Will and Romilly look slightly more cheered, but the expressions on your classmates' faces are rather less enthusiastic. Like you, they know the gulf in ability between yourself and Lady Rastan: you stop somewhat short of pushing the envelope when it comes to altering reality itself through arcane means, while Lady Rastan is capable of bodying the entire post office.
Still…it's a card you can play.
There are a few more moments of silence as you all collect yourselves. Everyone there can sense that the time to move on is approaching, and this time, it'll mean stepping into the pure darkness of the cave mouth.
Your muscles aching, you stand, moving slowly towards the opening. The others rise with you, with a chorus of minor grumbles. Hell itself is an abstract concept, though it's growing less so all the time. Having to stand up when you're completely exhausted and have just got comfortable is another matter entirely.
Still, after a not inconsiderable period of time, you're all upright, facing the cave.
"Anyone feel like going first?" Sonia asks. If you weren't paying attention, you'd hear nothing but her typical sardonic tone, but there's a discord beneath it: an undercurrent of dread.
Before you can try to work up your courage, Michelle walks forward. The rest of you wait in silence, watching as the zombie reaches the mouth of the cave…
…and stops.
"There's something here," Michelle says, not turning around. "Something blocking the way. I can't…" Her voice is lost in a grunt of effort as she seemingly tries to force whatever's in her way aside.
Finally, she backs away, shaking her head. "I can't shift it," she tells you. "Whatever we use, I don't think we're going to be able to get through it." Michelle glances back at the cave mouth, frowning. "It's not magic; it feels like a real thing."
Trying to fight down rising despair, desperate to find anything that proves it's not all been for nothing, you step forward, raising a hand to touch the barrier.
There's nothing. Your fingers, ready to draw back at the first hint of danger, pass right through the barrier that Michelle had struggled with.
Nothing moves for several seconds, but you can feel understanding spread through the group at what they've seen.
Still, they do their best to pretend that there's some hope: each one of them stands in front of the mystical barrier and tries to move their hand through it, and each of them meets with the same failure.
Only Renault is able to pass a part of his body through the barricade without difficulty. How much of what remains of him can truly be called his body is an interesting philosophical question, though admittedly not interesting enough to devote much attention to now. His only reaction, short of a resigned shrug, is to float towards you, his intention clear.
After that, the only thing that remains is finding a way to say it nicely.
"I guess it makes sense," Max comments eventually. "Kan had the visions in his head, so there's probably some form of connection there, and Renault's whole shtick is going through walls."
"Looks like the two of you are on your own," Sonia says, flashing you a humorless smile. She glances over the others, then nods. "We'll stay out here, keep the way clear for when you come out."
You swallow. You're still trying to cope with the notion of stepping into the cave without them, but this statement catches your attention.