The floor where Maya had been standing vanished in an explosion that sent fragments of stone hurtling through the air. The young woman leapt back to her feet, wincing slightly as blood trickled from the cuts covering her body.

Rubble shifted away as the enormous snake coiled back from it’s strike. The snake must have been twice Maya’s height and as thick as a large tree trunk. It hissed in anger, baring fangs dripping with green venom, and lashed out towards her again.

Maya nimbly danced out of the way, scoring the snake’s side with her shortsword as it narrowly missed her once again. The huge creature thrashed, forcing Maya to jump back before it crushed her.

“I’m taking you down,” Maya hissed. “My future depends on it.”

The snake’s response was to lunge at her, destroying the wall behind the woman as she tumbled away once more. Maya slashed at the monster’s scaly yellow skin once again before putting some distance between them.

She’d been fighting the snake for the better part of an hour and it was starting to show. Sweat mixed with the blood covering her, thoroughly soaking her clothes and blade. The room had been reduced to rubble around them.

The only untouched spot in the entire area was a large black hole near the back of the room. The snake had kept a wide berth around it during the entire fight, and Maya had no desires to fall in either.

The large monster let out a rattling hiss. It wasn’t doing much better than Maya. Thin scores covered its scaly body, and the woman had blinded it in one eye with a lucky strike.

“I’m not leaving this dungeon without your Essence,” Maya informed the snake, circling around it. “It’s time to finish this.”

The creature hissed and turned its head to keep her in its sight. There was a tense moment when neither of them moved. Then they both dashed forward at the same time. Maya dropped to her back, thrusting her sword upwards.

The snake’s strike passed so close to Maya that she could smell the creature’s hot breath. Her weapon bit into the scaly flank. She pressed all her weight into the weapon and twisted, carving a path through the creature as it passed overhead. Hot blood poured down onto her as the snake let out a death scream, the two halves of it collapsing on either side of her.

Maya groaned. She tried to wipe some of the blood from her face with the back of her sleeve, but that just smudged it around. The woman sat up with a sigh. The snake’s blood stung as it touched her own, but the pain quickly faded.

The creature’s blood was evaporating within seconds. No more than a minute later, all that remained of the snake was its scaly carcass, devoid of any blood. A sparkling white stone appeared on the ground beside it.

Maya rose to her feet and pick the stone up. It was warm to the touch and glittered more than any diamond could ever dream of.

“Beautiful,” Maya whispered to herself. “This is my ticket out of this shithole.”

A rock shifted behind her. Maya spun, her sword raised before her, as a tall man strode through the small entrance to the cave. He wasn’t much older than Maya, but his chiseled features and cold eyes gave him a regal appearance. His disinterested blue eyes swept over the room, pausing briefly on Maya, before a laugh escaped his lips.

“How kind of you, Maya. You’ve picked my Essence up for me,” he said, his voice dripping like poisoned honey.

“Back off, Axel. This is mine. There are a dozen other dungeons you could be defeating with no problem. Why are you bothering me?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Axel said with mock surprise. “I just happened to be doing this dungeon as well. I never thought you’d be foolish enough to dart forward just as I killed the beast and steal my Essence.”

Maya’s grip tightened on her sword, but she didn’t move. Axel was much stronger and they both knew it. He hadn’t even drawn the large axe slung over his shoulder. The man noticed her glance and smirked.

“Jealous of my weapon, are you? My father gave it to me for my 20th birthday. That was yesterday if you remember. I don’t think I saw you there. The whole city came to celebrate. It was fantastic.”

“That’s because I was clearing this dungeon,” Maya said through gritted teeth. “Not to mention you didn’t invite me in the first place.”

“Oh, didn’t I? I must have forgotten. Oops,” Axel said sarcastically. “You can just hand your birthday present to me over now and I’ll consider matters settled.”

Their conversation was interrupted as another man emerged from the passageway behind Axel. He was older with greying hair, but that did nothing to take away from his imposing appearance and the aura of power that surrounded him.

“Overseer Heral,” they both said at the same time, inclining their heads.

“What are you doing here, Maya?” Heral asked. His voice was like sandpaper.

“I was clearing-”

“She dashed down here and stole the Essence right as I got the kill on the boss,” Axel interrupted, shooting Maya a smug look.

“That’s not true! I’ve been doing this dungeon for nearly two weeks. Axel just showed up a few minutes ago and is claiming that he’s the one who beat it,” Maya protested.

Heral glanced between the two of them. His brow lowered and he shook his head.

“Axel, I can clearly see that Maya is covered in cuts and blood from fighting. You haven’t even drawn your axe.”

Axel glanced at the sheathed weapon over his shoulder. He slowly reached out and drew the weapon, glancing at Heral for approval. The Overseer massaged his forehead.

“Maya, it’s clear you spent a lot of effort getting that Essence, but I think you should let Axel just have it. This dungeon shouldn’t have taken you more than a day. You just aren’t cut out for this. The Essence is wasted on you.”

“The reason it takes so long is that you take everything I ever get and give it to Axel! This Essence is mine. I earned it, and I’m using it,” Maya said, taking a step away from them.

“Axel is the son of the Ashwind family! He is destined to be a powerful ruler or a pirate lord. You, however, are a waste of recources. Give me the Essence. Now,” Heral commanded.

Maya swallowed. She continued backing away from Heral’s approach. Her heel reached the dark hole at the back of the room and she froze, unable to move any further. Axel caught Maya’s eyes and gave her a malicious grin from behind Heral.

The Overseer’s hand latched around Maya’s throat. She struggled against his grip, but the man was impossibly strong. He lifted her into the air as if she were a baby, his furious grey eyes burning a hole into her face.

“You chose the hard way. Remember that,” Heral hissed.

He pulled an amulet out from around his neck. It flared and snapped open, revealing a churning nebula of white energy within it. The Essence crystal launched out of Maya’s hand and disappeared into it.

“No!” Maya yelled, but she couldn’t do anything. The Essence had vanished.

Heral tossed Maya into the hole behind her. She reached out, and her fingertips snagged the thin metal chain holding the amulet. The chain snapped and her hand tightened around the amulet as she fell.

It was Heral’s turn to shout in dismay, but there was nothing he could do. Maya was gone, and the amulet with her.