0:06 … 0:05

“This is it, little buddy,” Max said, closing the display with a sigh. “I guess it’s just you and me.”

The tiny dragon’s head peaked through the lid of the pouch and looked at Max with black eyes that were half-lidded and downcast. Nina’s absence must really be upsetting him, Max thought. The dragon lacked any of its usual rebellion or fiery animation.

Max slammed the orb down into the indent at the top of the stone pillar. The massive door slowly began to part with the sound of rock scraping against gravel. Max had watched in awe the first time the door had opened, impressed by its engineering and the sheer scale of its construction. He had been full of wonder as he imagined what might lay beyond.

Now, Max ignored it. Instead, he turned his back on the spectacle as he observed the crystal cave behind him.

Come on, Nina.

The obscuring cloud of dust had settled, but the glow of the crystal walls was quickly fading. The cave had slipped from a pleasant azure twilight into a quickly fading dusk. Thin streams of light filtered through from cracks in the ceiling, illuminating shimmering specks of dust in the air but doing little to lift the gloom.

Nothing moved.

Just a few more min— the thought was interrupted as the doors ground to a halt. The silence resounded as clearly as a gong, announcing that time was up.

“Alright, George. I guess we’ll just have to trust her.”

The dragon whimpered slightly, climbing out of the pouch to wrap around Max’s shoulders. The tail that clung loosely around his throat was surprisingly warm and smooth. Max sighed, as he looked down into the pleading eyes of the child.

“Alright, you win,” Max was surprised at how much just saying the words improved his own mood. “We’ll give her another minute, but then we really do need to go. Neither one of us wants to see what happens if this tree comes down.”

***

Nina’s saber cut through a dozen spindly legs as her boot crushed the giant arachnid’s abdomen. She spun through the stampede, easily slaying the monsters as if she were cutting diamond encrusted grass.

Nina jumped, avoiding a particularly large spider. As she landed, she speared the creature with her saber. Dozens of arachnids split around her like a river parting around a stone. The dying creature under her sword continued to pull away with its legs, completely ignoring Nina as she twisted the blade in its back.

What has got them spooked?

None of the creatures had tried to engage her directly, instead trying to go around her whenever possible and only attacking when she directly impeded them. She’d slain dozens in only a few seconds, and yet nearly as many had gotten past her.

She feared for George, but as the creatures reached the top of the slope they continued upwards using the crystal walls, rather than going further into the cavern. It didn’t mean the child was safe, but at least that was one less thing she needed to worry about.

If Max didn’t … she sighed as her saber cleaved another abdomen, shattered limbs clinking against the wall. She’d already decided to trust the man, too late to back out now.

She considered turning and leaving the spiders to their own devices when something large slammed into the wall right where the spiraling path began to turn upwards. A long, muscled tail extended up the slope, slamming against the walls. It was powerful enough to turn the crystal spiders into dust.

Nina jumped back as two claws gripped the walls, the tail snaked backward, disappearing behind the curved slope as a head the size of a horse appeared. Long fangs dripping with venom gnashed and snapped in random directions as four powerful legs propelled the creature upwards.

It was built like an oversized Komodo dragon, but its scales were a brilliant, sapphire-blue. The coat of powdered crystal that lined its body made the smoother skin around its eyes and belly glitter in the failing light.

“Shit,” Nina yelled.

Two shurikens appeared in her hand, and she immediately launched them towards the crystal-armored lizard. As they struck the creature the projectiles exploded, rocking the crystal walls and filling the corridor with blinding light and a thick wall of grey smoke.

The lizard pulled its head back, roaring and snapping blindly around it. Nina charged in low, keeping her saber parallel with the ground. She stopped, pirouetting as thick jaws brushed past her. As her spin ended, she stomped her raised foot into the ground, using the leverage to thrust her blade upward.

A line of blue blood appeared under the creature’s chin, and the top of its head collided with the crystal wall creating a long fissure and the sound of shattered glass. Again, and again Nina rained her blade down onto the creature’s head, but it had recovered quickly and gave her no more opportunities to strike at the softer skin of its throat and belly.

“Just. Fucking. Die!” Nina yelled, ending her flurry of blows with a kick, using the momentum to carry herself into a high, arching backflip.

This thing was a tank, and Nina was best suited for tying down large groups of softer enemies. For larger creatures, like this one, she was trained to be annoyance meant to draw attention as others took it down. It was the role she had filled in her Quad. If only their mage, Mal, were here … or if any of them were still alive for that matter.

No, Nina thought. I paid too high a price to not put everything on the line.

Nina held back, waiting for the creature to advance. It was acting cautiously now, having tasted her blade. Predators like this would usually flee when injured, seeking easier prey and yet the overgrown lizard persisted even as Nina continuously pushed it back.

