Avaria held onto Merrick’s shoulder as she walked through the dim corridors. Her head ached as she tried to focus, and the leg was better now, but she still felt weak. Letting out a strained breath, she signalled to stop for a moment. “Merrick, something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head and looked at the decrepit, rotting stone floor. “I don’t know, but this feeling...”

He helped her stand up and scanned around. “Something’s close?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.” She looked down at Merrick’s sword, the crystal in the middle of the sheath pulsing a soft teal light. He had just used the blade on a man moments earlier, despite her requests for a non lethal approach. They needed to get out of here before more unnecessary death occurred. Merrick started walking again, keeping a firm grip on Avaria’s hand. His green eyes pierced the dark, their emerald hue brightly reflecting any light. He pushed forwards, keeping close to the grimy walls. Avaria suppressed a groan of pain as a wave of nausea passed over her.

Merrick kept glancing behind and above them, scanning for any sign of an attack. He always was on guard despite how many times Avaria told him to relax once in a while. However, right now it was a good thing to be alert. While running was the best option, running blindly was unquestionably dangerous.

She pulled herself up straight, slowly removing her grip from Merrick’s shoulder, calmly taking a deep breath before gently pushing his arm away; he didn’t need to always look after her, and he had other worries right now. Her leg still hurt, but she was able to walk on it without too much trouble. The bone was healed, at least she thought it was. Nevertheless, the pain flared every time she put weight on it. She endured through it; this wasn’t anything compared to what she had felt before. The air grew cold and Avaria shivered. Merrick moved in front of her, keeping his hand ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The stone below their feet scraped as pieces of gravel slid under their boots. Avaria’s head still ached as she tried to flatten out her worn button up shirt, finding the creases to be set in. Old bloodstains lined the whole thing, with tears and cuts being messily stitched together. The top button had fallen off while the rest of them hung by threads. While it would be nice to have a better shirt, this was all she had, and besides, she had just recently gotten rid of the old one. Merrick cursed and looked around the hallways. “We need to get out of here quickly.”

Avaria scanned around, trying to find what was making him even more unsettled than usual. She couldn’t see anything in the dark, just misshapen stone brick and rusted metal bars. It didn’t matter though, he knew what to do.

“Where do we go?”

He paused for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing as he brushed his hand along on the bricks beside him. “The surface.”

He continued his path forwards, slinking next to the wall. He checked back on Avaria and slowed his pace down slightly for her to keep close. She walked forwards as the air got even colder. A shiver shot down Avaria’s spine and a wave of pain washed over her. She clung close to Merrick as he looked back on her, seeing her holding her arms close. “What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him, her breath shaking slightly. “It’s getting cold.”

He frowned and then quickly grabbed onto her arm and started to run the opposite direction. She let out a short gasp of surprise as he pulled her along the halls. Avaria realized Merrick didn’t feel the cold. Her eyes widened in realization. Merrick stopped Avaria quickly as a wall of metal bars flung into their path. Her breathing quickened as she attempted to stay calm as a short chuckle echoed from the opposite end of the hallway, sending a rush of nausea to her head. Merrick’s grip on her hand tightened as she squeezed it, trying to gain some measure of reassurance.

The walls beside them burst open as chains flew out of them, their long links glowing a murky purple. Avaria ducked as the chains whipped over her head. Merrick kept close to her and cursed as he tried to concentrate. The teal crystal faintly flickered as he failed to teleport away with her. He stood up, blocking the chains as they came back around. A low groan of twisting metal suddenly came from behind as the chains slithered away into the darkness. Avaria looked back as the metal grates on the wall slowly pried themselves open. From the now open grates came screeches of ghouls. They had fallen into a trap, and they probably had been walking inside of the trap for a few minutes.

The bars in their path shattered apart as ghouls rushed forwards. Merrick quickly threw a small capsule at the group, grabbing onto his bandaged arm. A flame ignited inside the capsule and it exploded with a sharp crack. Bits of fire poured out, creating a white gas that filled the corridor. The flames stuck to the ghouls, spreading over their skin as they flailed around. Avaria flinched at the smell as the burning ones slowly crawled along the floor. Merrick drew his sword and cut a ghoul’s chest open with one swift movement, quickly moving onto another. He checked back on Avaria as he put his foot back. “Stay close.”

