Name: Jason Foreti

Level 6

Class: Alchemist

Name: Izumi Yoshida

Level 1

Class: None

Name: Ashe Landry

Level 9

Class: Rogue

It had been five days since her old guild had left Ashe behind in the dungeon. She had said very little, and Izumi had become even more quiet than she already had been. They’d both been driven to despair, and the torturous experiments only increased after the others had escaped. Just a little while ago, another earthborn had joined them - though he was so upset he’d refused to speak since getting there and hadn’t even told them his name. After giving up on the introductions, Ashe left the tall blonde man alone so they could both wallow in their own misery.

It went on for well over a day, maybe two days where little to no contact was made with any other human being - other than when the guards regularly chose to rape her. Her eyes were growing accustomed to the dark, and she felt as if she was going insane. She had begun to collect little sharp pieces of rock that had been chipped away from the edge of her cell in hopes that if she swallowed them - after collecting enough - that she’d die via esophageal bleeding. She’d heard that her uncle had done something similar with glass, so it seemed like a good idea to her.

Definitely better than the alternative of staying here to be regularly abused and tortured. She was already convinced that if she did somehow survive this place, that she would forever retain the mental scars accrued here.

Her little pile of chippings was growing, and she was feeling around in the dark for some more... when a thunderous sound split the air and the palace rocked just slightly. Ashe was initially startled, but listened timidly as more sounds from outside their dark world worked their way into the cells. Explosions, one after another, continued to batter the palace - to the point that Ashe was certain they were under attack by another country. Screaming could be heard outside the large door to the prison, and Ashe pressed her face up against her bars to try and get a better catch of what was going on. Not that she could see anything, but it did help her hear a bit better. Hopefully someone would come and tell them what was going on… she was afraid that her own life was in danger now, and the suspense was growing.

Across the dungeon walkway, inside two other cells, Jason and Izumi had gotten up to press their faces up against the bars as well.

A loud thud sounded against the door, and it shook underneath some sort of impact. A scream, and then another, rang out. Seconds later the door was flung open and one of the guards who regularly visited to rape her was thrown head on into the wall opposite the door. He clung to his face, crying out and trying to swat at the cinders that dotted his person. Behind him strode a tall burning figure of what Ashe thought was literally the devil himself.

The demon was completely ablaze, and as it rushed forward - its tail lashed out to strike the screaming man before it bore down on him with its fists, beating and burning him to death. The beating only stopped when the man lay still, reduced to a pile of burnt and broken flesh. The demon stood to tower above the three earthborn, smirked, and walked over to stand in front of Jason. It pointed at him, and looked back before saying something in a language that Ashe didn’t understand.

She was terrified, and it took her a while to realize that there was actually another figure limping through the prison corridor and over to where the blonde man stood. The second figure was in rough shape, breathing heavily, with bruises and minor cuts everywhere. Its hands, part of its tail, and its feet looked… strangely new, like a newborn baby’s skin. The massive sword it carried was pouring in a strange red energy that seeped into the demon’s veins, but after a bit of staring - Ashe realized that this demon was more of a human than the first one had been. This one had horns, glowing red eyes and a part of a tail, but aside from that… and the long scar across his face… he was no different from any other man. Though she didn’t necessarily find men attractive, she could still tell that he was quite handsome. However, it was the language he spoke that really caught her attention.

[English Dialect] “Whatup bitchboy!” said Trey with a weak laugh before groaning and holding his forehead. “How long have we been here? Jesus… and Atharost calm your tits man. Turn off that fire for god’s sake. You’ve already burned half the castle down... [Ancient Demon Dialect] Atharost I said turn those god damn flames off!"

Behind the second figure came another tiny black demon that cackled and began poking at the corpse of the soldier they’d just killed, while yet another hooded figure followed in and closed the door. The flames of the first demon illuminated the demoness’s features to show purple skin and two small black horns, being about six feet tall.

Ashe’s eyes grew wide. That demoness was… stunning.

“Alright, two very important lessons learned today!” Trey said with a groan before Jason’s jaw dropping in amazement at seeing them here.

