It's been several agonizing minutes since I escaped the swarm of spiders. I still don't understand how a creature so much quicker than I failed to catch me. There's been no sign of Billy nor Tanner since I escaped the attack. I've been walking through the forest in search of something other than trees--so far, no luck. The damn canopy makes it hard to get my bearings.

  My pace slows. The trees on my right are growing right over some sort of ruin. The structure resembles the dungeon's usual architecture, with grey carved walls and tiles. Whatever once stood here is now nothing more than a few crumbling portions of what once made up the building's walls. The floor is partially destroyed by roots and mud, with only one area remaining relatively intact.

  Sitting in the most undamaged part of the ruin is a stone chest.

  Despite how often disaster seems to follow new discoveries in this hell, I find myself walking toward the stone box. The muddy tiles sink beneath my feet as I climb into the overgrown ruin. The chest is pretty small, at least compared to the trunk I have back home.

  Crouching down, I grab the lid. It's far heavier than I expected. Instead of lifting it I slide it partially open, thankful the thing didn't have a hinged top.

  Inside there's a glittering assortment of copper. Probably almost enough to be worth one whole silver, and three bottles filled with an unnatural looking red fluid. Doubt creeps in as I pick up one of the strange bottles. I don't trust these--they came from this place, so they're likely some kind of sinister poison.

  For now I tuck the bottles into my belt. They might come in handy.

  The ruins are largely empty aside from the treasure chest. I don't bother with all the money--it wouldn't be usable anyway, as no one wants coins not marked by the crown. My legs burn as I climb over the low dilapidated wall of the ruin. I'll have to keep moving if I hope to find the devil responsible for opening that vile door.

  The wind is knocked out of me as I'm impacted in the gut by something moving far too fast. There's a crunching sound, and I fear I've broken a bone somewhere. The pain in my belly fades as I sit up with my dagger drawn.

  "Billy? What the hell?"

  Billy is lying across my lap with glazed over eyes. He's breathing, but it is rapid and shallow. His body is covered in various wounds and cuts, marks from fangs where his veins are a strange grey hue. I also notice fresh cuts from where one of the bottles on my belt has been smashed by Billy's sudden impact.

  "Billy! Wake up, lad!"

  There's no visible reaction from the clearly poisoned boy. I watch bitterly as blood drips from his wounds. Then, miraculously, the sliced portions of his skin heal over. The red liquid from the smashed bottle is knitting together everything it touches. This is not poison--it's a remedy!

  My hands shake as I quickly pull out a second bottle from my belt. I uncork the thing before promptly feeding the fluid down Billy's throat. The unresponsive boy drinks it in his dazed state. His nastier wounds close up rapidly, and his broken nose snaps back into place. It takes a minute or so for him to finally come to. He coughs several times, his throat wet with the red medicine.

  "C-Captain Dirk? Am I dead?"

  "No, son, you're not going anywhere."

  Billy slowly sits up with my help. He looks down at himself with wide eyes. His clothes are a complete mess, and frankly I don't know how he managed to get away from those spiders. He looks astonished by how there aren't any visible wounds on his body.

  "Why am I not hurt?"

  Honestly I don't fully understand it either. It doesn't make sense for this hellish place to be giving out healing tonics. Now that I think about it, those coins in the chest I just found are familiar. They're the same ones we retrieved from the dungeon on our first arrival. Why is the dungeon letting us get treasure? Is it some kind of lure meant to draw us in?

  "Captain Dirk?"

  "Sorry, was thinking. I found these strange medicines in a chest, there were ruins, and it was among a pile of coins."

  "Woah... You should drink one, Captain. You look a bit beat up yourself."

  I shake my head. This bottled miracle would be wasted on me.

  "Take it, Billy. You need that more than I do if you want to get out of here."

  There's a long pause between the two of us. Billy looks like he wants to say something, but is refraining. I'd rather he speak his mind. I guess it's only natural to censor yourself in front of the bastard who beat you black and blue over an honest mistake--even if that mistake cost the life of your fellow soldier.

  "What do you mean? Aren't we going to leave once we kill the demon?"

  I shake my head, chuckling dryly.

  "No, Billy. I've realized something. There is no devil in this dungeon."

  "What? But this place is hell!"

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  "The world is hell in some places. I think the dungeon isn't engineered for any purpose, nor is it the machine of some demon from hell. This dungeon is like a storm--it has no wrath, no motive."

  Billy looks a bit conflicted now. He opens his mouth to say something, but the words never come out. The light around us changes at that moment. Red light bathes the whole of Green Valley a bloody hue. Billy and I look up in confusion to find the sun is being eclipsed. The sky is an unsettling crimson color.

  "What's happening?" Billy mumbles.

  We get the answer to his question in the form of countless violent screeches and odd guttural whooping calls. The trees around us start to shake, as if hundreds of swarming spiders are climbing them from above.

  "I'm not sure, but we need to move."

  "Right, of course-"

  Just as Billy turns to move away from the area I catch sight of a pair of red eyes glaring at us from the brush. Billy doesn't get to see it before the beast leaps toward his throat. I throw my arm out in a desperate attempt to block whatever attack is coming Billy's way.

