Alex tensed.
Something made an aggressive move toward Glint if he attacked first.
Glass scraped as the protrusions jutting from Glint's skin dug into the floor and he flashed past the doorway once more. Alex gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to charge into the darkness. He needed to bide his time for the right moment.
A metal blade carved down toward Glint and the small monster leapt out of the way before lunging forward once more. There was a wet squelch and a hiss of pain. Blood splattered across the ground.
An instant later, Glint slammed into the ground. Blood covered the end of one of the blades along his arm. He'd landed a hit. Glint rolled over and shot to his feet square in the center of the doorway.
Before he could move again, the blade flashed once more. It drove straight into Glint's chest as a humanoid form stepped out of the darkness to finish him off. And, in doing so, they moved into Alex's line of sight. He could just barely make their form out in the darkness, but it was enough.
Now!
Alex hurled his rock. He'd never been a particularly athletic student, but it flew true and sailed through the air, striking the figure in the side of the head even as they ripped their sword out of Glint's limp body, which turned into a streak of blue light and flooded into Alex.
A blade of mirrored glass erupted from his palm and he took a step forward, preparing to drive it into the heavily obscured figure's neck as they staggered, a hand flying up to their head.
"Ow!" the figure cursed.
Alex skidded to a stop a moment before lunging for their neck. "What the hell?"
The figure spun toward him. "You speak?"
They stared at each other in mute shock for nearly a second. Alex took a step back, keeping the blade protruding from his hand at the ready. "What's Common? And who are you? One sudden move and I'm running you through."
Despite his words, he'd lost the element of surprise. Out of all the things he'd been expecting to fight, another person wasn't one of them.
Oh, shit. Could it be some sort of monster with a trick to sound human? Damn it. I didn't even think of that.
The shaded figure raised their sword slowly, then slid it into a sheathe and lifted their hands, palms forward. "I didn't think there was anyone else in this cursed shithole. I thought you were a monster."
Now that Alex was paying attention to it, the person's voice was a little high pitched. It sounded like a woman — but that didn't mean it was one.
Alex's eyes narrowed. "I thought you were a monster. Step out into the light."
"Are you kidding me? With all the damn spookies out there?" the figure shook their head vehemently. "You come in here. It's safe. Or, about as safe as the Mirorlands are ever going to get."
"Into the darkness?" Alex snorted. "That's not happening. You can clearly see in it."
"Oh, bleed it," the figure muttered. "Look, give me a second. I've got a match here somewhere. I hate the idea of wasting it, but I can't pass up on the chance to talk to another person. Just don't run me through when I reach for my pocket or I'm going to be right pissed."
Alex blinked, then nodded. "Go ahead."
The figure slowly lifted a hand to their side. There was a moment of silence, followed by a faint scratching noise. Light bloomed from a matchstick, pushing back the cloak of darkness to reveal a young woman.
Alex tensed. A woman she may have been, but a human she was not. Two small fangs jutted down from the corners of her pitch-black mouth and her skin was a shade of gray that should have been reserved for brick, not living flesh. The woman's hair, as black as her lips, had been tied into a ponytail and revealed two ears as pointed as daggers, one of which had a tiny silver stud earing within its lobe. Blood streamed down her upper arm from the cut that Glint had left on her.
No glowing letters appeared to identify the woman. Alex wasn't sure if that was exactly a good thing, but it seemed like it might have been a point in her favor. Thus far, the only things he'd seen information on had been monsters.
"See?" she asked. "Not a monster."
I'm not so sure I'd go that far.
"What are you?" Alex asked warily. He shifted from foot to foot, still ready to lunge at a moment's notice. He'd be damned if a pretty face was the reason he died this early into the most interesting event in his life.
"I'd like to ask you the same damn question, but please close that bleeding door before something sees this light and rips us both apart from the asshole out."
Alex bit back a laugh. He caught the door with his foot and slowly shut it behind him, not taking his eyes off the woman. She did have a point — the biggest threat was attracting the attention of a monster too big to fight.
But, just in case, he didn't close the door all the way and kept his foot in the doorway. It would only take him an instant to fling it open and throw himself into the street if she made any moves toward him.
"Door's closed as much as I'm going to close it," Alex said. "You first. What are you? Are you a native to the Mirrorlands?"
"A native?" the woman let out a muted snort. "I'd thank you not to associate me with the hideous… things down here. I'm from Ayrin."
Alex stared at her blankly.
"Ayrin. You know?"
"No."
"The planet Ayrin?" she tried. "We got pulled into the System a week ago."
Alex shook his head. "That means nothing to me. How'd you end up here?"
"I was midway through a dungeon when I fell into a trapdoor and onto a giant bleeding obelisk. The next thing I knew, I was in this shithole. If you're not from Ayrin… please tell me you know something about how to get out of here."
Oh, shit. She might be telling the truth.
///Author's Note///
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