We come to a long, low-arching bridge of solid rock, similar to the one Sam and I shuffled along earlier, and below is a steaming pool of green lava. Charging across the other side of the narrow bridge is a thick line of Mogs, and behind us several pikens are racing down the tunnel, straight towards us.

“Where do we go?” I shout as we step onto the bridge.

Nine says, “We go under.”

Nine grabs my hand as we reach the peak of the bridge, and my world literally flips upside down until we’re running along the underside of the arch. Without warning Nine lets go of me, but my shoes still firmly grip the belly of the bridge somehow. I reach over my head and scoop up a pile of the green lava, and by the time we’re standing on the other side of the room, I have a perfect green ball of fire in my hand. I wing it at the Mogs on the bridge and visualize it spreading over them. I can hear the sizzling of their flesh when we duck into another cave.

I’m out of breath when we reach a steep decline. I’m judging the grade of the drop when I’m hit with a blast from behind. I topple forward and fall at an amazing speed, and when the ground finally levels out, my recently dislocated shoulder hits it first.

I roll onto my stomach in unimaginable pain. The blast hit me square in the back, and my muscles are stuck in an uncontrollable spasm. I can hardly breathe, let alone search my Chest for my healing stone. The only thing I can do is stare at the slivers of moonlight that appear and disappear at the end of the tunnel. The tarp. It’s flapping in the forest wind. I’m back to where I started.

I hear the sound of rocks crumbling behind me. I’m in more pain than I thought imaginable, and all I can think about is leaving the mountain. “Straight ahead. It’s the exit. We can regroup out there,” I manage.

If we can make it outside, then I can heal myself, hide our Chests in the forest. And maybe BK can come back in with us now that we’ve destroyed the gas tanks. The four Mogs who guarded the entrance are gone, and Nine jumps out through the tarp and into the forest. I follow. The stench from the dead animal carcasses hits us fast, and we both gag as Nine jogs into a line of trees. I collapse against a trunk. I need five minutes, I think. Then we’re going back in for Sam. Guns and hands blazing.