  Latched onto my arm is a rabbit. Its teeth gnaw at my arm as foam drips from its maw. The little thing looks crazed, its eyes reflecting the glow of the red eclipse above.

  "My god, what is that?!"

  "Run, Billy! We can't stay here!"

  Billy finally bolts as I throw the bloodthirsty rabbit to the dirt. I deliver a quick kick to the creature before it can adjust to being back on solid ground. It goes flying, its body hitting a tree with a dull thud.

  The trees above me shake. Leaves fall like rain as countless hairy legs start to descend the trunks of the nearby gnarled oaks. Billy is sprinting away from me as I raise my sword. Five, ten, twenty? More than twenty spiders are descending from the canopy. Their many eyes each glint like rubies in the muted light.

  I run after Billy upon realizing there are too many for me to take on alone. Billy is a bit further ahead, and I've already lost sight of him, but I need to keep moving. I can't stop when there's an army of bloodthirsty monsters behind me.

  "Damn it, Dirk, you're a fool!"

  Scolding myself, I nearly trip on a root. What did I come down into this dungeon for? To prove I could kill a fucking glorified hole in the ground? Preposterous! I should have just done my job and guarded the folks in Daywark.

  My thoughts are torn asunder when I feel pain bloom in my shoulder. Weight on my back, and the scratchy texture of coarse hair. One of the swarmers has leapt onto my back. Its huge fangs are sinking into my clothes and flesh. I can feel hot venom pumping into my bloodstream.

  "Get off me!"

  I shout as I swing my blade. The strike lands true, bisecting the spider's head in half. The thing falls off me with a wet thump. My vision is a bit blurry now. I stumble forward, moving as fast as I can in what I'm only half sure is a straight line.

  The trees are finally gone. I'm out of that awful forest!

  Cold flowing water splashes beneath my feet as I sprint right into the river. I sputter and flail, having to stumble back out of the flow. While I'm catching my breath I hear an ear piercing screech from above.

  The feathers of a great hawk brush against my face as it attacks. White hot agony flares across my right arm, blood pouring from an array of lateral cuts. My breath comes out in ragged gasps as I search the sky for my foe.

  High above I see it. Its eyes are the same damned red color as that eclipse.

  My sword sways as I stand up. The bird cries out before diving for me a second time. Its talons are twitching like it's about to have a seizure, but it doesn't stray from its course. I attempt to let it stab itself on my blade--unfortunately my aim is unsteady. The bird is cut up, but not dead. It stumbles into the forest behind me.

  "God... Damn it..."

  I feel myself close to passing out from a mixture of exhaustion and injury. Whatever nasty venom that spider used probably isn't helping, and the lack of sleep has caught up to me.

  The splash of river water behind me is all the warning I get before the cool wet crushing embrace of a goliath toad's mouth engulfs me whole. The throat of the beast is dark and slimy. I don't really struggle at this point, knowing I'm at the end of my rope.

  I wish I could say I'm going to die an honorable death, but there's no honor in this. Honor is protecting your lord until the very end.

  The toad is swallowing me whole now. The burning sensation of acid and the lack of air is speeding my end. My final thoughts are not of myself, but of my liege.

  I'm sorry for failing to be your shield, Lord Fredrick.

  ~

  My feet crunch sticks and dirt as I sprint through the forest. I don't look back, even if I want to. Captain Dirk will be fine. He's always fine, he's practically invincible!

  The glass bottle in my hands is the only thing giving me hope. If it can bring me back from the hell those damn spiders put me through, then maybe it can save me from whatever tries to kill me next.

  My feet skid to a stop as I face a problem. I've reached the river separating the plateau from the forest. I have to cross the river, and then climb up there somehow. This... isn't doable. The rock face is concave, it curves inwards.

  "No! I have to try!"

  I grit my teeth and start trudging forward, my legs soaked by the flowing waters of the river. I ignore the image of Henry's corpse, and of that giant toad that came from this very same river. My eyes remain fixed on the cliff ahead.

  "Fuck! If anyone can hear me, please help!" I shout, a desperate bid for survival.

  My body starts to move a bit faster as I cross the other bank of the river. My body is sopping wet now, weighed and heavy. I trudge to a flat looking section of the plateau's edge. I can do this. I have to do this, or I will die.

  Fear threatens to bring me back to the earth as I start climbing. I've never climbed anything more than a tree in the forest, and that was when I was a child. This is no tree--this is a sheer cliff face, and my clothes are soaking wet!

  I almost slip--my slick hands losing purchase--but I recover.

  "G-God, if you can hear me, please give me strength!"

  My breath is better used for climbing than it is speaking. No more words pass between my lips as I scale the plateau. The screeching of hawks and other unidentifiable animal calls strike fear in my heart. One strike from a great hawk will surely send me plummeting to my doom.

  Can this potion cure a fall from this high?

  The burning in my muscles is enough to keep me from imagining a scenario where I fall, but don't die. One where I get picked apart by those god awful spiders. Another where a toad gulps me down. The most awful being where hawks pick at my eyes while I fail to defend myself from their leisurely pecks.

  Only a few more meters to go-

  My hand slips. There's nothing to support my feet. Gravity is gripping my body like the hand of death, and I feel my heart drop.

  I'm falling.