Revenge

I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. I used my sword to balance myself. Aine was also breathing heavily, she sheathed her rapier. She walked over to me and held out her hand, I took it and she helped me to stand. A slow clapping sounded from behind us. I spun; sword drawn. Vane casually lounged against a tree. His eyes shone with pride.

"You two make a great team." He noted. Aine and I exchanged a glance and smiled. We really did work well together.

"That guy came out of nowhere, he must have been a random spawn, because normally enemies that high of a level stay out of this area." I mused. I placed my sword back in its I noticed Aine had leveled up again. She smiled and clapped her hands together. If Vane was thinking about our fight last night, he didn't show it. He lounged nonchalantly and his silver hair blew in the breeze. His long duster fluttered in the wind; his hands rested on the pommel of his swords.

I examined Aine's proud face in the afternoon light. She glowed with energy. I sighed, I needed to let go of this overprotective instinct I have for her. There was a reason she was chosen for this game, just like I was. I needed to trust in her abilities more. She's not Emily.

"I think you two are ready for the boss." Vane announced. My eyes widened, if he thought we were ready, we could finally move forward. I looked at Aine and opened my menu, opening the window where I could view her stats. She was level 14 now, and her strength and speed parameters had increased, as well as her magic abilities.

"I think we're ready too." Aine said softly.

"Well, how about tonight we celebrate and pack up, and tomorrow we can think about facing the boss." I suggested. The sun was already setting, it was late in the day to attempt a boss dungeon. I think we may have had enough excitement with the golem. Vane and Aine nodded their agreement.

We turned to head back towards town, enjoying the brisk walk through the fields. Aine mostly stared at Vane warily, she never brought up her concerns from the other night again, but I could tell she was hesitant around him. Vane was silent during the walk. Aine and I chattered away about things we missed in the real world.

"Oh, I miss school! I never thought I'd say that." Aine scrunched up her nose. I laughed. I can imagine missing the mundane and everyday things of the real world.

"I miss the bus." I played. She scrunched her face up in disgust.

We continued on our way past the arched gates that led into Vale. I led us straight to the Ram's Horn, the local tavern, and we pulled up a table. As the hostess came by, I ordered us a few pitchers of ale. She returned with glasses and the pitcher, as well as an iced tea for Aine. Aine looked up at me and raised a brow.

"I've died, fought monsters, survived in the wilderness, and entered a virtual reality. I think I've earned a drink." She argued. My lips quirked up in a smirk. I placed a glass in front of her and poured her a glass of beer. Her lips opened in shock. Vane looked on questioningly. Aine raised the glass to her lips and took a long sip. She started coughing and grimaced. I laughed. Vane smiled. I handed him a glass, and he raised it to mine in a cheer. He lifted his glass to his lips, and I admired the line of his profile as he took a deep sip.

"To life!" I said, raising my glass. Aine and Vane raised theirs in turn and we all drank. The cool liquid went straight to my head, I could feel the euphoric buzz, I felt light and free. I leaned my head on Vane's shoulder, I felt him stiffen. I looked up to see a slight blush on his cheeks, but he didn't shrug me off. I enjoyed the warmth that radiated from his strong body. Aine looked at us, her cheeks flushed, and she winked.

The doors to the tavern thrust open, and a group of five men walked inside. The patrons of the bar were silent at their arrival. They stalked through the room, stopping in the center to look around. I recognized the hooked nose and beady black eyes of the leader. I thought back to his grimace of fear as he felt the burn of my sword. His eyes met mine from across the room. His lips turned up in a smirk. He sauntered with his posse to our side of the tavern.

"Well, well. Look who we have here. It's that bitch, and the little street rat." He spat, he stood at the head of our table. His hand rested on the sword at his side. Aine's face scrunched in disgust.

"Look who it is, the world's largest asshole." She mocked. I snorted; the man's jaw ticked. He slowly walked around the table until he was standing behind Aine. He reached out and gripped her crimson locks, pulling her head back.

"I never got to finish having fun with you…" He leaned in to smell her hair. In a second, I was up, I leapt over the table and placed my hand on his wrist. Warning him to let go.

"Let go or lose your hand." I grit through clenched teeth. I pinched at the pressure point on his wrist and he released her hair, pulling his hand back to shake it. He gave me a sinister sneer and placed his hands on his hips.

"You don't frighten me. If you don't watch your pretty mouth, you're going to get hurt." His comrades laughed. Vane stood behind me, hands on his swords.

"Gentlemen, we'd better take this outside." He said harshly. The Tavern owner and all of the patrons had stopped to stare at us, and the fight that was about to break out. We both nodded and the crowd of us filtered out into the street, I threw some coins on the table to cover our tab.

Outside in the village square, Vane and Aine were standing off across from the five other men. Aine had her hand on her rapier, I stepped in and stood between the two groups. The leader unsheathed his sword. The men behind him followed suit.

"I think I owe you from our little spat earlier." The leader mused. He nodded to his men and they let out a cry, running around me toward Aine and Vane. I gasped and turned, to see a glorious sight.

Vane stood in front of Aine, his face set in a determined line. As the men charged at him, he dodged with a preternatural speed, appearing behind one the group. I barely saw him unsheathe his sword, and a large slash appeared across the chest of one of the lackeys. He screamed and fell to the ground. Vane moved as if flowing water, as if a dance across the square he spun, both swords drawn and slashed across, catching two lackeys at once across the back. Spinning in a circle he drew his sword in an arc catching the fourth lackey. All four fell to the ground and exploded into polygons, back to their respawn point. The final lackey stared at Vane in fear and awe, crawling away from him on the ground. Vane let him run.

I spun back around to block a slash from above. The leader had charged at me. I grunted and pushed back forcing him away from me. I held my sword aloft and we began to circle each other. I lunged forward, stabbing with my sword I slashed across his stomach. He cringed and held onto his blade, spinning he leapt at me from the air, I raised my sword up to block his strike. He swung his hand out and bashed me from the side with his shield. I stumbled back, holding my arm.

I swung forward charging up my sword skill, the blade glowed black. I launched and slashed in a downward arc, I caught his shoulder blade and continued downward. Slashing into his arm. He cried out and fell to his knees, his hp only had a few points left. I stepped up to him and raised my sword.

"No! Please! Don't kill me!" He whimpered; his body trembled. I stilled my sword and raised a brow.

"You won't respawn." I said with understanding. He was one of us. He nodded, his body trembling from head to toe. Snot ran down his face, tears were in his eyes. I lowered my sword. Taking one final look down at him I pulled my boot back and aimed a kick right at his stomach.

"Get out of my sight." I spit on him. He nodded and scrambled away, hands covering his wounds. A hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up to see Vane staring down at me. His eyes were half lidded, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Let's go home." He said to Aine and I. I nodded, we trudged down the street toward his house.