Trey held up a finger, and then another as he continued to speak. “One! Dismissing and resummoning Rivia here teleported her from far out in the city to this location. Didn’t realize that was a thing. Two! Rivia’s healing can combine with my trait that allows me to regrow limbs and expedites it. They had cut off my hands, feet and tail man! Brutal bastards, it still even hurts.”

Trey flexed his newly grown limbs with a sour expression. There was a short lived silence and more explosions from outside rocked the room to interrupt it.

[English Dialect] “You’re from Earth too!?” said Ashe anxiously from behind Trey as she snapped to her senses. Trey turned around painfully to see who was talking to him.

[English Dialect] “Uh… yeah… Who are you?” replied Trey before Jason butted in.

“TREY! Jesus Christ Trey please get me out of here… I’m not sure I saw Elise’s body or if that was one of her family! Please, we need to make sure and see if she escaped!” Jason seemed frantic, and Trey’s vision switched inbetween the three prisoners.

He sighed and produced a key from one of his trouser pockets. “Jason… we both know that was Elise on the ground. We both saw it-”

“I want to see it for myself up close.” Jason’s eyes welled up with tears and he clutched at the bars. “Just to be sure…”

Trey’s gaze dropped to the floor, but he didn’t argue.

“Fine. We bustin outa here ladies. I don’t know who you two girls are, but if you want out just let me know now!”

Trey awkwardly opened up Jason’s cell door and grasped his forehead again as a shot of pain and nausea from the drugs flew through him.

‘Master,’ a distorted voice from Sithis called out. ‘The firestorm that Atharost cast is waning. We need to leave the city before we are caught, we are in no condition to fight right now. Even with Rivia’s healing miracles, you are still fatigued and the poison is restricting our mana flow.”

“TAKE ME WITH YOU!” screamed a wide eyed and frantic Ashe, startling the sickened Trey who furiously scowled back at her.

“Holy fuck! Chill, girl! Your shrill-ass voice is hurting my head. I’ll get you out, no need to scream at me.”

“Please take me too!” said Izumi in a weak voice as she tried to pull herself to her feet, but failed due to lack of strength and starvation. Another two explosions rocked the nearby walls of the palace, and Jason stumbled under the impact.

As Jason picked himself up, Trey opened up Ashe’s cell door - and then Izumi’s. Ashe stood awkwardly by - not really knowing what to do, and tears flooded her beautiful features as she finally stepped out of the room. She was gently pushed forward by Jason, and Trey bent over to pick up and carry Izumi.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Do you wish me to heal her? I only have enough for three more miracles… bear that in mind.” Rivia asked, motioning towards Izumi.

Trey shook his head but acknowledged her in appreciation, grinning down at the imp that was scurrying around the room in an excited rush for some odd reason. [Ancient Demon Dialect] “No, save it in case we need it. It looks like she’s more starved than she is hurt anyways, not sure it would make much of a difference.”

Rivia nodded and stepped back, while Atharost clapped a hand on Trey’s shoulder with a very large smile - as if to say ‘this is fun!’ The greatsword was sent back to shadowform, and Jason - alongside Napoleon - walked out of the room.

Ashe followed behind them. She couldn’t believe she was out of her cell, whimpered happily for just a moment, and took the opportunity to rush to a nearby window on the other side of the palace hallway. She looked out, and immediately was astounded at what she saw.

The palace was covered in flames, people rushing about trying to put it all out with buckets of water from the nearby moat. Charred corpses littered the palace grounds and hallways to either side while screams broke out amongst the shouting. From far up above in the night sky, balls of fire rained down in all directions from burning clouds. The entire palace and even some of the buildings across the moat were being swathed with fire.

Trey took a look out the window and shook his head. [Ancient Demon Dialect] “I appreciate you saving us Atharost, but try to keep civilians out of it next time.”

Atharost scoffed. “They are but mere insects, master. I do not understand why you value these creatures.”

Jason interrupted again. “Let’s go! How are we going to get out of here?! Do you have a plan?! We need to get to Vork!”

“Do you know the way to Vork?” asked Trey, curiously.

Jason’s face dropped, and he slowly shook his head.

