Chapter 238: In the Deep In

Sora Brontarion

I felt like a puppet, the way my body moved against its will.

“Sora, what’s happening?” Voen asked through our tetherlink as his body accelerated toward the swamp.

“Stravos used a command art on us.”

“Stravos, why are you doing this?” I shouted.

He just stood there, hands clasped.

“I command my cluster to stop, and deny the command of Stravos.”

With the activation of my Command Art, I watched as my cluster’s bodies sputtered, trapped in a game of tug-of-war. My body, on the other hand, received no benefit, and I was thrust into the swamp.

My foot stepped into the swamp. The water was shallow and opaque, filled with leaves, vines, roots, and mud.

I didn’t feel the ground with my next step, my stomach dropping as I sank into the depths of the swamp.

It was dark and murky, its earthy sour taste seeping into my mouth.

My momentum seemed like it would never stop, with the light of Simon’s Halo shrinking by the second.

“Sora, are you alright? Do you need me to come get you?” Nerena asked through our link.

Then something nibbled on my arm.

I did my best to swat it away from myself in the viscous waters, but I was fighting against the increasing pressure of the water, feeling like I was being trapped beneath Cyrus’s ability.

My lungs burned.

There was no way I could swim back up to the surface. I had already sunk nearly a hundred feet.

“Yes, please, I'm running out of air.”

“Coming. Be as still as possible. The more you thrash and try to fight it, the more oxygen you are going to use.”

I followed her directions and continued to sink.

I was lucky to have someone like her in my cluster; at this point, she was irreplaceable.

A few more seconds passed, and I felt more nibbles of small serrated teeth trying to break skin.

Endure it. I have to; if I spark them, I could harm Nerena. Then Voen and Simon would be left to Stavros.

I still couldn’t believe he would abuse his command arts in that way. We were supposed to be working together as a unit, not as pawns.

Professor Thorne made a mistake.

My momentum slowed, and the rush of water mellowed as irritability and anxiety filled me.

It was difficult to distinguish whether these were my own feelings or someone else’s, and the sensation grew stronger.

Is Nerena getting closer?

I cycled through many thoughts, trying to distract myself from my lungs.

I couldn’t hold my breath much longer; each inch I sank felt like a direct gut shot.

A bubble escaped my mouth.

I had reached my limit.

Then more.

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And more, swallowing more of the sour water.

“Nerena, I need you now!”

The lack of air was getting to me. My consciousness was fading.

But in the midst of a few heavy blinks, I saw a faint teal glow, growing by the second.

“Just hold on a little bit more, Sora. I'm almost there.”

I reached out, trying to grasp the faint light.

My eyes felt like heavy doors as they closed.

Then something clasped my hand, pulling my body upwards.

“I'm here.” A soft voice said.

Something around my abdomen squeezed me gently.

“Take a breath; I made a bubble for you.”

I hesitated. I didn’t know if I was delirious or if somehow a phantom echo had found its way down here to trick me.

“Sora, breathe,” the faint voice said, growing louder in my head.

I gave in and took the breath.

Fresh air filled my lungs, reviving me as we ascended back to the surface.

When we got back to the surface, Voen and Simon looked worried. Stravos, on the other hand, had this scummy grin, nearly delighted to see me heave for air.

Jossie came over and gave me a worried look.

“Are you okay?”

I didn’t take my eyes off Stravos.

“So how deep was it?” Stravos said in a sly tone.

My blood boiled.

Lightning crackled around my body like popping boils.

I wanted to strike him down.

“Why?”

“Scouting, of course.”

“At the expense of us?”

“I knew you'd survive. You guys were best suited for it, and I didn’t want to have the conversation… so I gave you a little push.”

I was sick of people like him, people who use others like tools, the same type of person who is responsible for what happened to my grandma.

Should I try to kill him?

No.

He’s a stage above, and this rift takes priority.

I let out a deep breath and dispelled my lightning.

“What’s his problem? Has he lost his mind?” Nerena asked through our tether link.

“I don’t know, but something is off. We should keep a closer eye on him, especially if he is gonna put our lives at risk.”

“Now that we know there isn’t anything dangerous in the swamp. My group will be traveling using the flotation device our armament tech fashioned. See you guys on the other side.” Stravos said, hopping into the raft with his cluster as everyone paddled from land.

“He’s got some nerve,” Voen said, anger radiating from him.

“He does. But sadly, we’ll have to put up with it a little longer. We need him to survive, since he’s the only one who has reached the Adept.” I said, gritting my teeth.

“We should’ve ascended before entering the rift so we wouldn't have to rely on him,” Simon said.

“Too late now. We’re already in our astral bodies inside a rift.”

“So we really are stuck with him?” Voen said.

I nodded.

For a few moments, you could hear the ambient sounds of the jungle and its swamp.

Then I looked at Nerena, who was back in the water.

“Are you able–”

“A step ahead of you,” Nerena said, creating the same bubble vehicles she made during the Totem games.

She gestured for us to hop in them. We did, and Jossie’s cluster followed our lead and allowed Nerena to pull us under the water until we made it to the other side of the swamp.

Once we did, there was a large den made of broken branches and remnants of exoskeletons that had been eroded and molted off.

Nernea popped the bubbles, forcing us to jump back on solid ground, rejoining Stravos’s group.

“This is the place,” Sigmond said, pointing inside the nest.

Stravos took off in a sprint, his joy overwhelming as it leaked into me.

Everyone followed behind, struggling to keep up with the speed.

When we got to the end, we saw multiple glowing orbs lying against the wall.

“Sigmond, are you sure this is the core?” Ida asked.

“Yeah, I think so; it has the same output and signature as one.”

“Unless the rift has multiple cores that we need to destroy, I don’t think these are it,” Ida said.

“Well, that’s because these are eggs,” Nerena said.

Just as I was about to respond.

We all heard a loud crunch.

We all turned to the location.

It was Stravos feasting on one of the eggs.