The next day, Esara woke up with her back hurting like always. She'd grown accustomed to the hard surface at this point and never complained about it, even though she had no one to complain to, until now.
The flames had died out, and her eyes moved to the exit where Salty still stood with the reb or nestled in his arm. She hadn't said anything yet; she rose a bit, finding solitude in the silence that was prevailing before her.
He was like a statue that looked like a history book. His eyes gave nothing away, except for when he narrowed his eyes or rounded them — which, in a sense, was cute.
Also, his hand hadn't come back; she'd expected it to somehow re-grow while she wasn't watching, but it seems even Salty wasn't capable of such miracles.
Esara rose and broke the silence.
"...Good morning".
It was the first time she'd ever said that to anyone since her parents had died, and for some reason, it felt good to know she could speak to someone. Years of isolation and constant fighting without any interaction were bound to make someone insane.
"You slept for twelve hours".
She stretched her arms before stuffing everything of interest into her large sack.
"Yeah, it's enough for me to be awake for the next 48 hours. What about you, you don't sleep or what?"
"I have a way of resting as you do, but it requires certain sanctuaries".
"I see".
After making sure that she had everything, she sheathed her sword.
"Should we get going?" She asked.
"Yes, but first I need a rope". He replied.
The two stepped out of the ruins, and Salty had climbed up the mast of the shelter, jacking off an old rope on it. Once again, they began walking in a direction that Salty seemed to have an idea about.
"You called the monster Death? It won't attack us, right?"
"No, it won't, when we locked eyes, it understood why I was here to begin with. It recognized my duty".
"Yeah, it recognized your duty, but what about me? I'm not a divine being like y'all".
"Don't throw the word divinity around so casually, I am not divine, nor is Death, we're simply creatures who were given a purpose".
Esarah shook her head, yeah, whatever he says. She was finding it hard not to believe he wasn't of divinity; he was made up of crystals and carried some strange purpose in fixing things.
Speaking of crystals, she asked again.
"What are you made of, Salty?"
"Take a wild guess".
"Salt?"
Salty nodded, telling her that she was correct without speaking.
"Really?".
"You should've told me earlier... The food I eat is bland and without taste, I'd like things to spice things up".
He turned his face over his shoulder, questioning her words.
"You want me to cut my own skin off so that you can enjoy food?"
"Yeah, if you let me?"
"...Would you scrape your own skin off so that I could enjoy my own food?".
She let out a low scoff.
It was a reasonable point.
***
After what felt like hours of directionless walking under the blue shade, the two stopped once the surface didn't exist anymore. A few meters ahead was a steep drop into the abyss — they now stood by the border that separated the 99 hill from the other worlds.
"This will lead us to the 95th hill? How are we going to descend? I hope you didn't think of just jumping down".
"That's exactly what we're gonna do, excluding your vast human rest, traversing the veins will take a long time, and we don't have that time".
Salty took the rope around his shoulder, then began winding it to his waist and scribbling around the red orb until it was bound to stay without slipping.
"We're gonna get crushed, unless you have some sort of trick up your sleeve."
Without a word, Salty had turned his back to her, gesturing for her to piggyback him. She looked at him hesitatingly, almost in disbelief. Though to her, it was likely the fastest way; ascending or descending a hill would take years on foot, she knew from experience.
She climbed his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his stomach. Then Salty approached the daunting edge; a few centimeters before the drop, he warned her. "Hold on tightly, it's gonna take some minutes until we reach the designated hill".
Esara felt her heart trying to leave her body, and something got caught in her throat.
"...Salty, how does this lead us directly to the 95th hill without meeting the other three hills?" She asked, a bit nervous about the anticipated fall.
"A battle took place here".
Before she could question anymore, Salty had jumped into the abyss. They were quickly met with headwind as Esara's hair flew, and the shade of blue-gray above them soon disappeared.
Esarah clung to dear life — if she were to lose her grip slightly, she would fly away. The sound of the headwind was strong. Esara had tried to open her eyes, but her heart sank, and her muscles twitched involuntarily at the force.
She hoped Salty had a plan.
For about three minutes, they had continued to fall; their combined weight together had made their descent, which in a way was ridiculous, as they were still falling.
It made Esara self-aware of the world she had always lived in, a world that never seemed to have a bottom or a top, like a mountain almost. Soon, Salty had decided to look around; his eyes scanned behind his shoulder, taking notice of the wall behind them.
"We're getting closer, I can see the surface of the 95th hill".
