Where am I?

Is this? No… this isn’t the void. So I’m not dead?

This is a dream?

My vision was fuzzy and the odd feeling of being awake but not quite clouded my mind. I was dreaming but at the same time, it felt real. I don’t understand where I am or what is going on.

I moved my head around but all I saw was blurry after images. My vision was delayed and I was seeing only choppy bits of what was going on around me. I stopped trying to look around and focused on what was in front of me. But I couldn’t make out anything.

My vision blackened and then there was nothing.

My mind swam and it felt as if I was being tossed around in a whirlpool. My body feels as if it's been destroyed, the only thing left is my head. Time itself seemed to be playing tricks on my feeble mind since I could not discern how long I had been in that whirlpool. Was it just a few seconds? Days? Years?

What is happening to me?

My vision returned to the same fuzzy scene. My eyes focused if only a little and I could finally make out something. Pillars of light seemed to descend from the inky black haze. The pillars were not that large and there were five of them in total. Behind the five pillars of light was a figure made entirely of brilliant golden light. Its shape was indescribable and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what I was witnessing.

The feeling of somebody walking behind me tickled my addled mind but I could not turn around. I could no longer move at all. My vision was stuck facing forward gazing out into the light.

An enigma walked from the corner of my vision and stood in front of me. The enigma was somehow darker than even the hazy shadow scape that lay before me. No, darker wasn’t the right word to describe this thing. It was somehow nothing, almost as if the void of death had gained shape. An odd familiarity scratched at the deepest recess of my mind.

The void figure had no defining features at all as it appeared before me. The figure seemed to be looking out at the pillars of light alongside me. Suddenly multiple larger pillars of light shot down from above. They were not as big as the first massive golden figure but far larger than the original five pillars. Their light was both blinding and brilliant and it felt as if it was trying to draw me in.

While I was looking at the pillars of the light, I got the vague impression that the void figure was watching me. I managed to peel my eyes away from the light and looked at it. Suddenly it shot out towards me but a blinding light engulfed me.

—-

“What?!” I yelled.

I suddenly woke from whatever dream I had just gone through. The hazy feeling that I had just woken up lingered. But was that really a dream? It wasn’t like any dream I’ve ever had. It felt so real. So familiar yet so foreign.

Sweat pooled on my chest and ran down my forehead. I ran my right hand across my mask and was relieved to find it undamaged and still on me. There didn’t seem to be any cracks and the seal around my face remained intact.

My right hand… huh?

I looked down and there it was, my right hand. It felt off a little and on the weak side but it was there, attached back to my arm. I could even move my fingers again. I closed my hands but the realization washed over me like a flood.

I’m not in pain right now. Tired and somewhat weak but not in pain. Feels kind of like blood loss?

And my leg? It… doesn't hurt? My… my chest? My ears? I can hear again… and they don’t hurt.

The phantom pains are gone.

I looked up and tried to keep the tears from forming. This was the first time in almost six years that I haven’t woken up in pain. I twitched my ears in bliss. The sounds of the empty cave I was sitting in were wonderful.

Where am I?

I looked around and found myself laying on the cold hard ground. My back hurt and my limbs ached but that was fine. This was fine.

A gloomy light blue glow was the only available light. I looked up towards the ceiling and the darkness seemed to stretch on forever. There was a wall to my left and a pile of rocky debris not too far away but everything else was just empty space illuminated by the blue light.

I looked down at my clothes and they were completely torn to shreds exposing my bare chest but I was uninjured. I ran my hand across the familiar scar that had been paining me since that fateful day in the jungle and found that it didn’t hurt or itch. Even my smaller scars didn’t hurt anymore.

That adult Wyrm… My goliath hide clothing, did it save my life? But how do I have no injuries whatsoever? How did I go from being dead to feeling better than I have in years? I just don’t understand…

I rolled over and pushed myself onto my knees. From there I slowly pushed myself up and onto my feet. I put some weight on my right leg but crumbled back to the ground.

I started laughing. I didn’t fall because I was hurt, I fell because my leg felt weak. The weakness in my calf was a product of atrophy, not a crippling disability.

Hahaha, this is amazing.

I repeated the same process and stood upright. I needed a crutch or something to help me walk. I thought about my sword but I remembered I took it out of my ring in a futile attempt to stop the Wyrm. I scanned the ground but it was nowhere to be seen. I settled for the sword’s scabbard and summoned it into my right hand. It seems it doesn’t matter which hand has the ring, I can summon items anywhere on my person with just a thought.

