Thundar Stormstrider's Arc

Chapter 7 of 10

Morning came, and Thundar stepped from the hut into the thin air. His chest tightened at once. Above him, a strange shape lay across the slope — a huge tank of polished metal, its gauge ticking, the size of a fallen tower. He understood it without words. Past that mark, the air itself would kill him. He climbed toward it anyway. The pull in his chest gave him no choice. Halfway up, he saw a great mountain lion sprawled on a ledge, its golden sides heaving. Even that wild power could not breathe here. It watched him pass with dim eyes, then slunk back down the rocks. Thundar fell to his knees beside the metal tank. His vision narrowed. Then he saw it — a small stone building tucked into the cliff above, a wooden sign reading MEDIC swinging by its door. He dragged himself the last stretch and pounded the wood. Hands pulled him inside. A mask was fitted over his face, and cold, clean air flooded his lungs. When he could stand, they strapped a smaller tank to his back and showed him the valve. He could climb higher now. But the gauge was already moving, and every breath he took was counted.