"Finally," she frightfully muttered into his non-existent ear, happy they were getting there.
Salty had to turn his position mid-air, soon his front faced the mountain wall, and then he forcefully used his only hand to try to drill into it, slowing their descent by a tenth.
She finally decided to open her eyes for the first time. She exhaled a deep breath of relief, turning to look at his only hand. She was quick to notice it being worn down quickly; every meter they dropped, scraped off his crystalline skin.
A few meters above the surface, Salty had already lost his grip, and the two plopped down on the new floor with minor pain.
"We're here". He quipped.
Esara rose on her legs with her own arms. Once she brushed off the dirt and sand from her coat, she turned to Salty, who'd been doing the same. Her eyes lowered to his arms; he had no hands anymore.
"Your hand..."
Salty was helpless.
"It was expected; our combined weight made the friction stronger. I'll manage without hands for the time being".
Salty spoke as if it were just a casual hour. Personally, if Esara had lost both her hands, she'd be infuriated.
Still, again, he wasn't human and did not carry the same emotional or physical values as her.
She looked around; similar to the previous place, it was dark here too.
"Esara, are you familiar with how the hills are built up?" He asked, most definitely going to explain whatever she said, no or yes.
"Yes, the world is forever ascending towards the infinity peak, built upon layers of steep terrain and vast tunnels within".
"Correct, this world is a mountain that stretches both towards the peak and the void, in a further perspective, it's like a staircase — You know what a staircase is, right?"
She nodded, "I wasn't born under a rock".
He continued. "Each step of the staircase is a hill, in another world, a new world which have their own set of problems and landscape"
"Also, all hills have one common trait. Do you know what it is?"
"The forsaken, right?"
Salty lowered his arm. "Wherever you go, the forsaken will always be there. The deeper you go, the more strange-looking they are." He raised his arm. "The further you go up, the more animalistic or human they look".
"Which means?" She asked.
"Right now, we're prone to constant forsaken; every hill beneath the 96th borders the abyssal zone, sunlight will never reach here. You will be like a ray of life surrounded by death".
"It's been like that everywhere". She replied.
Esara smirked; she found his explanation funnier than she'd like to admit, so there had always been levels to it. She had survived long enough to differentiate hill from hill; his explanation had given her some hope.
"So there exists a zone where even the abyss won't reach, where sunlight is constant?"
"Yes, the 100th, I've never been there myself, but I know sunlight is the dominant authority there".
"We'll probably go there too at some point, when we're done with this orb, yes?".
"Most likely".
"I see, that makes this journey worth it".
A few years back, when the fog had coincidentally dispersed while she walked the surface after leaving home, she had managed to get a glimpse of the sun for a few seconds. The fact that he'd mention the existence of such a place, a place where the sun prevailed, sparked a subtle adrenaline rush through her.
In the midst of their conversation, a familiar yet foreign screech from the far distance had pierced the lecture, and the red orb knitted to Salty suddenly was shining and pulsing for an unknown reason.
"Also, theres one thing that I need to mention before we get going, from this point on, while we descend to Fellen, never lose sight of me, always stay by my side". Salty had said that, both as a threat and a warning, judging by his narrowing eyes.
"Why's that?"
"The term 'the dark will kill you' is legit down here. The dark will in fact, kill you".
Esara subtly gulped. Was he referring to unknown gases that could be nestled here or quick monsters? She didn't want to know, so she took his words seriously.
***
The two ex-prisoners had begun traversing the steep terrain for hours; there had been no turns for a while, just straight walking. At some point, her legs began to give out, yet she still managed to pull through. As for Salty, he was unbothered.
If she remembered his lecture, then this hill, unlike the previous one, must have been mostly made of surface, or so she had thought. Esara had pointed out towards a shallow cave in the corner of her light, a shelter that could work, but Salty had nudged her off with a no.
They continued deeper and further. Esara had almost believed they were headed towards the border of the 94th hill; by a certain point, the pain in her legs had overtaken her head, and her vision occasionally grew blurry.
She muttered to herself, "That's right... I don't have any water on me".
The thing that kept her going without a break was Salty's crystalline back, that and the gas lantern that gave the last light around her. The flame inside the lantern flickered; its source was running out, and before she knew, it gave up.
She stopped for a second.
"Wait, Salty—".
She tried to push the button, even hitting it until the light returned, though weaker than before.
"Nice, it works, hey Salty, how long until we can take a break—"
The moment she raised her eyes from the lantern, Salty had disappeared.
"Huh?"
And then, she could hear pebbles flicker around her.