FREE HAND CLUTCHED as his side as Strange sagged against the opposite rock face. His chest heaved up and down, pain, more than just his hands, radiating across his body. He pushed himself too far this time. Used too many big spells in such a small portion of time. While he may be the sorcerer supreme, the man wasn’t invisible. Because he was still that; a man. Now he was having to rely on others to pave the way home.
“I thought you said you’ve done this before.” A light accusation. But he was used to things not going quite according to plan. Eyes tracked Ky attempting to open the gateway. Stephen could try a small spell, but with his lack in energy, it could do more harm than good. He could try his sling ring, but something told him that may be ill advised. Looked like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“How long do we have?” He questioned before walking over to the gateway. A shaking hand pressed against the boiling stone. It was hot as hellfire, but Stephen didn’t shy away. It almost felt as if the gate had too much power. Orbs narrowed. “It’s a surge. That may be why you can’t access it.” Blue orbs turned to look at the other. “We can try waiting it out or, chance it.” Either way, looked like they were going to be screwed.
LAST TIME HE DID this, he had hours left over to get through the gateway. This time, there was less than an hour – maybe a bit more or less. When that happened, it would close, and they’d lose their chance. It was what Ky had been trying to avoid to begin with.
“Less than a quarter of an hour,” he said, taking a step back from the rock face. “If we don’t go now, we won’t have another chance for quite a while.” Years actually, but there were other ways. Granted, they were far more dangerous than this gateway, but it still didn’t answer the question for why things were not going as planned.
Strange did say it was a surge; maybe he had under calculated this time. It wouldn’t be the first- nor the last time, but at such a critical moment? Maybe he should have put it off a few more years… that way he’d at least be ready for something like this.
“Chancing it could work,” he said, biting his lower lip for a moment or three. “Last time, things took a long while, but it worked. Just never was this hot.” Ky then rubbed at his temples. “Your choice.”
THERE WAS ONLY A LIMITED amount of time before the slim margin of opportunity fated. Ky knew better than most that this opening wouldn’t happen again for five years and the time window was closing much faster than anticipated.
“Just be glad I’ve chose to neglect being in my true form.” He could have very easily been in it, but doing so would have meant the risk of far more interruptions. Something he was trying to avoid in the first place. “Just give me a few more minutes – five at the most.” What he needed was truly a miracle, but he doubted one would actually happen in this case.
Still, he wasn’t one to give up as he placed his right hand on the cool ground; his left on the searing hot rock face he was standing before. It was now or never it seemed. “Or maybe it won’t even take that long. if I can open this gateway… we’ll be out of here before any sort of guardian wakes up.” Though, even Ky knew something was wrong – he couldn’t get through the barriers and he didn’t know why. He’d planned this for months; everything he threw at it should have worked and yet…maybe he wasn’t strong enough.
“Or do you have any clever ideas to speed this up, Strange.”
Hellfirebound 