Trey repositioned Izumi’s weakened body more comfortably over his shoulder again and sighed. “Listen. I’m wanting to get there as fast as possible too, but first things first. We need to escape and put distance between us and any potential aggressors.”

A streak of motion met Ashe’s eyes before she fell backwards startled onto the floor. An arrow had been caught by Trey’s left hand, two inches from where her face had been and impaling it all the way through. Trey screamed and dropped to his knees, clutching at his impaled hand as he broke the shaft. At the end of the hall, two leather-clad archers began to notch their bows again.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Let us see what my new miracle can do!” Rivia yelled out, casting two pestilence miracles as she did. Dark power sprang to life from her outstretched hand and disappeared immediately after, but she was pointing towards the two soldiers at the end of the hallway.

There was a momentary flicker of black and green about their bodies and then they dropped their bows to scream.

Flesh began to rot and peel off their bodies in thick layers at extraordinary rates. One of the archers bolted down the hallway around the corner, while the other just continued to scream, and scream, and scream, as his bowels opened up to spill out gastric juices. It was a gruesome sight, and it was not a quick death. Thirty seconds passed before the archer collapsed dead to the floor with Rivia grinning proudly - and Atharost clapping in approval.

Ashe’s mouth dropped wide open in astonishment.

“Your minion Rivia has grown to an overall combat level of 4.” a mechanical voice said from within Trey’s mind.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “As I was saying.” continued Trey, grimacing as Rivia’s last healing miracle worked his hand wound shut. “Let’s leave. Napoleon? Do you know the way out?”

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “I have have memorized the big house we in! We take path path least likely to fight enemies, it take more time time. Follow follow me master.” Napoleon’s little and noticeably improved body swiftly turned and made his way down the hall, opposite from where the two soldiers had been killed. Trey, Izumi, Jason, Rivia, Atharost and Ashe all followed close behind with Izumi still being carried by Trey - she was far too weak to walk on her own.

Napoleon led them through a series of hallways, stairwells, and narrow corridors. Many of the rooms were shut, and it turned out that a lot of the residents had barricaded themselves within to withstand the storm of flames.

In front of them, a comet of fire crashed through the wooden ceiling and directly into the hall. Atharost held out a hand, and the flames immediately died down while being absorbed into his body.

They then continued on. It only took ten minutes at a fast-paced trot to reach the destination Napoleon had in mind, but it seemed an eternity as they went on amidst the screams and fires roaring to life all around them.

The imp had taken them to a small dead end hallway with a closet on the right hand side. He flung open the wooden door and crawled inside. The others followed. Shifting the various bags of potatoes and carrots around, he was able to reveal a small locked trap door.

The demon ripped off the padlock with his tiny claws and opened it.

“I heard heard two uglies talking about tunnel while looking for you you. It lead underneath water and outside the city. That what they say say.”

Trey shrugged and snorted. “Good enough for me! And good shit Napoleon, I’m proud of you. Of all of you.”

He peered down into the black as all three of his demon minions either grinned or acknowledged him in appreciation.

“Let’s go! Atharost, you can flame up again and lead the way home-boy.”

The ifrit chuckled, but did just that after dropping into the tunnel in a blaze of fire.

Moments later they had all disappeared into the black depths of the hidden tunnel to be lost from sight, closing both the closet door and trap door behind them.

***

The firestorm had died down to nothing, leaving a small portion of the city burning in the distance to emit an orange glow. Trey sat with his back to a snow-covered tree and handed some of the carrots they’d taken from the storage closet over to Izumi. She was already munching on a potato, but thankfully accepted the carrot as well. She was ravenously hungry, and obviously hadn’t eaten for quite some time.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “The firestorm gained me two combat levels. Perhaps it would be wise for me to use it on highly populated areas from now on…” Atharost mused, ignoring the eye roll from Trey. “I was expecting more though. The ones who died must be very weak.”

Ashe dipped her hands into the ice-cold running water of the small stream and brought it to her lips to drink. It was very refreshing as the water glided down the back of her throat. She wasn’t dressed for this weather, having most of her clothes stripped from her at the prison, and was visibly shaking while kneeling on the frosty ground.

