Maya lost track of time as she fell. The dim flicker of light far in the distance above her quickly faded until her world was consumed by darkness. The wind tearing past her ears started to slow. Maya didn’t notice it until her hair was no longer moving from the air currents, but her fall had come to a stop. Almost gingerly, Maya felt her back touch ground.

A dim blue light hovered at the edges of her vision. Maya blinked, slapping herself in the face to make sure she was awake. When nothing happened, the young woman rose to a seated position.

Her heart thundered in her chest and her thoughts churned like a furious sea. She looked down at her other hand. The amulet was still there. Despite the fury at the betrayal of the Overseer and the unfairness of the situation, Maya let out a howl of glee. She could practically taste the Essence thundering through the tiny amulet.

It was like an ocean torrent. The tiny metal trinket held more Essence than she had ever seen in her life, and likely more than just about anyone in the city-state of Ashwind. She spat on the ground at the thought of the Ashwind family. They’d get what was coming to them.

Axel’s smug face flashed through Maya’s memories. Her grip tightened around the amulet and she forced herself to steady her breathing. He – and the Overseer – would get was coming to them. Maya just had to get out of this hole first.

Maya looked around the room for the first time. It was a large cave. Weapons and wooden chests littered the floor, but they had all rotted or rusted long ago. The dim blue light came from patches of glowing moss scattered across the floor and walls.

At the far end of the room, a pile of glittering material caught Maya’s eyes. She put the amulet in her back pocket and shakily rose to her feet.

“I don’t know how I survived that fall, but thank you,” Maya said aloud, addressing whatever god had shown her mercy as she walked towards the shimmery pile. “I owe you one.”

“That’s kind of you. I’ve always felt people didn’t show enough appreciation,” a raspy voice said.

Maya froze. She had grown close enough to realize that the glittering pile was actually the biggest stash of wealth that she had ever seen. Thousands of gold coins piled on top of eachother. Diamonds, rubies, and all sorts of other gems peeked out at her from within the mountain of riches.

But Maya wasn’t looking at any of that. At the top of the pile, a huge throne was nestled within the gold. A man sat within the throne, watching her with a shark-toothed grin. He rose to his feet with a single smooth motion.

The young woman found herself unable to move as the man easily slid down the pile of gold to arrive just a few feet in front of her. A thin sword stuck out the top of his left shoulder, and a massive axe was buried in his back.

However, the most catching thing about his appearance was the head sized hole in his chest. Blood dripped in a steady pattern from it, soaking the man’s ragged clothes a dirty brown.

“Were you the one who saved me?” Maya finally asked once she gathered her voice.

“In a manner,” the man said. “I’ll admit, I expected a little more horror or surprise. You’re taking this very well. You haven’t even mentioned this.”

He reached behind himself and stuck a hand through the hole, waving in Maya’s direction.

“I’ve had a rough day. You’ll have to forgive my lack of reaction,” Maya said. Emotions churned within her. Fury mixed with glee. Horror with excitement. “If I’m still alive tomorrow, perhaps I’ll be a better audience for you.”

The man grunted and approached Maya. His long dark hair was ropey and uncombed. It was impossible to tell how old he was. He smelt like seawater and old rum, which wasn’t a particularly pleasant combination.

“I don’t often get visitors. In fact, you’re the first in…a long time. How’d you end up down here?” the man asked.

Maya sat down on the ground with a sigh. She glanced over at the pile of gold and, while keeping eye contact with the man, slowly reached out and took a coin.

“The son of the Ashwind family showed up right after I cleared my first dungeon. He wanted the Essence from my kill, and the Overseer tried to take it from me. Then he pushed me into a huge hole, and I fell down here,” Maya said, grinding her teeth. “I’m going to get out of here and raze their stupid city to the ground before I go and kill–”

Maya caught the words before they escaped her mouth. She swallowed and clenched her fists tightly. Her fury was affecting her self-control. The young woman took several deep breaths and let it out with a shaky huff.

