It took me about half an hour to reach the site of the cave. I cast a wary glance to see if there were any players nearby. There weren’t. Though it was dark enough that players could be watching me from behind snow balls and I wouldn’t know. I quickly entered the cavern. And then I summoned Fono.

“How did you find this cave?” he asked, arriving ten minutes later, squeezing in through the opening that was narrow for someone of his body proportions.

“I made a sacrifice,” I said. “I can no longer transform into any monster now.”

“That’s madness!”

“No, the sacrifice had to be made. It was important.” I told him. He still seemed to think that I had paid too great a price, especially since prolonged searching eventually got you to the location of the doors. But he kept quiet.

I filled up the place with more monsters one by one. To divert attention away from the cave and to fool the players, I asked some others to huddle together at a faraway place and make a racket.

And then the wait began. The hours began to pass. I was always alert for any new updates from the monsters. But the players seemed to have fallen for the ruse. They were concentrating their efforts apparently on the location where I had asked a number of my monsters to band.

Only a few players ever stepped into the vicinity of the cave. Those who did were dealt with swiftly and secretly. Five hours went by.

Perhaps this would be the level where we would thwart the players.

Then eight hours went by thus. It was definitely a long wait, made longer by the aches from my bruises. My health dipped further. I feared a single punch from a strong fist could knock out one of my lives. But with some optimism I calculated that if I could only hold the players for three or four hours then the quest would be won. All the sacrifices I had made would be worth it.

But that was not to be so.

I was reclined against the wall of the tunnel a little distance away from my devotees, when the fabric of space ripped apart and a portal formed. Three players strode through. Three warriors, but none equipped with any visible weapons. One of them still held a sacrifice stone. They barged in so suddenly that for the first few moments I thought I was just seeing an apparition.

And it was only when the players skittered in the direction of the frozen lake, beyond which was the invaluable small door, that I recognized the graveness of the situation.

I sped after the trio, mindlessly leaving my sword leaning against the wall, and forgetting in my haste even to notify my monsters about the intruders. All my stout soldiers had their heads locked at the mouth of the cave, expecting it to be the only entry way of raiders.

“They are inside!” I now alerted the lot.

But the players had already reached the pool. Using sight I got to know they were all noobs. They were likely elite warriors who had sacrificed all their levels to receive the location of the door.

I caught the last one of them by his arm and grappled with him. He was the same one who had the sacrifice stone with him. The stocky warrior closest to the pond cautiously stepped on the thin ice layer, only to crash into the chilling water with a shriek.

The red haired player I had grabbed tried to peel my fingers off his skin. I had spotted a small knife on his belt but I was determined not to let him use it on me. Meanwhile, as the stocky guy drowned, the third player, who had a curved barbell on his left eyebrow, leapt for the far edge of the pond, placing his foot on his drowning friend’s head to give himself a boost mid-leap.

But he missed by a handful of meters and made a great splash in the deathly cold liquid.

My monsters were drawing near, and the player I was holding onto realized that his doom was certain. He snarled with so much anger that his red hair stood up like a cat’s, and he wrenched one hand out of my grip and slammed the fist-sized sacrifice stone on my forehead.

I recoiled, losing all sense of space and the next moment I felt my cheek against the grainy cave floor. Warm blood trickled down from above my eyes.

I watched, my vision blurring, as Red Hair Guy leapt first on one of his drowning friends and then on the next, and with relative ease reached the far side of the pond with the door.

As he stooped to touch it, my health turned to zero.

I died.

***

I was gently beating my wings, massive aerodynamic structures that extended from the sides of my reptilian figure.

I was a dragon, hovering at an unimaginable altitude amongst the clouds. I had only one part of my body yet to dispose.

My legs.

I placed these on a cloud. For a moment I thought that the lower limbs would just slip through the clump of water vapor and hit the ground thousands of feet below.

The legs stayed on the cloud.

It was a firm cloud, much like the other white masses in the neighborhood. Someone could walk on these if they wished. In Heaven you can do such crazy things.

***

A bright message appeared in the darkness.

You second life begins in three… two… one. Now!—

***

General Information:

Name: Vicky

Affinity/Inclination: Evilun

Honors: King of all Eviluns

Level: 5

(Health/Strength): 3877/4000

Stamina:461/500

Mana: 368/400

Average Trust and Fit of Fellows: 55

Sacrifices made: quick recovery with a health vial, transform spell