The Jade City

Chapter 27: The Final Test

Lloyd's POV

A sharp slab of rock whizzed past in front of my face only less than an inch away from my nose. The force knocked me back a little, and another rock shot past behind me, a little lower than the previous one, ripping off a piece of my shirt. Great. Of course this room was booby trapped. I sucked in my stomach to make myself as thin as possible (not that it helped much since I was so skinny already) and observed the flying rocks. Each rock flew past at a different height, so I couldn't simply bend down and crawl across. There was a fleeting moment in between each time a rock flew past, and I could use that to move forward. I wanted to use an energy ball to shield myself, but at the speed the rocks were going, I'd probably be knocked off my feet. This felt like one of those street games that I was never good at (though the fact that other kids would trip me on purpose factored into it). Jay had always been better at them.

Still, if I could somehow prevent the rocks from attacking me, I would have a much less difficult time getting to the other side. I quickly threw several energy balls at the right side of the cave, which was where the rocks had been coming from. Boulders tumbled down and temporarily blocked some of the projectiles as I ran forward, making sure to keep at least one foot on the ground at all times. However, the impact caused rocks to start falling from the ceiling near the right side, and cracks began forming. At the same time, the fires began rising. I knew that at this rate, there was no way I'd be able to reach the other side in time, before I was either engulfed by the flames or crushed by the cave.

There was a small, wider area a few feet away and I threw energy balls at the incoming rocks as I raced towards it. From there, I should be safe for now, giving me some time to formulate a plan. Sure enough, nothing attacked me once I got there, the only sounds being the sizzling flames and the cracking and falling of the rocks on my right. I glanced up and saw that the fractures in the ceiling were starting to spread.

What did I know about this cavern? First, there were obstacles at every leg of the journey that would be triggered as soon as I stepped on the path, making its narrowness the least of my worries. Second, the flames could burn me within seconds. Third, if there wasn't some part of me that made contact with the path, an extremely strong wind would blow me to the left.

Maybe I could utilize it somehow.

An idea popped into my head. If I could propel myself high enough and use the wind to land on the left wall, the whole time staying above the blue fires, I'd be able to climb it horizontally until I reached the exit. All I'd have to do was make my fire strong enough so that the force of gravity wouldn't pull me down. I could do that.

Without hesitation, I shot fire from both of my hands and blasted myself upwards, bracing for the impact. In less than a second, I found myself slamming against the left wall. I clawed at the stone, feeling for any cracks or crevices that I could dig my nails into. My bare feet did the same and I secured myself, feeling like I could finally breathe again.

Thankfully, nothing had been triggered. Climbing this wall was easier than getting out of the Shadow Knight's lair, since there were plenty of holes from the flying obstacles that I could latch onto. The hardest part was that it was slightly inclined towards the center of the room, but I could deal with it. I was getting so close to the Blade; I couldn't give up now.

By this point my body was pretty much numb to physical labor, and I successfully made it to the exit just as the right side of the cave began collapsing and the fires had risen to almost the same level as the path. Grinning to myself, I strolled casually through the door and entered yet another underpass with another door at the end of it, probably leading to the next test. My hand reached up and smoothed out my hair the way Kai used to when demonstrating how he masterfully styled it. At the thought of him, my chest tightened once again. But I would help Rumi set things right.