“I see. The powerful tend to get their way, don’t they?” The man asked, ignoring Maya’s breathing technique.

“I will too, one day,” Maya said resolutely. “I’m going to be a pirate captain.”

The man burst out laughing. Maya’s eyes narrowed and she rose to her feet, throwing the coin at the man’s feet.

“Just because I’m weak now doesn’t mean I can’t be a pirate. I’ve gotten this far on my own.”

“You’re stuck in a hole at the bottom of the world,” the man observed.

“For now,” Maya replied, her eyes daring the man to continue.

“Fair enough, I suppose,” the man said. “I gather we might be here a while. What’s your name?”

“Maya. Yours?”

“I go by Cyll, although it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to anyone but myself,” Cyll admitted. The raspiness had started to leave his voice in lieu of a powerful baritone.

“It’s nice to meet you, I suppose,” Maya said. “And what happened to you?”

Cyll glanced over at the sword sticking out of his shoulder.

“I lost a fight against some slightly strong people. They couldn’t kill me, but they tossed me down here and figured they could just forget about me. I’m afraid they’re right. There’s no Essence to be found in these parts, and I would need a whole lot to ever have a shot of healing,” Cyll said, gesturing down at the open wound in his chest.

Maya’s hand subconsciously moved to the amulet in her pocket, but Cyll didn’t notice. She gripped it tighter.

“So how long have you been down here?” Maya asked.

“I’ve lost track of time. A while,” Cyll said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I have to ask, how do you plan to get out of here? I can tell you that there’s no escape for someone of your strength.”

“Then I’ll train until I’m strong enough,” Maya said with a shrug. “Or until I die.”

“That won’t be long. There’s no food or water,” Cyll said.

Maya paled and the man let out a laugh.

“You didn’t think of that, did you?”

“No,” Maya said, shrinking in on herself. “But this can’t be the end. I’ll find a way out. It won’t end here. It can’t.”

“I’ve been looking for longer than you were alive,” Cyll said dismissively as he walked past Maya.

Cyll gestured to the room and spun in a slow circle with his arms thrust out.

“This is it. No way out other than the hole you fell in. And trust me, you aren’t getting back up it with your level of power.”

“Well, you’re strong!” Maya said. “You must have been, if they had to toss you down here instead of kill you.”

The man shrugged noncommittally. Maya swallowed and reached into her back pocket. The amulet buzzed against her touch. Her ticket to true strength – the one thing she’d been working towards for nearly a dozen years. And it was useless. A newly awakened ability wouldn’t be useful before she starved to death. She brought the amulet out and the man’s gaze snapped to it like a hungry dog.

“Is that…”

“Essence,” Maya finished, forcing the words out of her mouth like they caused her physical pain. “Get me out of here and it’s yours.”

Cyll moved so fast that Maya lost sight of him until he appeared before her. The man grabbed her hand and peered at the amulet with starved eyes. After a moment, the light in them dimmed.

“Not enough,” he said regretfully. “This is just a silver amulet. It’s not bad, but I would need at least a full gold to fully heal me.”

Maya’s eye twitched. This was more Essence than the young woman had ever seen in her life. She was confident that it was more than enough to completely awaken her ability, despite her not having ever absorbed Essence before.

“Not enough? Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Maya said, her arm dropping to her side.

She nearly threw the amulet on the floor, but stopped herself before the chain could depart her hand. Maya swallowed and slipped it back into her pocket.

Cyll stared silently at Maya for a few moments. Then he drew a deep breath.

“I’ll admit that I’ve gotten very bored in my time down here. I’m too injured to escape, but I can train you. The bindings on this place are meant to hold me in. A small fry like you might escape.”

Maya’s gaze jerked up to meet Cyll’s eyes.

“Can you really train me in your current condition?” She asked doubtfully.

“It’s a yes or no question.”

“If it gives me a chance of getting out of here…yes,” Maya replied, nodding to herself and putting the amulet back into her pocket.

A slow grin spread across Cyll’s face and he bared his slightly pointed teeth.

“Your mistake.”