"This will be the last jump."
Cullen watched his surroundings instantly vanish, then were replaced by a desolate landscape. Brown and black dirt made up the ground, and only a few collapsed trees and stumps remained. Above them, a dark cloud loomed overhead, and the air was difficult to breathe.
"Where the hell are we?" Adam said between coughs.
Eric looked around, then set his sights on the distance ahead.
"The weather here is the Abomination's doing. We need to go where the cloud gets darker to find the entrance."
Sure enough, the cloud turned even more black in one direction and slowly faded away in the other.
'A single Abomination changed this entire land? Its effect must be dozens of kilometers…'
"Let's hurry, it may be dangerous for Greye to keep breathing this in."
They traveled the same way they did before, with Greye on Ryan's back this time. Although Cullen didn't have the vest on, the others quickened their paces, making it harder to keep up.
As they approached the Abomination, Cullen noticed more and more ash on the ground. It was like walking in a coal desert. Then, in the distance, an upside-down pyramid of blackness could be seen.
"That's the Abomination?" Adam wore a serious look on his face.
Eric told them that the entrance was a massive chimney that pumped out black smoke, but the scale of it was hard to swallow in person. The amount of dust being released dwarfed anything Cullen had seen before.
"Yes, and we have to jump through the chimney to enter. Prepare yourselves."
'What? How are we gonna do that with Greye?'
Cullen stared at Eric, trying to understand what was going through his mind.
"Can't Greye teleport us down?" Ryan asked.
"I could, but we have no clue where we would end up. The information given to us says that someone went through there and came back, so it's the safest option."
The enormous cloud only got bigger as they ran to their doom, but Cullen's mind didn't change at all. Whatever would get him down there was the path he would take.
The chimney itself was around 100 meters tall and made of stone, probably. An Abomination wouldn't be made of normal stone. They arrived at the base, where the visibility was so bad they had to stand shoulder to shoulder to see each other.
"Adam," Eric ordered. "You can use your ability to move the smoke aside while we jump through. We'll all climb to the top and hold onto each other while we fall, then hope to land on something."
"Also, why don't you give us a lift up there?"
Adam rolled his eyes, then stretched his palm to the ground. The earth beneath Cullen shook, causing him to stumble as they rose into the air. The five of them stood on a small piece of soil controlled by Adam and levitated to the top.
"So.. Why didn't we travel like this the whole time?" Cullen asked.
"Do you know anything about Gifted? My ability, just like everyone else's, has to recover after I use it for a while. Wasting it on something like that would put us in a dangerous position."
'That makes sense.'
Although Cullen didn't appreciate the way Adam spoke, he did realize that he, too, could probably exhaust his own ability by using it over and over in a short period of time.
But encountering that many Abominations was rare, even in Grade-Es.
They reached the top, just beneath the ridiculous amount of smoke being released. Cullen could feel the heat permeating his skin as he stood on the floating surface. He looked to Greye, who was sweating more than anyone else.
"Let's not waste any time." Eric grabbed Greye. "We need to huddle as we fall."
The five of them got as close as they could to each other. Uncomfortable, but the only way for everyone to survive.
"Now!"
Eric jumped off the floating rock, carrying all of them into the chimney. As they fell, Adam used his ability to keep the ash from contacting them.
'It's like falling in a bubble… but we can only see so far beneath us. How the hell are we going to land?'
"Adam," Eric shouted, even though they were all practically hugging. "Make some space beneath us so we can land safely. Also, we need to be prepared for anything."
A few meters of space opened up below them, but their speed was already dangerous. And Eric was right, who knew what Abominations waited for them at the bottom.
'Damnit… can't I do anything?'
Cullen desperately thought of a way to use the tools in his backpack, but no ideas came to him. Then a grate appeared below him.
At their speed, only Eric could react fast enough. He grabbed his sword and unleashed a violent stream of water below them. The force knocked them up and to the side, as well as splitting them apart.
"Adam!"
Adam desperately reached his hands out, moving the steam below them to the side as if an invisible shield was protecting them. However, the area he had to cover was now much larger.
"Damnit," Adam murmured through clenched teeth. "Hurry up and get close to me!"
Cullen stood up, then looked at the ground below. It was a metal grate with holes small enough to let the steam through, but large enough to walk on.
'This must be how the previous Gifted entered, whoever they were.'
They ran closer to Adam just as the steam closed in on them. Once again, they stood shoulder to shoulder.
"Quick, follow me over here," Eric ordered.
Running behind Eric, they eventually came to a stone wall and decided to walk along it until they found an exit. In less than a minute, a wide opening finally appeared.
"Fuck," Adam stumbled through, his ability close to exhausted. "Why is there so much goddamn steam?"
Cullen looked behind them and saw the harsh black steam rising in the previous room, the source of the surrounding land's destruction.
"And why didn't you use your ability, Ryan? Couldn't have warned us what would happen?"
"I did, you idiot. A few of us got lost back there, but thanks to me, that didn't happen."
While the two argued, Cullen looked into the new hallway they had entered. It was made from stone where they stood, but transformed into a purple-crystal material the further down it went. At the end, around 100 meters away, a massive, ethereal door blocked the exit.
'This must be why it's called The Amethyst Burrow, it seems purple is the main theme here.'
"Enough, you two," Eric snapped. "Shut up and follow me."
They walked down the mystical hallway, the walls made of crystal mirrors, lit by torches that harnessed blue flames. As they approached the end, a small but tall room came into view, making space for the ten-meter-high door.
"Where are the Abominations?" Adam complained. "And how is this a mining colony? This looks like the inside of a palace."
When they reached the end, Eric first walked up to the door and pushed on it, opening one side slightly.
'It's not locked?'
"Be careful, it may be a trap," Ryan suggested. "Let me go through with my ability."
After agreeing, Ryan stood still for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"It's not a trap, but…"
"But what?" Adam interrupted impatiently.
"Just go through."
Cullen looked at Adam, then Eric, and then also moved toward the door.
'Why did he come back with his ability if there's no danger?'
Trusting Ryan, Cullen pushed it open and stepped outside.
A small balcony existed beyond the door, along with a scene that made Cullen hold his breath. He leaned on the edge, followed by the rest of them.
"Holy shit."
Before them was a massive underground city, almost as big as their home. Houses made of amethyst and stone formed a town below, along with a few large buildings and transportation systems. The streets were littered with people, walking normally, acting normally, all different. Just like humans, but even from this distance, Cullen could detect the core in each of their hearts.
Along with the homes beneath them, breathtaking towers made from houses reached kilometers high. It looked impossible to achieve, buildings stacked on top of each other in an absurd way, but Cullen could clearly see people living on them. They were wide, each level holding dozens of homes, but looked skinny in comparison to their height. Ladders connected the top to the bottom, and some bridges were made to connect each tower.
The most impressive part, though, was the palace in the center. Although far away, Cullen could partially conceive its inconceivable scale. Made of amethyst, stone, and gold, its magnificent design consisted of colossal statues and thousands of rooms.
The five of them, even Eric, were unable to say a word. But the same thought was going through each of their minds: How the hell would they kill this thing?