The lower half of my body was what kept me from falling into the void.
With my two outstretched arms I held the front legs of Panther, who looked like he was crying.
—I'm sorry, but hang in there, champ, this is almost over.
My necklace was held in place by my ears. When I saw the two rings staying with me I breathed easy.
—Mari, help me!
Hands grabbed my ankles and began to pull me up, but without much success.
—You're too heavy! I can't pull on both of you!
Shit.
I felt how Mari was pulling, but it's true that between Panther and me, maybe we were too much.
Without thinking too much I pulled Panther upwards, or rather I pulled him upwards.
With Panther flying up the aisle I remembered Newton's third law, the law of action - reaction. At the same time that a force is made upwards, another force is made downwards and I began to fall towards the void.
Mari broke my fall, but there were only my feet left to catch and I seemed to be slipping.
At the same time my necklace started to slip and I caught it in my hand before I lost it for good.
I noticed how Panther must have recovered from the scare and was grabbing my ankle tightly. Good thing I know he means well, but his jaw on my ankle hurt more than I expected.
In the end between the two of them they were able to pull me up, but I couldn't continue in the state I was in.
A lot of blood had rushed to my head and right now I was in a lot of pain. The ankle that Panther bit me on hurt a lot and I couldn't support it. On top of the tiredness from running here plus the tiredness from the stress of what I had just been through.
Right now I'm in a miserable state.
But...
—Thanks Mari. And Panther.
I stroked Panther's head who looked like he was crying next to me.
—I can't watch the person who has been carrying me fall into the void without doing anything.
I smiled at her, I didn't even have the strength to speak.
But before we could say anything we saw a poisonous fog approaching in the background.
Making an effort, I stood up.
—We should move, if we stay here the poisonous cloud will reach us.
—But you can't walk.
—Don't worry, it's better to be a little hurt than dead.
The girl got up and put my right arm over her shoulders.
—At least let me help you.
I smiled.
—Thank you.
So we left the hallway where there was a message.
__________
You have completed the middle path.
There is only one more area left.
Good luck :)
__________
Was this the middle one, what will the long one be like?
I looked back.
I hope the other 3 were a little luckier and chose the short one.
—Let's get going, we can't waste time.
I nodded to Mari.
My ankle was hurting a lot. Now that I was relaxing the pain in my ankle was intensifying.
Panther has plenty of strength, well, at least it was to save me.
I looked at the little guy walking with his head bent down next to me.
When we finish this I will give him some gift for saving my life.
It took a little longer to get to the next area, and to my surprise, the other 3 were sitting there waiting for us.
A bit weird, what's going on?
Before I could ask anything the blond boy stood up.
—What happened?
—A little incident, but it's all right now.
—P --
—So it's all clear now, isn't it?
The middle-aged man cut the blond off and said that.
Mari and I were at a loss for words.
—What's clear?
—Who are we going to do this test.
I looked doubtfully at the older man.
—Before saying anything else I think you should read this.
The blond boy pointed to the wall where there were also some written rules.
__________
This is the last part of the race.
In front of you there is a gate that you can cross one at a time, or 4 of you together and one alone.
Good luck :)
__________
At that point I understood what the middle aged man meant, I was out.
I ducked my head as Mari said things on my behalf, but I grabbed her shoulder and shook my head.
—You go. I can handle it myself.
—But -
I shook my head.
—Go. It's better this way.
At that moment Mari gave me a kiss on the cheek.
—I'll go. But you have to survive.
Her reaction caught me off guard. I didn't know how I should respond or what to do.
I watched as the four of them headed down the testing hallway. As they crossed a metal gate appeared.
Mari turned to look at me. She was shedding a tear. But she didn't have time to stop.
The 4 of them ran out and I sat on the floor to wait.
—Let's hope it won't be long at least, right Panther?
Sitting there was pretty sad.
I was hurt, I had a supposed poison cloud coming at me from behind and I had to wait because I had a gate in front of me.
I looked at the rings in my hand and gripped them tightly.
Panther moved his snout closer to sniff the necklace.
—It's a pretty important necklace to me.
I put the collar on and petted Panther.
—Things from the past.
I leaned my back against the wall and breathed. The ankle wound hurt, but I was getting used to it.
Right now I'm more worried about what's behind the gate and hope Mari is okay.
—But why would that girl kiss me? I haven't done anything great for her and besides she's the one who saved my life, do you understand Panther?
Panther started barking around.
—I know I'm handsome, but it was too fast, wasn't it, love at first sight? Aaaah, so young and I'm already a heartbreaker.
I was saying that while playing with Panther. In the middle of that trial I was laughing and enjoying the moment.
A moment later the gate opened.
The fog was less than 500 meters away.
I was already standing nervously and when the gate opened I stepped inside as fast as I could.
A few moments later I came upon a terrible scene, the 4 that had passed earlier were lying on the ground and a lot of blood all around.
I approached Mari and turned her around.
—Mari! Mari! What happened?
Mari opened her eyes and I noticed how a knife was sticking in my stomach.
—Mari?
—I'm sorry, but we need you not to resist.