As I approached the entrance to the first level I couldn't help but wonder how it could be possible for there to be a door placed here underground. It seemed to be made from a substance darker than black with runes etched deep within exuding a sharpness that seemed almost divine. The sound of footsteps behind me snapped me out of my reverie and I quickly placed my hand on the door. There was no handle so all I could do was try to push it open. It swung open easily but on the other side, nothing could be seen except deep darkness. My heart was pounding harder than ever but I took a step forward and the darkness immediately opened up to show a well-lit cave. It opened up wide with 4 huge holes towards the opposite end.
I turned back and saw that everyone had made it through but strangely the door had vanished.
"If the door is gone how will we get back ?" - Alice shouted
I couldn't help but think that there was nothing left to go back to and it seemed like Zeke had the same thought because he was frowning at me. I turned to speak to Alice,
"On the bright side if the door is gone that means that we don't have to worry about running from the mercenaries-", but before I could finish the sentence the door that was nowhere to be seen suddenly appeared and flew open. Three middle-aged men wearing the same dark leather and armor from before stepped out one by one. The tallest and first to appear was grinning ear to ear and shouted "I told you they would be here!"
The other two shook their heads and the shorter of the two said "yea but now we gotta get through the entire floor to get home dipshit." The tallest one heaved a deep sigh while shaking his head. "Just look at these two beauties though. We should have our fill since we have been so deeply inconvenienced by this filth no ?"
The girls' faces darkened and I could feel Erika's hand squeeze mine. I shouted for everyone to run and pulled on Erika's arm. We all ran into the middle left hole and as I looked back the men weren't chasing us. The walls of the inside of the hole were also engraved with more runes that looked similar to the runes on the door but more complicated. They seemed to hum and showed a tiny bit brighter than the runes from before. I have no idea why the men weren't chasing us but this was our best chance of escaping if they weren't going to try.
There seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel but to our dismay when we stepped out we were back where we started but this time staring back at the 3 men from before. They chuckled at us but still did not take a step forward. I turned to look at my friends but they were frozen in shock and just stood there staring. I pulled Erika's hand again and ran towards the far left hole. It seemed to be further away than I remembered but that didn't matter right now. Thankfully Zeke and Alice were right behind us.
When we got to the end of the tunnel the men were still standing there waiting for us. Alice dropped to her knees and started sobbing. The men were still laughing but this time they were walking toward us.
"These idiots don't know how the first level works here do they !"
I turned around and noticed that instead of the four large holes there were seven medium-sized holes instead. When I turned back to face the men the first one suddenly appeared in front of me, grabbing Zeke and me by the throat. Somehow he cleared 100ft of distance in the span of a breath. I could feel his fingers squeezing deep into my neck as I looked toward Zeke who was kicking and flailing at the man's arm. The other two had already pinned down Alice and Erika.
I could barely breathe and it felt like glass was shredding my throat. Why is this happening right now? Tears streamed down my face and I could feel my nails tearing into the man's flesh. Memories of my parents flashed through my mind, memories of all of us just being happy because we were alive and together. Everything was getting blurry as if a grated black and white filter was placed over my bloodshot eyes but I noticed Zeke had somehow pulled out what seemed to be a small dagger kept on the side of the arm of the man who was strangling us.
He dropped us. I coughed and coughed grasping at my chest as color seemed to hazily drift in. Zeke was on his knees but instead of coughing, he was staring at the blood on his hands. The man that was strangling us was on his knees screaming with the dagger sticking out of his left eye.
"FUCK!"
The two men that were holding down the girls got up but before they did I tackled the tallest in the chest pinning him to the ground and Zeke was already grabbing at the dagger in the man's face. I don't know how but Zeke was able to rip the knife out and stab it through the other eye. I felt warm blood drip down my forehead and it felt like my heart would explode out of my chest.
The men already had their swords out and ran toward us. Everything was happening too fast to process but they weren't aiming for me. As I was getting up I felt a kick to my chest that sent me rolling backward. For some reason, Zeke kicked me back but it was too late for him as a sword cut deep into his leg. He screamed so loud it was like nothing I'd ever heard in my life.
"Zeke!"
The girls had gotten up and jumped on the back of the man who had just cut into Zeke's leg. The cut was deep but didn't go all the way through causing the sword to get stuck and he had to let go of the hilt to shake the girls off.
"You filthy fucking brats!"
It was impossible to breathe but I got back up and ran towards the sword on the ground that the tallest had dropped when he let us go and stabbed it toward the man trying to shake off the girls. The other man was no longer focused on Zeke and was able to block the sword causing me to stumble back. Erika was already back on the ground with a huge bruise across her face but that didn't matter because Zeke was able to pull the dagger back out and stab it into the knee of the man that knocked me back.
I rushed forward piercing him through the neck as he buckled down to one knee after losing his balance. I fell over with him and looked up but was met with a boot to my face. Erika was over Alice squeezing her neck with blood gushing between her fingers in large globs. The man had stabbed her in the neck with his dagger. He grabbed Erika by the neck and began to slam her into the ground next to Alice. Alice wasn't moving when the man ripped the dagger out of her throat and lifted it into the air.
I wasn't thinking. There are three men but only two daggers had been used. I lunged towards the man on the floor I had stabbed through the neck and grabbed his arm dagger. By the time the dagger was in my hands it was too late. He was already ripping through the chest with the edge of the blade. I screamed and tackled him down with the dagger stabbing into his side. It felt like I weighed nothing as he easily flung me to the side with one arm and jumped on me. I felt the blade pierce my flesh as he leaned in close to me. There was a searing pain like a hot brand was sharpened and cutting through my shoulder but all I could do was look at Erika on the ground.
Erika wasn't moving and it seemed like she was staring at Alice. Alice was staring back but she wasn't moving either. I'm gonna kill him. I wasn't thinking but it echoed in my ears. I'M GONNA KILL HIM. My dagger stabbed into the side of his neck and I could feel him trying to pull his out of my shoulder. He was already on top of me so I flung my left arm around the back of his neck holding him close. It echoed in my head again and again.
"KILL HIM"
I stabbed him again and again until the words stopped ringing I'm my head. When the ringing ended I turned my head to look toward Zeke.
He wasn't moving either.