Across from her on the other side of the small flowing stream stood Jason, who paced back and forth nervously while he looked around as if expecting someone to jump out at them. Atharost stood next to his master, and he easily blended into the surrounding nighttime foliage with his pitch black skin. Meanwhile Rivia was just behind them, holding Napoleon in her arms and muttering softly to herself.

[English Dialect] “So… who are you guys? We... haven’t made introductions yet.” Ashe stood to walk over and sit beside Trey. “How are you… how did you become like this?”

[English Dialect] “Name’s Trey.” said the summoner after swallowing a mouthful of food. “Long story. Let’s just say I got very lucky. Or… unlucky, in some aspects. Hasn’t been sunshine and flowers for me so far, if you know what I’m sayin. This is Atharost.” Trey pointed to the tall humanoid demon standing beside him. “He only speaks in the language of Ancient Demon, so you’ll have to bear with him. We’re both trying to learn the Human tongue. The same can be said for that demoness, her name is Rivia. The imp’s name is Napleon, he can speak the native Human tongue quite well, surprisingly enough, so you can communicate with him if you wish.”

The blonde took a moment to take in the three demons and bravely took in a large inhale of air. Then she slowly let it all back out.

“Huh. Well I’m Ashe!” Ashe held out her hand, and warmly they shook with the official greeting. “Uhm… I just wanted to say thanks. And thank your friends for me too. How’d you make friends with demons? For a 'death game,' that's pretty overpowered.”

Trey shrugged. “Again, it’s a long story. It’d take a while, but he’s actually technically my minion. I’m an infernal summoner class. Atharost and I made a pact a while ago after I saved his life. Napoleon was the same, and Rivia was taken by force and put into contract after her clan attacked me.”

Ashe raised an eyebrow, looking to Atharost - definitely the strongest of the group. “You saved HIS life?”

Trey snickered at the glance of annoyance the ifrit gave him, knowing that he was the subject of conversation but not knowing what was said. “Yeah. He kinda saved mine too though.”

“Why is your friend so anxious?” Izumi butted in between mouthfuls, sitting next to a small fire Napoleon had lit for her out of tree branches off to the side. “We’re finally free! I haven’t been this happy in… in years! And I also would like to say thank you, when we were left by Ashe’s friends - I thought I would be stuck there forever… By the way, my name is Izumi.”

“Ashe’s friends?” asked Trey quizzically. His red eyes narrowed and a scowl crept across his face.

Ashe sighed and leaned back against the same tree Trey was leaning on. “My old guild found out I was going to leave their group, and left me in the prison with Izumi here who they thought was too weak to be one of them. It was when they came to jailbreak some of the others out. They’re from Earth too. I don’t want to get into the details, but they’re really… REALLY shit people.”

Trey made a strange expression and brushed off what was left of his leather pants and bloodstained green tunic. “Sounds like it. You had formed a guild though? What do guilds do exactly? Prance around circlejerking one another all day long?”

Ashe snickered. “Did you not ever play MMORPG’s growing up?”

Trey rolled his eyes. “You sound like an old friend of mine. Kyle was his name. Speaking of old friends and to answer your question, Izumi, Jason is anxious because… well, the king murdered his girlfriend and her family. I’m pretty certain of what I saw, but he thinks she may still be alive…”

“Why’d they die? Why would the king do that to his own people?” asked Izumi sadly, folding her arms and trying to maintain warmth against the flames of the small fire.

Trey sat silent for a while and bowed his head, then shook it back and forth sadly. “Elise, and her family, were killed by the King and his men when they found out that they were harboring Earthborn. We came back, found out about it, and they attacked us.”

There was another long pause.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” said Izumi as she looked back at the still pacing Jason. “He must really have liked her.”

Trey nodded gravely. “Yeah he did. I did too, her entire family was very nice. Good people, they didn’t deserve what they got.”

Trey stared sadly across the stream at Jason. “It’s probably my fault too. The girl who informed them did it out of spite, blaming me for conspiring with demons or something like that. I just hope Jason doesn’t hate me for it after all this is over. We’ve been friends for just a little while… but… I don’t know…” Trey trailed off and put his head in his hands. “I royally fucked this up.”

