I stumble down the dirty, shit filled street. Everything's a blur, I heard someone call my name a while ago.

“Hey! Henry, buddy! Wanna grab a drink?”

I can't remember who said it, doesn't matter I ignored them and kept walking.

“Henry you alright?” another person says

I stumble away, I'm a dead man, I'm not all right.

Everything is spinning as I stumble down to…. Where?

Ah right, the Abyss.

The last I remember is saying goodbye to… someone, someone that was crying.

I can't remember the last time ate or drank. Must have been a while ago.

I stumble through the rubble.

Rubble?

The rubble from the collapsed houses, when the Abyss formed. Months ago, years it feels like.

I'm at the edge now. I stare blankly into pitch darkness.

The sun is hanging in the center of the sky, an all seeing globe for as long as it's day.

I stare blankly for a while before jolting, I need to get down there. I look for something to get me down. Why didn't I bring a rope? I'm about to turn around and find one, but then I spot a rope tied to a rock and already hanging down into the Abyss.

Good quality. I give it a few test tugs to make sure. How'd it get here?

Before I even know it I'm already climbing down the rope.

Maybe I should have brought my own rope. This one is making fun of me. I'm down at the end of it and it's not quite enough. A few more feet and I'd be able to get down safely. I look up, out of the Abyss. Strange. I can see the light of day, but I could have sworn it was pitch black down here. Did anyone notice last time? Or were we to excited, too stupid.

I lazily start swinging, if I can't get down safely, I'll get down dangerously. I'm a dead man anyway.

I land heavily onto the platform but I'm not injured. My eyes gravitate to my biggest regret. I stare at my best friends dead body. I solemnly walk up to it. I drop to my knees in front of it and bow my head to the ground.

I can't cry, I want to, but I don't have enough water in my body. My mouth is dry and my lips are cracked.

Why didn't I drink before? Oh that's right, I'm dead.

“Forgive me. And wait a while longer, I'll be joining you soon.”

I stand and look at him once more, regretting ever coming down, regretting convincing him to join us.

I turn my back to him and go down the staircase.

I'm halfway down when I stop and stare at the trick step. Jenko tripped here. It was harmless, we caught him, but it was a good laugh. Now that I look at it, it just seems insidious. Someone could die before ever making it down.

I've never heard of an Abyss trapping the staircase. But then I'm not a real Delver, so why should I have heard.

I smile self deprecatingly.

I make it down to the bottom.

The plan was to sweep this entire floor and map it. Maps are good money, even crude ones, especially maps of Abyss floors. We didn't have to take risks, just map it.

I sigh, and hazily retrace my steps. We went all the way to the other end of the Abyss, the plan was to map from the opposite end and make our way to the staircase.

We were going to be rich. We would have cashed the map in for gold. Gold. We would have enough to buy identification, forged of course, but good enough to move out of the Grimes. We were going to use the rest to start a business.

Jenko wanted to run a tavern.

James wanted to start a carting service. He liked horses, and he was good with ‘em too. We worked odd jobs together, he always loved working at a stable. The shit never bothered him. Maybe it was ‘cause he never had a sense of smell.

Everyone had something they wanted to do, everyone but me.

I was just going to help James with his cart service. And now there's nothing but old dreams.

I'm the last person that should have made it out of here.

I'm wandering through the cave system, following faint memories, memories I'd have been better off never making.

A faint tremor shakes me from my stupor. I can hardly feel it, but it's there.

Strange. That didn't happen last time I was down here.

I continue onwards when I hear a blood curdling scream of pain, so intense I can almost feel the pain myself. It echoes off the cave walls before fading.

I groggily connect the rope, the one that doesn't belong to me, with the scream. It feels like my mind is surfacing from molasses.

I unconsciously start running down the cave system. The scream came from where I was heading anyway.

I fear the person that cried out will die before I could do anything, just like everyone else.

This time I'll at least witness it.

I rush past a few caverns, we determined there was nothing too dangerous in here based off these empty caverns. We were fools, I know that now.

I make it to the cave that leads to the cavern that serves as the grave of my team. I can feel the heat from their fury. I push on anyway, I touch the wall to stabilize myself and recoil. The heat isn't my imagination. I think I know why the person screamed.

I rush down the cave and ignore the stinging in my hand.

I can hear a hoarse moaning. I lift the torch in my hand.

Torch?

I don't have any memory of bringing it, or lighting it.

I didn't even realize I was holding it.

My mind rebels against me. I feel a growing headache.

The light from the torch reveals a small body, definitely feminine.

She moans and turns to face me. Something in my head clicks into place and everything is clear. I came to die, but first I need to save at least this person.

