The passage was narrow and confining, its rough walls pressing close on either side. Each step scraped my shoulders against the cold stone, my breath echoing too loudly in the cramped tunnel as if the mountain itself was mocking me. The air was damp and heavy, clinging to my skin like sweat I hadn't earned. It smelled of wet earth, of something old and unsettled.
At first, the only sound was the steady rhythm of my own footsteps, but soon another noise reached me, a faint rustling in the distance. It wasn't the drip of water like earlier or the creak of shifting rock. No, it was rhythmic, unsettling, like countless wings beating in uneven harmony. The further I pressed on, the louder it became.
The tunnel began to widen, a faint glow marking its end. Relief whispered to me at the sight of space beyond the chokehold of these walls, but dread followed close behind. In this cursed place, light was never a gift. It was always a warning.
I stepped out, and the sight hit me so hard I froze.
The chamber was massive, far larger than anything I'd expected. My voice caught in my throat as I exhaled, the sound instantly swallowed by the sheer scale of the space. The walls stretched upward until they vanished into shadow, the faint glow struggling to touch the far edges. The air pressed down on me.
Movement filled the space. Flickering shadows darted across the stone as the source of the noise became clear. I looked up.
Bats. Hundreds—maybe thousands. They churned in a frenzy near the unseen ceiling, their wings beating the air in a harsh rhythm that throbbed like a living pulse. The sound wasn't just noise; it was a heartbeat that seemed to belong to the chamber itself. Each beat sent shadows leaping across the walls, tricking my eyes into believing the stone was shifting, breathing. I found myself wondering if the bats I'd seen in the first chamber had flown out from here, this restless hive above my head.
My eyes drifted back to the wall, and this time I really saw it. The details I'd missed before stood out sharp in the glow of the insects. A sound slipped from me, half gasp, half groan, carried by the weight of what I was looking at.
It dominated the center of the chamber, rising higher than I could follow with my eyes. Its surface was jagged and uneven, ledges and handholds scattered like pieces of a cruel puzzle. There was no pattern, no fairness, no mercy in its design. It wasn't just tall, it was cruel...a monolith that seemed to mock me with its silent challenge.
My attention was drawn downward, to the base of the wall. My breath caught as I noticed the remains scattered across the ground. Bones lay strewn about in chaotic heaps, their stark white surfaces gleaming faintly in the dim light. The sight was grotesque, a chilling testament to the failures of those who had come before me. Jagged skulls and broken ribs stared back like warnings carved in bone.
I knelt cautiously, reaching for a small fragment though part of me expected it to vanish like the other tricks of this place. The surface was smooth and cold beneath my fingers, and my breath caught. For a moment I refused to believe it was real, certain it was just another illusion. I turned it in my hand to be sure, but the weight held true, sending a chill through me as the thought of who it once belonged to sank in. My stomach knotted as I set it back down, unwilling to hold it any longer.
I took another look around the chamber. The glowing insects clung to the walls in clusters, their faint light casting shifting halos that fought back the darkness. In their glow, the shape of the place came clearer. The chamber was round, perfectly circular, with eight separate entrances cut into the stone like watchful eyes.
The monolith stood at the center of it all, tall and unyielding, its surface swallowing the light instead of reflecting it. From each entrance, a narrow ledge stretched out toward it, connecting to a walkway no more than two feet wide that circled its base. Beyond that thin path lay nothing but emptiness...a pit so deep and absolute it seemed to hum with silence.
My stomach twisted as I stared into the void. Another pit. Another reminder that this place was made to confine, to test, maybe even to destroy. The question tightened in my chest until I could hardly breathe: where was I? What kind of place would be built like this?
I thought of Bardroc the Argonian, the character I had spent countless hours playing in my favorite game. Bardroc would not hesitate. He would climb without fear, his courage unwavering, his resolve absolute. Through him, I had faced countless impossible odds and always found a way to prevail.
"Bardroc wouldn't quit," I whispered, my voice shaky but stubborn. "And neither will I."
But this wasn't a game. There were no second chances. My heartbeat quickened as I stepped closer to the wall, my fingertips brushing the rough surface. The cold stone radiated a weight that seemed to press down on me.
The bats above faded into the background as I drew in a slow breath. Fear still clawed at me, but it was joined by something else...determination. I could not let myself fail. I could not let fear win.
I backed away from the wall and slid down against the chamber's edge, my chest heaving. The truth was I was tired, not just in my body but in my mind. I stared at the dark openings scattered around the chamber and wondered if Kofi and the others would step through one of them. What if they didn't know the other paths were here? What if they hadn't faced these trials at all? The thought twisted in me, leaving me unsure whether I wanted them to appear or not. Either way, I couldn't chase answers now. I decided to give it a moment, to let the stillness settle while I caught my breath.
So I waited.