She lifted her left hand from the hilt of her blade, letting its massive weight rest on her shoulder. Seemingly sensing that her guard was lowered, the lizard charged upwards towards Nina.

She grimaced. Even a beast should be more cautious against a superior opponent on higher ground. She couldn’t waste any more time on this fight. She had to get back to Max and through that door before something worse showed up.

Hot wind and the smell of rancid meat flooded Nina’s face just as her saber came down on the charging reptile’s head with a single-handed hammer blow. Nina dropped the hilt, letting the blade fade into nothingness, as she rolled around a striking claw.

Her left hand flung forward and everything went silent. At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Nina looked straight ahead at the unmoving creature, her outstretched hand still resting against its cold, blue scales.

Directly in front Nina’s hand, a quarter-sized hole had appeared in the lizard’s scales. The sides of the wounds were completely cauterized, smelling of ozone and burnt meat. Nina’s face twisted into a smile as she twisted her head to look away … and then everything began to move.

Lighting appeared in front of Nina’s hand, arching between the howling lizard and a glowing javelin that was buried in the wall directly across from Nina. Blue and white sparks filled the wound that had been drilled completely through the creature. It fell to the ground as its eyes boiled and its scales darkened into a dull grey.

Nina shielded her face from the heat and light until everything faded into darkness. Her vision was still filled with spots and swimming lines when she felt something wet run down her arm. Dammit, she thought, as her fingers ran through the gaps in her armor.

She tore aside a bit of red-stained silk on the underside of her arm and discovered a branching web of black veins surrounding a gash no longer than a fingernail. It had just barely got her, and yet a glancing blow was all it took for the creature’s venom to take effect.

Nina began sprinting up the incline towards the cavern; if she was quick, she could catch Max before the five minutes were up. She decided to deal with her wounds then, but the burning grew with each step and Nina discovered with horror that the web of black lines had grown to cover the entire underside of her arm.

“You’d better fucking wait, Max,” she yelled.

She came to a complete stop at the top of the incline, slashing at a few straggling spiders that had decided to test their luck by charging up the ramp and over the still warm body of the crystal lizard. She dismissed her armor, immediately tearing the sleeve from the dress that she wore underneath.

She pressed her back against the smooth, crystal wall and slid down until she was crossed legged on the floor. Nina downed the contents of a red vial that appeared in her hand, tossing the empty vessel to clatter down into the darkness.

In her other hand, a roll of gauze appeared that she immediately wrapped around her wound. Already the black lines were beginning to retreat, and the small gash had faded into a faint, pink scar. Thank the gods for healing potions, she thought, but her mood quickly soured as she remembered why she had an entire Quad’s worth of gear.

“You know,” said a high-pitched male voice, “you really should be more careful. A nice girl like you alone in a place like this? Who knows what kind of trouble you could run into?”

Nina rolled to the side, just as a dagger pierced the forearm of her injured arm. As her roll ended, a metal-tipped boot collided with her ribs and sent her flying to land beside the body of the crystal lizard.

“Fuck you, Gen!” Nina howled, rolling in pain as she tried to force herself to her legs.

Every breath brought with it a sharp, stabbing pain in her side. Her left ankle was probably sprained, and her injured arm was completely useless. It had to be Gen, of all people. She knew she could take him on even ground. Give him the element of surprise, though, and the psycho was a match for nearly anyone.

Nina had seen reports on the man that detailed his … exploits and his constant reassignments. The company would have washed their hands of him years ago if he wasn’t such a maestro with his blades. He was ranked far above his level and had gained attention at an early age. His penchant for doing jobs others balked at probably played a role as well, Nina realized.

She’d always known her family had no concept of ‘ethical business,’ even Nina had considered the two to be contradictions for much of her life. It was only recently, however, that she had realized just how cruel her brother had become, and the depths of depravity he sought out in those he employed.

“Oh, it’s so sweet!” Gen called out as he ran his tongue down the side of one of his blades, still slick with Nina’s blood. “You should feel lucky, that blade won’t kill you outright — just drain your stamina until you’re nothing but a kitten to be toyed with. What kind of fun might we have then?”

“If you wanted me dead you should have finished the job! I won’t be so easy now.”

Nina steadied herself, as strength slowly returned to her legs. She could feel her stamina slowly draining, but it would be minutes before it was low enough to truly hamper her. Win or lose, she couldn’t let things drag out that long.

“And what fun would that be?” Gen laughed, “Besides, it’s not you I want to play with. Give me the boy, and I’ll leave you to die slowly on your own. You won’t survive when this place comes down, and we control the exits.”

“As long as I take you down first,” Nina said, launching a half-dozen knives at the assassin.