Izumi frowned, but didn’t comment on Trey’s assessment. She turned to the blonde. “So… What do we do now, Ashe?”

The question was the same one Ashe had been asking herself since being set free. She didn’t really have any plan of action, and her newfound friend caught her off guard when it was her that Izumi looked up to for taking charge of the situation. Truth be told, Ashe had just barely gotten by with stealing what she could to survive. In fact, one of her two deaths so far was due to starvation prior to joining The Undying.

“Trey, are you ready to go yet?” Jason asked as he approached the group with arms crossed and a downcast face. “I want to get moving and find out how to get to Vork. Please.”

An awkward silence ensued.

Trey then exhaled slowly. “Yeah. We can go. What’s the game plan though?”

Jason shook his head. “I thought you would have one, to be honest.”

Trey smiled weakly, brushing off another patch of snow that had fallen off a low hanging limb. “Hmmm. Ok. Well if it’s up to me, I think we should travel away from the city until we find someone to talk to… like maybe visit an inn or something. Quite frankly I don't have a plan, but I’ll do my best to help out.”

He cleared his throat. “The demons could be dismissed… but I will be very… identifiable. When we do find someone, the rest of us should probably stick to hiding for now while you do the talking Jason. When it becomes light out, we can have my minions scout the area. Now that Napoleon is hella-fast and Atharost can fly, it'll be easy for them to do.”

Jason extended a hand which Trey accepted, and the summoner was hoisted to his feet. His moonlit frame turned and faced the two girls beneath him with a friendly mannerism.

“Ashe, Izumi, it was a true pleasure to meet both of you.” Trey stated, and he bowed slightly. “I hope you two find what you’re looking for. Good luck to both of you.”

“Yeah, good luck y’all.” said Jason dismissively. Then Trey, Jason and the three demons all turned around and began to walk out of the small clearing into the surrounding dark forest.

It didn’t take long for Ashe to start panicking.

“WAIT!” yelled Ashe who scrambled to her feet. Izumi’s eyes grew big and she got up to follow close behind.

Ashe called out again. “You’re just going to leave us here!?”

Trey’s eyebrows raised and his glowing scarlet eyes on a black backdrop drifted, curiously watching the two Earthborn women catching up to them. “What do you mean? Do you not have anywhere to go?”

Ashe stumbled as her foot caught on a large tree root, and she was caught by Trey who lifted her back up with a gentle smile across his features. She blushed with embarrassment for her clumsiness, and cleared her throat. She was usually quite prideful in herself, and to be asked that question really stung her self confidence. She took a step back and looked down shamefully.

“... I… No. Izumi and I don’t have anywhere to go.” She saw Izumi look back and forth between the two as she stood silently by, and Ashe took Trey by the hand. “Please don’t leave us.”

Trey cocked his head to one side before glancing briefly at Jason. He chuckled slightly and put one hand on Ashe’s shoulder. “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier!? Welcome to the group you two!”

Trey surprised both Ashe and Izumi by pulling them into a group hug and laughing before letting go and turning back again. “Let’s go ladies! Glad to have you aboard!”

The stunned Ashe stood still momentarily, it'd been hard for her not to reflexively draw back from that embrace after all the things she'd been through in the dungeon. All the sexual abuse she'd undergone at the hands of those fucking bastards really had taken a toll on her mental health, and even though Trey hadn't meant anything by it but to be friendly... it still upset her.

That's when she felt a light touch on her wrist. Ashe snapped out of the flashback into her recent past and looked up to see Izumi. The petite Japanese girl was silently crying, but her touch intensified as she wrapped her hand around Ashe's.

"Things will be better now..." Izumi said softly as she head-nodded over towards where the others waited. "Come on. Let's go."

Ashe's lip quivered slightly, but she was able to let on with a large smile regardless of her internal struggles. She threw her arms around the other woman she barely even knew, the one who'd shared similar experiences back in that dungeon with her, and gave her a long-lasting hug. Then, together, the two women followed behind the four taller figures as they traversed the dark pathways through the trees of the forest.