The minutes dragged, though they felt like hours in that chamber. My eyes flicked from one archway to the next, straining for any sound, any movement. Nothing. Only the restless wings above me and the silent threat of the wall.
Frustration rose hot in my chest. "Kofi," I spat, the name bitter on my tongue. "All a dis cause a you. If mi survive an' find suppm at di end, why mi fi hand it ova? After mi nearly dead in ya? Yuh tek mi fi fool?"
I buried my face in my hands, trembling. The thought crept in, sharp and dangerous. Maybe I didn't even need to bring him anything. Treasure or not, if I came back with something to report, maybe Kofi would finally leave me alone. Maybe the bullying would stop if he believed I had gone through it and survived. And if I really did find something worth keeping? He didn't have to know.
But another thought came, darker and heavier. What if there was no treasure? What if all this suffering was for nothing?
I raised my head and studied the wall again. The pit, the puzzle with the vases, and now this climb, none of these trials seemed meant for ordinary people. No beast could cross that pit. No monster would bother with puzzles. This wasn't random. It felt deliberate.
"Magic," I whispered. "Some kind of spell." The words tightened my chest. "I'm not even sure I'm still in Jamaica anymore."
The thought scared me more than the wall itself. I had walked into the Blue Mountain with classmates, and now... now I could not tell what was real.
Whoever made this place had not built it for fun. There was purpose here. But what was it? To test me? To break me? Or to guard something hidden at the top?
The bats beat their wings louder, as if the chamber itself was listening.
I sighed and leaned my head back against the cold stone. "If nobody else comes through, then it's on me."
Silence answered. No voices from the tunnels. No footsteps. Only me.
After a while I pushed myself to my feet. My body ached, but sitting there would not change anything. My eyes locked onto the first ledge, just within reach. The bones at the base of the wall whispered their warning, but I could not wait any longer.
It was time to climb.
I stepped back, scanning the wall one last time. "Don't look down," I whispered to myself. "And don't stop."
The first ledge was just within reach. I crouched slightly, testing my footing against the slick stone beneath me. My fingers gripped the rough edge of the ledge, and I pulled myself upward. The rock bit into my palms, sharp and unyielding, but I welcomed the sensation. It reminded me that I was alive and that I could do this.
As I stood on the ledge, I glanced down at the chamber floor. The scattered remains seemed farther away now, but their presence lingered in my mind, a constant reminder of what failure looked like. I turned my gaze upward, toward the endless expanse of stone above me.
The climb was relentless. Every pull, every step, every moment stretched on like an eternity. The wall mocked me with its unfathomable rise, each handhold a test of my endurance, each ledge a reminder of how much farther I had to go. My arms burned, my legs trembled, and my fingers felt raw against the unyielding stone. The damp air seemed heavier the higher I climbed, sticking to my skin and filling my lungs with every labored breath.
I paused on a narrow ledge, pressing myself against the cold rock to catch my breath. My vision swam, and I fought to steady myself, my chest heaving as I drew in ragged gasps. When I glanced downward, my stomach lurched. The ground seemed impossibly far below, the scattered bones now no more than faint white smudges against the darkness. I tore my gaze away, forcing myself to look up at the next handhold.
I climbed steadily, each pull draining more strength from my arms and legs. Time blurred, the strain weighing heavier with every movement. I had been climbing for what felt like far too long, yet the wall above still rose without end, the top no nearer than when I first began. My breaths came sharp and uneven, and unease pressed into me, twisting the thought that the stone itself was stretching higher with every step. No matter how hard I climbed, I was nowhere close to the top.
The bats above had grown quieter, their wings a faint whisper in the cavern. My world narrowed to the rock before me, the sharp edges biting into my skin as I forced myself higher. My arms screamed for relief, my legs shaking with every movement. The wind howled through the chamber, pulling at me with icy fingers, threatening to tear me away from the wall.
Then it happened. My hand slipped.
I reached for the next ledge, but my trembling fingers couldn't hold on. Panic surged through me as I flailed, trying desperately to find a grip. My other hand shot out, scraping against the rough surface, but it was too late. I felt myself falling, my stomach flipping as the air rushed past me. The scream caught in my throat, my mind racing with one single thought: This is it.
But then, by some miracle, my fingers brushed against stone, and I caught a ledge. Pain shot through my arm as I clung to it with everything I had, my body jerking to a halt. My chest heaved, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I hung there, frozen. I didn't dare move. I didn't even dare breathe. My muscles quaked from the strain, but I held on, refusing to let go.
The seconds ticked by so slowly as I stayed there, my heart pounding in my chest. Slowly, I pulled myself back onto the ledge, pressing my forehead against the cold stone as I tried to steady my breathing. The wind howled around me, but all I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears.
