"What color was the obelisk?"
"Black. Why?" A flicker of excitement passed through her features. "Do you know a way out of here?"
Alex blew out a breath. "We might be in a bit of a pickle. I fell into one of those just an hour ago. I'm from Earth. I don't suppose I'd be wrong in guessing that means nothing to you?"
"Nothing," she confirmed, her excitement snuffed like a candle. She blew out a defeated breath. "Is Earth another planet? How long has it been part of the System?"
"Er… about an hour, I think."
The woman stared at him, matchlight dancing as it illuminated her features. Then she groaned and lowered herself into a seated position. "Bleed it all. You fell in right as the System arrived?"
No. I got pushed in.
"Yep."
"And here I thought I was unlucky. Guess I've met my match." The woman blew out a huff. "What to do. My name's Claire."
"I'm Alex. Why is it that you don't have any golden letters illuminating you? Is there a way to hide them?"
"Oh, that's because of this." Claire held her wrist up, revealing a metal bracelet. "It conceals my information. They're pretty common. This one is shit, so it doesn't work against anyone of a higher Stage. Not like it matters anymore."
Claire pulled the band off her wrist. The air above her head rippled and golden words scrawled themselves into existence.
Claire - Dhampir Warrior (Novice 3)
An actual name rather than just a generic monster title. She's also stronger than me. How big is the difference between Novice 1 and Novice 3? Either way… it seems like she might be trustworthy. Not enough to let my guard down, but I'm a summoner. If she actually is friendly, an ally would go a long way in keeping me alive.
Claire put the band back onto her wrist and the writing above her head vanished. She kept the flickering match held in the air with one hand as she dug through her pocket with the other, her features pressed thin in pain.
"Mind taking this?" Claire asked, holding the match to him. "I need to find my bandages."
He wasn't going to say no to that. It was clear he needed the light more than she did. Alex crept closer, watching her movements with narrowed eyes as he took the match. Claire released it and he took a step back to keep some space between them.
"You're a cautious one, aren't you?" Claire asked through a wince as she found the bandages she was searching for and started to try and wrap her wound. "Can't blame you if the System really just showed up on your planet. That's rough. I'm, uh, sorry about your spiky rat."
"It's fine," Alex said. "He doesn't stay dead long."
"Doesn't stay dead? You didn't hit your head, did you?" Claire fumbled with her bandages, then let out a curse. "Damn it. Hold on. I need to concentrate on this for a second."
Alex went to nod — and a flicker moved through the darkness behind Claire, toward the back of the room. He stiffened. "Claire? Get up."
She glanced up at his tone, then hurriedly rose to her feet and turned to follow his gaze. "What is it?"
Alex shifted the match to pinch it between his thumb and the bed of his hand, then ripped a portion of his t-shirt away and held it to the match until the flame caught. He then threw the burning scrap over her shoulder and toward the center of the room.
The light was so dim that it was barely worth noting at all, but it was just enough to reveal another flicker of movement — and this time, for long enough for gold letters to shimmer through the air.
Shade (Novice 4)
A shadowy form lurched back from the light with a pained hiss, retreating into the corner of the room and cringing back. The small strip didn't buy them much time. It burned away to embers with frightening speed. The glowing letters went with it, swallowed by the tiny curl of smoke that rose into the darkness — and without them or the light, the Shade was invisible once more.
"Oh shit," Claire breathed, taking a step back and drawing her sword with a pained wince. "That's not good."
Alex backed up until his shoulders pressed up against the wall behind him. It was too dark in the room for him to cover every angle, so cutting off one of them would go a long way.
Claire followed him — and their dim light source — back. She held her sword in a tight grip, but it was clear that she wasn't in the best shape to fight. The wound Glint had left on her was still bleeding pretty badly and she'd just been smacked in the head with a pretty large rock. On top of that, now that they were closer, Alex picked up on a fair amount of dirt and marred spots on her clothes.
It looked like she'd been traveling for quite some time. While that lent quite a bit of credence to her claims of being from a different planet, it also meant she was probably quite tired.
"Why isn't it attacking us?" Claire asked, waving her sword through the darkness. "Maybe we should head back out onto the street. It's giving us a way out."
Alex resisted the urge to glance at the door. It wasn't too far from them… but he wasn't so sure he believed that the Shade was just going to let them go. And, somewhere deep inside himself, he had to admit that wasn't so sure he himself wanted to leave.
Fighting a City-Eating Centipede was impossible… but he'd beaten a Novice 2 Shaded Hauntling when he'd completely butchered the fight. If there was any realistic chance that he could come out on top against the Shade, he was going to take it.
"How much stronger is a Novice 4 than a Novice 1?" Alex asked.
"A good bit," Claire muttered. She edged toward the door then jerked back with a hiss. Something flashed through the darkness, but she managed to pull herself out of the way just in time. She hurriedly backed up into the faint light cast by the match. "Shit. Okay. It might not be willing to let us go easily."
Hardly a surprise. I haven't met much here yet, but I'd be willing to take a bet that everything in the Mirrorlands wants to kill us.
/Author's Note///
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