02

However, we were not attacked, even though we were exposed in that way. Trapped and without magic, in a terrain that extended more and more and without the slightest sign of an end. Incredibly, I didn't feel thirsty, tired, or any human difficulty, despite the long hours of walking.

And the orange light that erupted in the skies at the moment we arrived now assumed a shade of dark blue, of an unmistakable night.

The sky had no stars or moon. There weren't even clouds. It looked like an image glued to the top, an illusion. I spent some time watching the high and ended up not noticing when the dry and beaten earth through which we were walking was, a few meters away, making room for an immense mountain with peaks hidden by a dense mist.

"We have to find the passage inside the mountain," Vraxlon said in a hoarse voice. The sound made me jump, we were in silence for many hours. "It's the only way to cross the rest of the way.

"All right," I replied, without making much point of looking into his eyes.

Vraxlon drew his sword and approached one of the lower parts of the mountain, climbing the stone and balancing easily.

He jumped over a small stretch that separated the stone from a path that was made on a steep trail against the mountain, dug on the stone, and extended his free hand to me. I made his way again, and when I jumped to reach him, I almost ran into the stone.

"Keep your eyes on the ground," he warned, joining our fingers. "We can't heal if we get extremely hurt. And you can never trust stones, especially in a place where everything is already dead.

"Okay," I replied, looking down. It was a relief to be forced to look at anything other than him.

Vraxlon led me back along the way, whose only sound around me was the friction of the pieces of boulders that came loose from the insipid rock.

The world around me was getting darker and darker, and I had the impression of hearing the sound of claws rubbing against the wall of stones around us. The trail was leaning higher and higher, and the path of long hours we made on land, we had to do there too.

The sky of Purgatory began to become more buttery, as if the sun was wanting to rise with its splendor, but was prevented by a logical matter that supernatural and condemned creatures did not deserve any privilege of life.

I was sweaty from the effort, and my legs finally began to hurt, burning from the effort to walk along a trail that was bending higher and higher, so that the moment Vraxlon found the passage into the rock, I was already almost plummeting by gravity.

The inside was even worse. It was flat and didn't seem to make many curves. But it was very dark and cold. I had the feeling of opening the door of a refrigerator as soon as I took a chance inside, with Vraxlon's back covering my vision beyond the way.

I made mention of stretching my shoulders and arms to stretch my body and try to relieve the feeling of tiredness, however, my arms were painfully scratched by the sharp stones around me, and I retreated, imagining that we were in a very narrow space.

Only after hurting myself, I noticed that the stones echoed with the sound of Vraxlon's steel armor crawling against the rock. The sound is similar to that of nails on a blackboard; penetrating, uncomfortable, and getting on the nerves.

We continued the path in silence, and my feet have already begun to drag unwillingly, the joints too rigid and tired for me to dedicate myself to making my way. Vraxlon was still unwavering, paving the way, and realizing that our arms were stretched to keep our fingers together because I was already a few good steps away from him.

In a moment, I stumbled, and the rocky soil rose to hit my face. It was a very strange feeling of falling into the dark. It didn't seem real, since I couldn't see it. However, it hurt as it would hurt under the light, and Vraxlon cursed when he realized that I let go of his hand. He knelt, and even in the dark, he managed to help me stand up again.

"Let's stop for a while," he said, but in a tone of suggestion.

Making it very clear that we would continue if I said I couldn't stop. In case you said again that you wanted to end everything soon. I tested my toes, moving them, they hurt so much that they were even rigid.

The muscles in my legs were shaking, and my head was starting to spin, maybe it was hunger "because my stomach snored" or maybe it was because of sleep. As much as I tried to act as if hell did not obey the laws of human nature, I still had all the basic needs to be suppressed. I was undeniably tired.

So, I nodded even in the dark, and murmured, the hoarse and shaky voice of fatigue:

“I need to stop. My legs can't take it anymore.

So I heard the sounds of Vraxlon putting the backpack on the floor and rummaging through its contents. He took a flashlight out of his bag and a bottle of water. I noticed that he turned on the lantern and pointed it at the ceiling of the rock just so that I could see what he always could by his supernatural vision.

It was really in a kind of narrow corridor carved inside the rock, and the stones that flanked us were curved and pointed. The reason why my arm burned was that I was painfully kissed by these stones, which scratched my skin in such an ugly way "even with the thick layer of combat clothing involving my body" that it could be said that I got hurt with knives.

"Eat a little," he said, delivering a very well-packaged tartlet, which I knew was the result of Faye's attention and concern. “We still have a long way to go, Your Majesty. We're not even halfway through, by the way.

"How can you get to know this place? "I asked.