She nodded and remained behind him, keeping a constant eye at her back. Merrick stepped forwards, thrusting into one’s chest, and the metal on the floor rattled beside them as he advanced. Avaria’s eyes widened as everything started moving around her. Chains shot upwards and wrapped themselves around her wrists, and she screamed as metal bars came between her and Merrick. He shoved a ghoul off him and slammed his hand into the barrier. “NO!”

She tried to reach for his hand as she was pulled back, and before she could speak, a chain pulled around her neck, choking her words down her throat. She was pulled to the ground and dragged along, her back slamming into the stone as she went. Her arms felt like they were getting pulled out of their sockets as she struggled to breathe. Metal bars twisted and blocked the path she was dragged away, creating more barriers between her and Merrick. The chains around her neck slid across, unwrapping themselves. She gasped for breath, her eyes frantically scanning around in the dark. The chains dug into her wrists, ripping the skin.

“Well, fancy seeing you here.”

Avaria tried to get up and run, but the chains shot up above her head, pulling her to one spot. She saw the smile under the robes that obscured his body.

“Let’s not be rude now.”

She struggled and desperately begged him. “Tylocke, please don’t do this.”

“Now, now, what are you saying?”

“Please Tylocke, please.” She let out a cry of pain as the chains dug into her wrists tighter. She felt a blade slide across her throat, the thin cut stinging. He let out a long sigh and circled around her, playfullying twirling the knife. “I heard you got your leg broken, how’s that healing?”

She remained silent and tried to get out of the chains, only to feel them bind tighter. He looked her in the eyes, his gaze digging into her. “I’ll assume it’s fine from the fact you were running, although, you should know by now that running leads to consequences.”

Avaria let out a whimper as she braced herself. The blade stabbed into her side, pushing through her skin. She bit back her scream as he ripped the knife out, examining the blood now stained on it.

“I must say, I did miss this.” He took a glance at her as she breathed heavily, hanging from the restraints on the ceiling. Tylocke let out a low grumble and put his hand under her chin, stretching out the cut her made. “Still not struggling, you’re still not trying to kill me?”

She slowly looked up to him, choking on her words. “No, I won’t. ”

He sighed and waved his hand. The chains went slack, causing Avaria to fall to the floor. He knelt down over her, weighing the blade in his hands. “It’s so disappointing, you have so much potential, yet you decide to waste it.”

He circled around her as she got to her knees, holding the wound in her side. His voice swirled in a sneer. “Do I still have to force it out of you? The more useful version?”

“Please… Stop…”

“You know, he would have a lot less trouble if you accepted what you are.”

Avaria shook her head and looked up at him. “I… ”

He let out a small laugh and pointed the knife to her throat. “We’ve seen your handiwork, it’s quite impressive.”

She choked on her breath and backed away from the blade. “I didn’t want to-”

“That makes it better? You didn’t want to? Is it more helpful that you don’t remember it?”

She stared into his eyes, the malice in his voice slithering around her.

“Maybe you’re lying to yourself, have you ever thought about that?”

Avaria remained silent as he stood up, pulling the chains up with him and stretching her arms outwards towards the walls. He dragged his knife under her chin once again, digging deeper into the previous cut. “All you can do is hide behind this facade, but I know better.”

She let out a cry of pain as the sensation of blood trickling down her neck crawled along her skin. He looked down at her, disappointment seething through his teeth. “Nothing to say? I expected more after all this time.”

Without a moment of hesitation, he slid the blade deeper. Avaria tried to breathe but only found blood coming down her throat. She let out a gurgle as her blood spilled over her neck. Tylocke pulled back, thrusting the knife into her stomach. Avaria couldn’t even scream as he stabbed into her again, the pain burning through her body. He drew his knife back and pushed it down into her chest, sliding the blade through her ribcage. Avaria felt her heart stutter as it was pierced, her desperate struggles slowly stopping. Her hands quivered in the chains as she slumped down on her knees, her arms splayed outwards as she looked up at the mockingly gleeful face above her. Her lips slowly parted as she tried to take a last breath, only to remember her throat was slit open. The world slowly darkened as the blade was ripped out of her chest and she went limp, her arms still held up by the chains. I’m sorry Merrick, I’m so sorry.