Seth’s fingers struggled to connect to holographic interface as it flickered in place, taunting him with his freedom. He wheezed as he took in a deep breath in a vain attempt to trick his mind into calm and patience. He thrust his finger purposely into the projection, moving on to the next key in the sequence once he was sure that the program had acknowledged the action. Time stretch out behind him, the howls and slashing of combat raging behind him becoming a dull echo of reality.

He released his breath as stress induced sweat wept from his brow. The tunnel behind the captain pulled away from reality like an elastic band as he thrust his finger into the final steps of his command.

He inhaled when the program blinked out, leaving him in the hallowed darkness for a second in eternity. In a moments like these, he often felt like he was looking down on himself. He figured it was his way of coping under pressure. It was easier to feel like the danger was happening to someone else.

The shield melted away, blinding him with the light of the real world. The sky bridge moved into position, leaving segments to flicker and dash as it struggled to maintain its connection.

He felt out of place. His hold on his reality was shifting. He could almost remember something critical. He turned away from the sky bridge as Astral dashed toward him, throwing herself at him to knock him into the sunlight as her body twisted to throw a handful of explosives. The side of the canyon detonated.

She didn't waste a second to launch to her feet and continue her mad dash down the sky bridge. He watched, stunned as the past two years of his life fell into the raging waters. She got her way after all. His ragged breathing was wet with frustration. He lumbered to his feet, his body too heavy to carry on.

Astral's fleeting form had made it past the halfway mark of the three-hundred and fifty foot bridge. Why was she still running?

He moved across the bridge, his steps miraculously striking a solid surface as the glitches reshaped itself beneath him. He felt hallow, defeated. What was he going to do? He wasn't in any shape to fight Astral when she made her final bid on the ghost. But was she in any shape to fight the ghost? Would she try despite her injuries?

Astral stopped and looked back at him. To his surprise, her eyes widened and she reached out. Her lips formed words that he could not hear. She dashed toward him. His final step failed to connect with the program.

The bridge shrank into the sky as he plummeted toward the water below. He didn't bother to scream. He was better off dying of some trivial ordeal than at the hands of some demon on the killing fields.

Astral plunged after him.

Perfect, he wallowed, she was determined to have him face his nightmares. She collided into him and wrapped her arms around him. He rolled his eyes. So what if they both died. Her curse was just as painful as his future, he'd be doing them both a favour.

She was strong. He knew she was physically strong. The strength that imitated from her wasn't might. Was it hope? Will power? It didn't matter. He felt the warmth of the essence wash over him. It wasn't the first time, he recalled.

Memories of his childhood nightmares flooded his senses. The thunderous cracking of a dying world. The deep guttural roar of something far worse sang from the Earth's core. Tears fell from his eyes at the very real fear lodged itself in his mind. He remembered long nights desperate to spring into action, but being too small to do anything effective. His father sedated the erratic toddler. He got sick a few years later. He held onto Astral. Why did she have to make him remember such horrible things?

He squeezed her to him, desperate for her strength. 'Remember why we're doing all of this,' her voice from a distant past rang in his ears. He was still caught between the memory and the present. His heart raced as the darkness rushed toward them, tearing the canyons into space dust. He struggled to breathe, just as they hit the icy torrents.

He gasped, relieved to be free from the hold of his nightmares. One breath of grace was granted to him before he realized he was downing. Astral squirmed out of his hold, slapping away his hands as she kicked at the torrents to force them to the surface, pulling him with her. She had bound him to her with a latch; she must have secured him to her during the fall. He kicked with her, propelling them toward air.

They broke to the surface, struggling against the water that would pull them under. She grabbed onto the metal braided rope. With the rush of ice water beating against them, Seth didn't much care where the rope came from. He followed her lead, pulling their weight toward the canyon edge. "Looks like we're still in the game," Seth panted, gesturing to their faces in the sky. "We’re boring the."

"Good," Astral nodded. "That means they may have missed our grand exit. I'll be able to delete the feed later."

"What? Why?!" He was positive that deleting any section of the feed was illegal. Why would she risk being found out?

"Start climbing princess," she ordered. "I'm tired of doing all of the heavy lifting."

"Did you just call me fat?" he sputtered.

"Pull your lazy ass up or I'm leaving you down here!" Astral growled. He doubted that statement. She had pulled them a few feet from the water, just enough to regret exposing themselves to the chill early winter winds rampaging through the canyon. He didn't look forward to the nasty cold that was in his future. He didn't look forward to Astral's wrath when she got sick even more. Did Hunters get sick? Of course they did; they weren't super human, just cursed.

He took hold of the rope as Astral anchored herself in place and unlatched herself from him. He didn't have the heart to tell her about the access hatch at the far end of the canyon. He began his ascent reasoning that the brutality of their little expedition was just a normal day in the life a Hunter, and he should expect more of the same when his time came to serve on the Killing Fields.