Waking up was slow.
I didn’t mind it.
When I finally woke, I stood and picked up my sword.
It had rusted, which annoyed me. I found oil in my bag and cared for it. Satisfied, I finally paid attention to what was around me.
A pallet, disturbed and blood soaked next to battered armor was all that came to eye in the run down room. An equally dilapidated door barely closed off the room from whatever lay beyond it.
It seemed somehow appropriate.
I donned the armor, which fit well. It was mine, a companion to many battles in the past.
The door was a poor obstacle and I stepped into a wide opening constrained only by other, falling down buildings and a high cavernous ceiling.
I was underground.
Light came from…somewhere. I didn’t know where and was less curious in finding out. Only one thing dominated this desolate scene.
A beached whale.
Or, so it looked like, one battered and scarred, barely alive.
I walked up to it. A giant eye lolled open, the pupil milky white. It breathed upon me, filling my form with a strange fiery energy.
I poked at my chest, then laid a hand on the breastplate. I could feel a heat and pulling it up, I could see a flame tattoo emblazoned on my skin. It was giving off the heat.
It reminded me of my sword, which I picked up. Swinging it back and forth, I felt it cut the air. Mimicking battle, I danced a grim dance of cut and evade, strike and shield.
I could fight.
Ignoring the strange whale, I walked away. One path looked like another. I chose one at random and walked.
I came to a falling down sign on rusted chains. It spelled out, “Enchiridion”. After some thought, I decided the name meant nothing to me and walked past it.
The path was faded and dim, full of ruined buildings in the dim light. Curiosity had died in me long ago so none of it was interesting. A mass of trash jiggled. It made me cautious and I kept an eye on it.
When amorphous blobs crawled out from it, I knew what they were immediately.
Slimes.
A couple of them. I stepped forward, eager for the the fight, the fire on my chest burning hot.
The first was easy to slice in half, though I found the attack ineffective as it remorphed back into a shape just as easily as I cut it.
I dodged another as it extended a strand of its body to attach to me.
This move. It…reminded me of something and I used it to attack and defend at the same time. If I move…this way…and dodge…that way…yes! That’s how I did it before!
Intrigued, I slipped away from them, using the sword to attack and defend, setting up the attacks that followed to hit for even more power.
Time and a keen eye found the bit of metal I needed to strike sparks. The fires lit the trash and a bit of herding consigned the slimes to a fiery death.
The smell was horrible.
It also attracted attention. Groups of thickly shrouded men wearing large avian skulls poured out of the buildings. I eluded them by staying to the shadows and hiding my footsteps behind the strange chanting they did as they moved around.
Terrible way to find someone. Making so much noise…in my ignorance I missed one. He (it?) jumped out at me from a run down building. I blocked its attack and slipped the follow up. It was persistent, however, seeming to gain in strength as it muttered and chanted. Deciding I like that little and no mind to fight more, I stepped deeply into its guard, clashing with its weapon. It reminded me of a little secret and I used the clash to cut it with the blade at the same time I stopped its attack. It seemed no the wiser and I repeated it several times before I slipped the blade into its throat.
Feeling the hidden gaze of more of them, I dived into an alley and through a smashed doorway into a rotting building. It contained an idol made of wood, swollen from moisture and splitting. Sneering, I kicked a random chunk of debris and hit it. It must have set off some old trap or maybe just bad luck. The ceiling collapsed and I barely made it out without being crushed. Just not without taking a big splinter in the leg. I cursed the idol as I pulled it out and limped away.
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