As I clung to the wall, my chest heaving and arms trembling, a wave of anger surged through me, raw and unrelenting. "Damn you, Kofi," I muttered through gritted teeth, my voice barely audible over the howling wind and the rhythmic flutter of bats above. "If it wasn't for you..." My mind spiraled, replaying every decision that had led me here. If he hadn't sent me down that trail, if he hadn't pushed me toward that cursed Treasure, if he hadn't set me on this path... None of this would've happened. The trials, the cave, the impossible climb...I blamed him for all of it.
The bitterness burned hot in my chest, but beneath it lay something else...a twisted sense of resolve. My frustration fed into my will to keep going, to prove that I wouldn't be another nameless failure among the bones at the base of this wall. My teeth clenched as I pushed myself upward, the pain in my limbs now secondary to the fire in my gut. If I made it through this, I'd make sure Kofi understood exactly what he'd put me through.
And then I made the mistake of looking down.
The ground, which had once been littered with the lifeless remains of past climbers, now seemed alive with movement. Wisps of shadowy figures emerged from the darkness below, their forms ethereal and shifting. They were human-shaped, but their edges were undefined, as though they were made of smoke. Their heads tilted upward, hollow, glowing eyes fixed on me. A low murmur rose from the abyss, faint at first but growing louder, like the whispers of a crowd.
The whispers turned to distorted voices, overlapping and incoherent at first. Then they grew clearer.
"You'll join us soon."
"You're no different."
"You'll fall, just like we did."
My breath hitched for a moment, and I tore my gaze away, pressing myself flat against the rock. "The Blood of Jesuz!!! You're not taking me," I growled, the shadows below driving me onward. My fingers dug into the stone, and I cursed under my breath, shaking my head as if to banish the haunting sight. But the whispers didn't stop. They echoed in my ears, relentless and accusing, each word a blow to my already fragile resolve.
"As if the climb itself wasn't hard enough," I muttered bitterly, my voice trembling with both frustration and fear.
The shadowy figures didn't stay at the base of the wall. To my horror, they began to rise, moving in a way that defied all logic. They didn't climb-they floated, their smoky forms gliding upward along the rock face. They were slow but relentless, their hollow eyes locked onto me. My heart raced as I realized they were coming for me, and I had nowhere to go but up.
"No, no, no," I whispered, shaking my head as I forced my hands to move. My arms screamed in protest, but I ignored the pain, reaching for the next handhold. The stone scraped against my palms, the jagged edges biting into my skin, but I welcomed the sensation. It was real, solid, something I could focus on amid the madness.
The whispers grew louder, the voices overlapping in a chaotic chorus.
"You can't escape us."
"You're not strong enough."
"You'll fall. You'll fall."
I climbed faster, my movements frantic and desperate. My legs burned with each push, my fingers raw and trembling as I gripped the ledges. The wind howled around me, tugging at my body as if trying to drag me down to join the shadows below.
"You won't get me," I growled through gritted teeth. "I'm not like you." I shouted loudly this time.
The climb blurred into a frantic race, each handhold and ledge a lifeline. My breath came in ragged gasps, my muscles screaming for relief, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. The shadows below were relentless, their whispers now a cacophony of despair and malice. Every pull, every push felt heavier, as though the wall itself was working against me, testing my resolve.
Just when I thought the climb would never end, my hand found something solid-something different. My fingers brushed against it, and with a jolt, I realized it was the edge. The top.
I hauled myself over, collapsing onto the cool stone. The wind softened, its once-relentless force reduced to a gentle breeze that whispered over me. My body felt like it had been wrung out, every muscle trembling with exhaustion. The climb was over, but I couldn't move. I couldn't even lift my head.
As I lay there, gasping for breath, I forced my eyes open. My chest rose and fell in ragged rhythm, every muscle aching from the climb. The chamber above was smaller than I had imagined, the wall far less daunting than it had seemed from below. A chill ran through me. The distance I had fought against with bleeding hands and burning lungs now appeared short, almost ordinary, as if the mountain itself had been playing tricks on me. Some magic had warped the climb, stretching time and space to test more than my body. It had tested my will.
I pressed my palms to the stone, trying to steady the spinning in my head. That was when I caught it, a shadow flickering at the edge of my vision. My heart jolted, the exhaustion momentarily forgotten as I strained to focus. The shape shifted like smoke caught in a draft, faint and without form, as though it had no place in the world yet refused to let go. It lingered for a moment, then bled back into the darkness, dissolving as if it had never been there at all.
But before it faded completely, a voice brushed against me, low and hollow, carrying words that chilled me more than the climb had. "You have done it. Now go, and complete the task we were not able to."
My body quivered as the last of my strength bled away. The stone felt impossibly heavy beneath me, pressing against my back, holding me still. My vision blurred at the edges, the chamber dimming until even the glow of the insects seemed distant. A shiver ran through me, sharp and involuntary, before the darkness closed in and pulled me under.