I get closer to see what I can possibly do and suddenly she cries and stabs out. I completely overlooked the sword until it was in my gut. I jump back in reaction. I hold my midsection where the blade pierced through my filthy sackcloth. It definitely hurts. Blood warms my hand.

She collapsed, crying in pain, before she was able to run me through.

“Hey, I'm here to help. Calm down,” I strain out through the pain.

It wasn't a lethal attack but, it hurts like hell, and I can still bleed out. I take my shirt off and tear it into strips, I do this as fast as I can. I choose the cleanest strip and tie my midsection where I was stabbed.

“Shhh. It's okay, I'll get you out of here,” I try to calm her again as I get closer.

“It'll be alright. I've got you.”

“It hurts, where's Nikolai?” She hoarsely whispers.

“It's alright. He's right here,” I lie to her as she quietly sobs.

I don't know what to do. I have no experience with this.

She's all bloody, all burnt. Her hair, what must have been beautiful long black hair, is burnt short, and there's a cooked smell in the air.

I touch her, and she crys out in pain.

I need to lift her. I can't do anything, the only thing I can do is bring her to someone who can.

I grab a few left over stripes of my shirt and move it up to her mouth.

“Hey, this is going to hurt a little, bite down on this. Don't worry I'll get you out and you'll be alright.”

She whimpers and bites down on the dirty rag cloth.

Her burns are bad. I'm afraid to even touch her, but there's no one else.

I drop the torch. I'll have to bring her back in pitch black. I despair that I might not be capable.

I shift her under my arms and she bits down and moans. I grunt in pain as I lift her up and she screams and goes limp, still moaning. I shiver in response. Hearing someone scream in pain is one thing, causing that pain is completely different, especially when you want to save that person. I grab her sword and shove it through my belt.

I feel something under her. I look at what it is. It's a matte grey tripwire, I picked it up when I scooped her up.

I spotted it first last time I was here. I pointed it out and we stepped over it, she wasn't as lucky I guess. I put the tripwire in my pocket, just in case.

Now I know what the trap does, but I wish I didn't. I look further into the blackness past the light of the torch, and realize that I should have seen the floor of the cavern. The floor is gone. I still see the faint sparkles of that shiny stone in the walls and a bit of the pavilion if I strain my eyes.

“I am sorry, I won't be able to bring you out,” I tell my dead teammates.

I turn back and carry her back out of the cave, back towards the surface. I leave the light behind, and in the pitch black darkness a light comes from the girl in my hands.

I look closer and realize the ethereal blue glow does not, in fact, come from her. But from her pockets. Some of her clothes actually survived a fire that heated an entire cave. Leather doesn't burn well I guess.

I take what's glowing in her pockets out while moving, no time to stop. A glowing mushroom. I light my way out of the caves with a mushroom. And it's bright too.

I thank the Abyss for making the trip back uneventful.

She moans the entire way up the stairs. I can’t make it more smooth for her. I'm tired and in pain. My waist is slick with blood, and I have to fight to keep a grip on her. Her skin cracked and my arms are slippery with blood.

I make it to the top of the stairs exhausted. I almost drop the girl a few times on the way up.

I make it to the place where the rope is and I realize I won't be able to get up with her in my arms. There's no way. I'm too tired and even if I wasn't I don't think I would be able to climb the rope up with her, light as she is.

Desperation hits me in a wave, crashing down on me, adding to the weight on my shoulders.

All is silent as I look at the burden in my arms.

The Grimes teaches its dwellers. It teaches to be merciless. It teaches to look out for yourself, to be selfish. It teaches that any action for someone other than yourself leads to death.

But I'm already a dead man anyway and dead men don't fear death.

I'm prepared to shift her around so that I can hold her while climbing the rope when I hear faint voices.

I strain my ears to make sure.

“No! I won't - No, I said! Give me something of equal value, I don't want that shit you offered.”

I poke my head out to look up, the sky is pink-purple almost night.

Its faint and I can only discern the words of the guy that shouts, but there are at least two people up there. I have hope.

“Hey! Hey! You guys up there. I have an injured with me. Untie the rope and let grab on then pull the rope up!” I shout as loud as I can with my dry throat.

“What the…”

I hear the loud man exclaim.

A head pokes out over the side of the Abyss. Looking directly at me, I don't know how the man sees me through the pitch blackness that I saw from up there, but he's looking directly at my head.

The man's head retracts and I hear faint swearing.

I think I hear them arguing.

Then I hear a voice, clear as if the man who spoke it were right next to me.

“Let them up.”

