Stay Alive

Aine went to sleep almost immediately after coming home. I sat with Vane in the living room, staring at the roaring fireplace. This could be our last night in this house. I rested my hands in my lap. Vane was staring out the window, the moonlight shone across his face.

"Are you ready?" He asked softly. Turning to look at me. His eyes were serious. I ran my fingers through my raven hair and sighed.

"I'm ready to move forward." I said. I know the beast tomorrow is going to be beyond anything we have encountered yet. It was going to take all of our skill and strength to defeat it alone without Vane. Vane reached out and placed a hand on my arm.

"Please promise me you'll be careful." He said. I raised a brow and smiled at him.

"Aren't I always?" I said. He rolled his eyes, his hand remained on my arm, I felt the heat of his hand through my tunic.

"I'm serious, Fayre. Stay alive." His gaze pierced mine, those deep gray eyes swirled with unspoken emotion. I stared up at him and nodded.

"I'll stay alive." He nodded and released my shoulder. His face was set in a grim line, he was not looking forward to tomorrow. I stood from the couch and wandered into the kitchen; I grabbed a bottle of wine off of the shelf that we had bought at the store earlier. Grabbing two glasses and a corkscrew, I returned to the living room. I popped the bottle and poured us two generous glasses. I lifted his by the stem and handed it to him. He nodded in thanks and accepted it.

I flopped down on the couch next to him and held up my glass.

"We never really got our celebration earlier." I explained. Vane raised his glass to mine.

"To life!"

"To Life" I repeated, we both took a generous drink. I felt the liquid go to my head; a light buzz filled my senses. I felt light, happy. My face flushed.

"Tell me something real." I said, staring into his eyes, he looked away and seemed to be thinking deeply.

"I've never really had a friend before." He said slowly. My eyes widened. What a lonely existence. I understood though, in my life I wasn't known to open up to people. I smiled at him.

"You do now. You have us." I beamed. He blushed and nodded, looking down at his lap. He leaned in closer to me, and I realized I was leaning in as well. He smelled like cinnamon and cloves; our faces were inches apart. His lips parted; my eyes were lidded as I stared up at him.

"Fayre, I…" He trailed off, his lips a whisper away from mine. I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. I leaned towards it. He stared down at my lips. I bit my lower lip, he groaned. Then he cleared his throat and straightened, moving away from me. My face heated and I scrambled back. He opened his menu and checked the clock.

"I'd better get going. Tomorrow is a big day." He said, his cheeks still red. I nodded.

"It is indeed. Have a good night." I bid him, and he logged out quickly. As soon as he was gone, I collapsed back against the couch, placing my palm over my racing heart.

The morning came swiftly. I rose with the sun, putting out breakfast for Aine and I. I started packing bags of provisions: healing crystals, weapons, armour, food, water, money. I didn't have many person effects to take along, most of my stuff was in my inventory that I carried all of the time.

Aine and I decided to wait for Vane before heading out to the location of the boss dungeon. Having him around for experience and advice could prove invaluable, who knows what lies in those dungeons' corridors. As far as we know this dungeon was an intricate network of caves, and Raezar was located in the very heart of them.

It was mid afternoon when I saw Vane appear in the living room of the house. He flashed in surrounded by a green light. I jumped startled when I saw him. He held his hands up in surrender.

"It's just me." He explained. I blushed remembering our near-kiss last evening. He didn't act awkward if he was thinking about it. He strolled through the living room and examined the pack I had laid out on the table. He examined the map and pointed to the entrance of the caves, up in the hills a few miles outside of the town.

"This is where we'll enter." I nodded and handed a provisions bag to both Vane and Amine. I strapped my sword on to my back and made sure all of my gear was in place. I watched Vane and Aine similarly sort out their gear.

We set off in the early afternoon. Making our way directly out of town, and through the woods, we strode toward the North section of the map, where the boss dungeon was said to lie. After walking for hours, we came across a large stone doorway carved into the side of the mountain. The door was massive, easily 13 feet tall. The doorway had intricate vine-like carvings running from the base to the pointed top. It looked like stone flowers were emerging from the wall. We gathered around the entrance.

"Are you guys ready?" I turned to ask Vane and Aine. They both nodded determinedly. I noticed no other players near the boss at this time. We were going it alone. I placed my palms on the doorway, and a warning message lit up before my vision.

'You are about to enter – Raezar's Lair. A level 15 dungeon. Gather your party and proceed?" I hit 'Yes'.

The seal on the door broke, steam emanated from the crack. Darkness greeted our vision, the tunnel was not lit. As I stuck my head in the doorway, I heard a scream from far in the distance. I shuddered at the cold wind that greeted me. I turned toward my team and nodded. We all stepped into the cavern. Walls of dirt and stone tunnelled around us, as we slowly shuffled our way forward. Finally, we reached an open room, filled with clusters of bats.

I charged in first, drawing the attention of the bats. As they charged toward me Aine swooped in from behind, slashing and striking. I slashed fiercely with my sword cutting through wings and tendons. I saw Vane dancing around in circles with three bats following him, he sliced through the air like it was butter. Only one of his blades was drawn and he was flicking his wrist easily.

With the bats dead we ran through the corridor on the opposite side, winding our way down various dirt tunnels. We seemed to be getting deeper into the Earth, the air grew colder. The moist moss grew on the walls of the cavern. The next room we emerged in was filled with lizard men with swords. Three of them. I signalled for Vane to tank and draw their aggro. He nodded and ran into the room, drawing his swords. The lizard man raised a large curved sword and swung it toward Vane, who easily dodged out of the way and met the beast with a slash of his one-handed sword. Cutting into the lizard man's waist. He screamed and lunged more aggressively.

I ran in around the other side and slashed the beast from behind, across his back. He fell forward and exploded on to the ground. I nodded to Vane and we spun, our backs to each other we circled, slashing at the two remaining beasts. One sword came down at me in a fast arc and I swung up to parry it, grunting at the strength used in his hit. I saw Aine run up from behind and stab her rapier into the beasts back, he lunged backward and I used the distraction to swing my sword hard, and I felt bone and muscle separate as I cut clean through his neck. He exploded. Vane drew his second sword and spun in a circle, he slashed down in an 'X' arc, bisecting the monster's chest. He fell to the ground, defeated.

A large chest materialized in the centre of the room. It glowed brightly in a circle of yellow light. I walked up to the chest and opened it. Inside lay a sturdy red metal mail armour piece. It was intricately crafted to look like flames. I ran my fingers over it in awe.

"It's yours." Aine's small voice came from behind me. I looked between her and Vane.

"You guys sure?" They both nodded. I smiled and picked it up. I opened my menu to replace my current plate armour with this red piece. It fit me like a glove and moulded to my curves, the red metal shimmered in the torchlight of the chamber.

I noticed on the other side of the chamber another large door similar to the entrance. It was large and stone and appeared to be carved into the wall. But this door was black. It looked as if made of charcoal, intricate patterns marred the front. A battle scene of a giant Lizard chimera, in full armour trampling armies. Fires engulfed the villages on the side.

"Raezar is beyond there." I said, I could feel it. The door's menacing face indicated as much. Vane nodded. His face was in a grim line.

"Are you sure about this? You know I can't go in there without setting the system off." He looked worried. He ran his fingers through his flowing silver hair. I placed my hand on his arm.

"I'll survive. I promised, remember?" He swallowed but nodded and stood to the side. I reached for Aine's hand and squeezed it, her gripped trembled. I nodded to her and offered a smile.

"Let's go" I whispered. And placed my palm on the door. It slowly lurched open, revealing a monumental dark chamber within.