving into a bridge just above the ground.

Dain's body returned to normal as he pulled his hand away.

The commander tested the vines, climbing on cautiously. His eyes widened. "You're right, young master. The pressure doesn't affect us above ground."

I nodded, hiding my grin. Hell yeah, score one for me.

Everyone started climbing onto the vines, and our pace finally picked up.

But something didn't feel right. The mist behind us moved slowly — too slowly.

Just as I was about to voice my concern, Selene spoke first.

"We're trapped."

Everyone turned to her. The commander frowned. "What do you mean, young miss?"

"There's mist ahead of us too."

"Can't we turn sideways and avoid it?" Evan asked, his voice tight.

"No," the commander said firmly. "The forest's terrain isn't simple. One misstep, and we'll get lost in endless traps."

"Hmph! Aren't we cornered already, thanks to your brilliant leadership?" Edric scoffed.

The commander shot him a glare before turning to the mage. "Torwin, can you create a barrier to block the upcoming vacuum mist?"

Torwin's voice was low, uncertain. "I can, but I don't know how long I can hold it."

"You heard him! We move fast once we hit the mist."

Soon a white wall loomed before us, thicker and faster than the one trailing behind.

We huddled close.

"Torwin, now!" the commander barked.

Whoosh!

A dome of swirling air formed around us as we pushed into the mist.

"Move fast!" the commander urged. We couldn't run — the vines were narrow — but we moved as quickly as we could.

Dain led the way, weaving new vines forward. The commander followed, then me, the healers, Evan walked in a line. The mage stayed in the center near Selene.

"I... I can't hold this much longer," the mage gasped, his voice strained. The shimmering air dome around us trembled, then began to shrink.

"Wait—Ahh!" A sudden cry rang out as two knights at the edge of the barrier stumbled into the white mist. They collapsed and fell on the ground, mouths agape, choking for air.

"Keep moving!" the commander shouted.

My heart pounded harder with each step. One wrong move, and I'd be next choking on the ground.

After what felt like an eternity, the mist thinned.

"I can see the ground!" Dain called from the front.

"That's it! Just a few more steps!" Ranald's voice came from behind, full of relief.

The fog finally cleared, and Dain jumped down.

I followed the commander, heart still racing — until I saw Dain's face.

He wasn't relieved. He was terrified.

I looked ahead. My stomach dropped.

The horses. Our horses.

The ones we abandoned. They stood exactly where we left them.

I jumped down — and the crushing gravity slammed into me again.

Fuck.

had we come full circle? back to the beginning?