Everything goes quiet and the rope moves around a bit and lowers. I gently shift the girl over one should, smearing blood over my exposed chest as her skin cracks and bleeds.

“Bear with it just a little more,” I whisper to her as she let's a long pained groan escape her pale almost white lips.

I grab the rope with one hand and lift myself up so I can grip the rope with my legs.

The rope smoothly gets pulled up.

I adjust us so that my back is scraping against the Abyss wall.

The pain is almost unbearable, but I hold on with all my strength. It feels like I'm being flayed and someone is throwing sand onto the wound, then rubbing it in deep.

Dead men don't fear pain.

With how smoothly we are being pulled up, I imagine a full team of men up there. My surprise was written all over my face when I find that it was only one bear of a man lifting us.

He lifts us both until my feet touch the ground, then drops the rope in what I think is disgust. It may have just been the scar though.

A scar travels in a straight line from his chin all the way up past his mouth and settles right under his left eye. It cuts through his upper lip, permanently raising his lip where the scar passes through.

The man is a beast, nearly two heads taller than me and two men wider, mostly raw muscle. Looks as though he's always sneering because of his scar, though.

There are six men and one women standing around looking at us, including the bear.

I look around and actually recognized two men.

It's Maximus and a regular of his, I never caught his name, but he's always sipping that fancy drink of his in a corner.

It's pretty intimidating being stared at and there's a certain pressure to the air similar to the weight on my shoulders but different.

If Maximus is here, then that means….

Realization hits me. I've heard stories of all these people.

The bear man is Renzik North Lord, physically strongest of all the Grime Lords. He's also the most talked about, his feats of strength are spread throughout all the Grimes.

The others are lesser known, the women, Ahsheaya South Lord, is the only female Grime Lord. She stands next to a tall slender man, Emmanuel of the East, he pushes his optics up his nose with one finger. He's some type of healer.

He's exactly what I need.

I rush over to him.

“Please heal her.”

I show her to him.

He moves the optics up his nose again and looks down at her. He says nothing but looks up at a man sitting on a stone.

The man has his arms on the hilt of his huge greatsword which is planted firmly in the ground. His head is resting on his arms.

He takes a deep breath, eyes still closed, and exhales.

He sits up straight and opens his eyes. He's looking at me when his eyes open, they blaze gold.

He turns his attention to Emmanuel, “If you have absorbed enough Aether.”

Emmanuel nods at the man sitting on the rock. I realize he's the only one sitting. Not much is known about the Under King, but I'm sure that's him.

Emmanuel walks closer and again moves the optics up his nose. He peers at the girl and mutters under his breath.

“Burn wounds, excellent. Large areas of burns that reach the reticular layer of the dermis and smaller areas that reach the subcutaneous layer.”

The Lord tsks, and mutters, “Aether Fire, it's even reached adipose tissue. Worst burns are on peripheral limbs and anterior.”

He turns and address the King.

“I need to relocate her to a more sterile environment.”

“Would a room in my establishment work?” Maximus asks. “I need to speak to Henry anyway.”

I shiver.

“Wait, you know this guy?” Renzik asks Maximus.

Ahsheaya shifts and speaks, “Oh, shut up you oaf. I've had enough of your voice to last me another decade.”

“What'd you say to me you shit?”

“Enough,” the man between Maximus and the King, Maximus’s regular, speaks. “You guys are disgracing the title of ‘Lord’.”

Renzik huffs and stares at Ahsheaya who just smiles.

The last man of this group just stands in the back away from the rest of the people here.

He wears a top hat and deep black suit. He taps his black cane occasionally.

I don't like the way he hungrily stares at the girl sometimes. He must be the West Lord, Ephitas.

I remember some man arguing the validity of the West Lords tactics to me once, using child gangs during territorial wars. The man was on his tenth mug.

“Yes, I suppose your establishment is sterile enough, it has plenty of alcohol at least,” Emmanuel says, pushing his optics up his nose with a long finger.

“Then this meeting is over without having settled the topic.”

Renzik shifts on his feet.

“Look, it's not my fault, they don't want to give me anything of equal val-”

The King waves his hand dismissively, cutting the North Lord off.

“It's fine. We meet in three days. Settle matters before then.”

Then the King disappears. He stood up, pulled up his sword from the ground and just vanished, as if he was never here.

I look around bewildered. And then I feel cold.

My vision grows dark.

Ah, I guess I lost too much blood.

I start swaying, I want to pass the girl to Maximus, but I'm not able to speak or move. I begin to fall before I feel someone pick me up and hold me like I hold the girl.

Renzik picked me up. How embarrassing.

And I black out.