I turned, seeing the small, brown-haired girl from earlier—Skylar.
“Feel what?” I asked.
“The pressure,” she said. “Usually, at such high altitudes like this, the pressure is lower, but it’s like the opposite’s true here. It’s much higher. We’ve finally reached a point where the pressure is high enough that the temperature would need to be even lower for a river of this size to freeze. You probably didn’t notice it because it’s been increasing bit by bit ever since we woke up alone in the wilderness.”
I stared at the flowing water. She was right. Now that she’d said it, I noticed it. I’d attributed it to the extreme conditions before, but everything had gradually gotten heavier.
“But it’s not about altitude; it’s been increasing the closer we’ve come—" I paused and looked up at the glowing castle.
“To Nightfall,” Skylar finished.
What were they hiding? A chill crept up my spine.
“I’ll do it,” I said, stepping onto the first stone.
“Anna,” Cody said, grabbing my arm.
I turned to him sharply. “I have to know. I can’t turn back now. I understand if you do, but I’m going.”
He sighed, his hand slipping away.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “But let me go first. If we’re all going to die, I’d rather get it over with.”
I watched him for a moment but finally stepped aside.
“I can’t believe you guys are considering this,” Isabella said.
I couldn’t believe it either. My stomach was twisting violently. Then, Isabella’s voice made me remember something.
“Didn’t you say your dad worked here?” I asked. “Surely he wouldn’t let you come if he thought you were going to die?”
She put her finger to her lip and looked up in thought, and I marveled at how authentic she was being about it.
“I guess not, but what if he doesn’t know about this stuff?” she asked.
I squinted one eye. “What did Everson say? Everyone enters Nightfall this way—except for the R-Kai, or whoever he was talking about. Everyone else who enters Nightfall comes by the falls. Besides, why would they go through all this trouble for us to die at the bottom of a waterfall?”
Isabella nodded, a look of determination setting into her features. “Okay.”
One of the others, still hanging back, was listening to us, shaking her head. It was the girl with the long braid. “You guys are crazy. But I’m coming.”
“Riya, no way,” a tall, lanky guy behind her said. “Come with us. We’re going to scale down the cliffside and get out of here. This is insane.”
Riya faced them. “You could die going down that cliffside, too. You heard them—there’s something special about this place. We made it this far! We can do it. Come with me.”
He laughed sardonically and turned away. Several of the others followed him, but four stepped forward.
“I thought you’d chicken out, Eli,” Riya taunted, addressing the guy who’d stepped forward with the other three.
“Hell naw,” Eli said. “I’m Captain America! I can do anything!”
Riya rolled her eyes. “Reece, are you sure you want to do this?”
A shorter girl with dark hair pulled into a ponytail raised her eyebrow and indignantly rested one hand on a hip.
“I didn’t come all this way for nothing,” she said.
“She’s right,” a stocky guy with a determined expression said. He slammed his fist into his hand. “We can do it.”
