KIERAN
We found the Ash Cavern entrance two hours after leaving camp. A massive opening in the side of a volcanic cliff, heat pouring out like dragon's breath. The stone around the entrance was carved with warnings in a language I could not read but Thalia could.
"Turn back. Death awaits the foolish." She traced the symbols with her finger. "Standard dungeon warning. It means there is valuable loot inside."
"You want to go in?" I was surprised. "You could ditch me right now. Your life debt is basically paid."
"The debt is paid when I say it is paid." She checked her sword and adjusted her armor. "Besides, I need experience and equipment as much as you do. We are both outcasts now. Might as well be useful outcasts."
I followed her into the darkness and immediately regretted it. The heat was so much and the air tasted like sulfur and ash. My health started ticking down slowly. Environmental damage. Great.
The first room opened into a massive chamber with a ceiling lost in shadow. Dozens of red eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Hellspawns. The same wolf creatures I had fought when I first spawned. But instead of ones and twos, there were at least twenty of them.
"Stay close." Thalia drew her blade. "Do not let them surround us."
The pack attacked as one coordinated unit. I hit the first wave with Hellfire Barrage, fire splashing across three of them. Thalia's sword work was beautiful and brutal. She moved through the pack like a dancer, every strike lethal that it amost had me pausing to admire.
I found my rhythm quickly. Cast spells to damage groups while she handled anything that got close. When my cooldowns forced me to wait I used the environment, kicking Hellspawns into lava pools or leading them into Thalia's blade range.
"Behind you!" She called out.
I Shadow Struck away from a leaping Hellspawn and appeared behind it. The speed it had been coming with carried it past where I had been and straight into Thalia's counter slash. She nodded approval and we kept fighting.
The pack died in under three minutes. I gained 500 experience and hit Level 4. Thalia looted the bodies and tossed me a health potion.
"You fight smarter than you look." She said it like an insult but I caught the hint of respect underneath.
"You're pretty good with a sword for an NPC."
Her eyes flashed. "I am not an NPC. I am a person. Just because I was born in this world instead of your mysterious other world does not make me less real."
I held up my hands. "You're right. Sorry. That was stupid of me to say."
She grunted and moved toward the next room. I followed, filing away that piece of information. She believed she was real. Maybe she was. Maybe this whole game was more than just code and polygons.
The second room was a nightmare of platforming. It had lava pools with stone pillars rising from them, each one barely wide enough to stand on. We had to jump from pillar to pillar to reach the far side.
Halfway across, the Infernal Ravagers spawned. Flying enemies that looked like bats made of fire and shadow. They swooped and attacked while we tried to balance on narrow stone.
"This is insane!" I shouted, barely dodging a dive bomb attack.
"Focus!" Thalia leaped to the next pillar and slashed at a Ravager mid jump. "Watch the pattern. They attack in sets of three."
She was right. Three would dive, then circle back while three more dove. I timed my jumps between their attack cycles and used Hellfire Barrage when they grouped up.
One Ravager clipped Thalia and she stumbled. I thought she would fall but she caught herself on the edge of the pillar, hanging by her fingertips.
"Little help!"
I Shadow Struck to her pillar and grabbed her arm, hauling her up. We stood pressed together on the tiny platform while Ravagers circled overhead.
"Thanks." She was breathing hard. "I owe you another life debt now."
"Let's call it even and focus on not dying."
We made it across together, covering each other's jumps and timing our attacks. When we reached the far side I was Level 5 and Thalia was grinning despite herself.
"You have good instincts. For a demon."
"You're not so bad yourself. For someone who hates demons."
"I do not hate demons." She walked toward the next chamber. "I hate what demons represent. Corruption and chaos. The breakdown of order."
"What if I told you I'm trying not to be corrupted? That I'm fighting against it?"
She glanced back at me. "Then I would say you are fighting a losing battle. But an honorable one."
The third room made the first two look like tutorials. It was a massive arena with walls of black stone and a floor covered in glowing runes. In the center stood a creature that made my stomach drop.
Ash Golem. Level 12 Elite Boss.
It was fifteen feet tall and looked like it had been carved from volcanic rock and then brought to life. Lava dripped from cracks in its body. Its eyes burned with inner fire.
"We should leave." I backed toward the entrance. "That thing will kill us."
"Running accomplishes nothing." Thalia rolled her shoulders. "We fight or we die eventually anyway. Might as well die trying to get stronger."
The Golem noticed us and roared. The sound shook dust from the ceiling.
"Got any brilliant strategies?" Thalia asked.
"Don't get hit. Hit it a lot. Hope for the best."
"Terrible plan. I love it."
The fight was chaotic. The Golem moved slower than I expected but hit like a truck. Its first swing nearly took Thalia's head off. I hit it with fire spells while she dodged and slashed at its legs.
At half health the Golem changed. It slammed both fists into the ground and Hellspawns erupted from the floor, summoned additions that swarmed toward us. The Golem itself moved faster now, chasing me while I tried to kill it.
"I cannot handle all these spawns!" Thalia was surrounded.
"You have to! I'll keep the boss busy!"
She cursed in elvish but trusted me. I led the Golem on a chase around the arena while Thalia systematically killed every Hellspawn. My health dropped to 30% when a punch hit my shoulder and sent me flying into a wall.
The Golem entered its final phase at 25% health. It went berserk, abandoning defense for pure aggression. But that was what I had been waiting for.
"Now! All out attack!"
We hit it together from both sides. Thalia's blade found gaps in its armor while I dumped every spell I had into its exposed core. The Golem thrashed and roared but could not stop us.
It collapsed in an explosion of rock and lava. My health was at 8%. Thalia's was at 15%. We both collapsed against opposite walls, gasping.
A chest materialized where the Golem had been.
"You open it." I could barely move. "I'm too tired to care about loot right now."
Thalia laughed. Actually laughed. "We are either very brave or very stupid."
"Can't it be both?"
She opened the chest and her eyes widened. "Shadow Cloak. It's a rare quality armor. And 1000 gold… and this."
She held up a skill book. "Shadow Step. It teaches permanent teleport skill to demons."
I took it and the knowledge flooded into my brain. Shadow Step learned. I could now teleport short distances without the Strike requirement. My corruption ticked up to 12%.
We split the gold and I equipped the Shadow Cloak. Level 9 achieved. We were actually getting stronger.
Thalia helped me stand and we walked toward the exit. "You fight with honor… For a demon."
She almost smiled.
I almost smiled back.
We stepped out of the cave into red twilight. I reached Level 9 and felt the rush of power that came with it.
Then the sky went dark.
Not natural darkness but like something massive had blocked out the light. I looked up and my blood turned to ice.
The Enforcer descended from above, his six wings spread wide enough to cast shadows across the entire cliff face. Obsidian armor gleamed and his burning sword lit the darkness.
He landed fifty feet away and looked directly at us.
"Found you."
Thalia and I exchanged a look of pure terror.