I noticed something odd about the pile of rocks and using my crutch I hobbled my way over to it. It felt wonderful to be able to walk again even in this state. Not being in constant pain… I forgot what it was like.

But this is a trail of dry blood? And that’s…

It looked as if somebody had been dragged across the floor. I followed the trail of blood and next to the pile of fallen rocks was a pool of dry blood. But laying in the pool of dried blood was… a severed leg.

A light tan leg… cut from the knee down… it’s pretty small probably belongs to somebody young…and…

That’s my leg, isn’t it?

I used my scabbard and moved the leg around. It had a long gash across the back of its calf that resembled the wound I had. The cut was also clean and extremely precise. I looked down at my new leg and found my pants leg from knee down was missing. My calf was free of any kind of wounds. The skin was soft and smooth to the touch. Regardless, it was undeniable, the severed leg in front of me was mine. And somebody took the time to even put my boot back on for me.

So this is my blood. This is why I feel so weak and light-headed. But this blood is old, at least a few days. So how long have I been out? But if my limbs have been regrown that means somebody healed me. I’m not alone.

I looked around but I didn’t see any evidence of other people. I scrounged around the rubble and a little further into the darkness from where I had been laying but I couldn’t find a body or anyone else. No campfires, no sleeping bags, no evidence that somebody else was down here with me.

I focused on my hearing and tried to discern anything in the darkness. I marveled at the fact that it felt like I could hear so much further than I could as a child. I heard the light dribbling of water somewhere off in the distance. But then I heard a set of light footsteps.

They weren’t running but just walking slowly in my direction. They were far away so I decided to get a bit closer and meet them halfway.

If I was going to survive down here… wherever here was, I needed to strengthen my leg once more. My hand didn’t feel all that weak surprisingly but it wasn’t in tip-top shape either.

The walking grew louder and I was able to discern more about the person from just sound alone. I was confident it was a person and not a monster that was walking towards me. At least whatever it was walking on two feet and wearing shoes.

I stopped next to an odd crystal and ran my hand over it and it was cold to the touch. The crystal was the source of this pale light blue glow baking the area. They were embedded in the side of the gray rock face. They spread out haphazardly which lead to some sections of this place being completely dark. I’ve never seen a crystal that could give off its own light. Is it some kind of magic?

The footsteps of the encroaching person became louder and louder until eventually, I could make them out. Walking towards me was a girl wearing all black from head to toe. The tight-fitting clothing hugged her modest frame and seemed to be made of a mixture of cloth and leather and it made her look almost like some kind of assassin.

Her clothing was also caked in dark brown blood and splatters of fresh blood were mixed in. A few gashes were cut across her outfit revealing her pale undamaged skin beneath. Beautiful locks of purple and black hair rolled off her shoulders and High Ears poked from the sides of her head. She was wearing a bronze mask that covered her entire face and a single dark blue eye was gazing at me.

“Finally awake?” Sylvia’s beautiful voice called out to me.

“Sylvia… is that really you?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure who I was expecting but she was towards the bottom of the list. I partially suspected Silent or maybe even Anna. I thought maybe one of those two might have had the ability to heal me but had been holding back for some reason. Sylvia however…

“Yes, it’s really me,” she said while stopping a few feet away from me, crossing her arms. “How are your injuries?”

“My leg is still very weak and my hand needs some work but I’m not in pain anymore.”

“Glad to hear because I need you. Actually, we need each other. I can’t do anything about the weakness but I should have healed everything else.” She said while walking towards me slowly.

And that was the problem. Sylvia has clearly been fighting monsters in this dark abyss and not only that she just confirmed that she was the one who healed me.

Why? But more importantly how?

If she has this kind of ability then why did she ever need guards in the first place? We have been together for weeks yet now she suddenly decided to heal me? And this feeling in my body… it’s something else… I don’t like it.

She was just using me. She was using all of us, wasn’t she?

“So listen, I- What?!”

I cut Sylvia off as I lunged towards her, dagger in hand. It was a shaky lunge but it would serve its purpose. The shoddy dagger was inches away from Sylva’s heart when suddenly a loud clang rang out.

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A thin-bladed sword had materialized out of thin air and into her hand. The Estoc was a silvery-white color and had red streaks running along the middle of the blade. My dagger connected with the flat of the blade and Sylvia tried stepping back but I was already throwing myself forward for a follow-up stab. I wouldn’t be able to land on my bad leg but even if I fell forward I would be falling forward into her backpedal.

I felt a pinch in the back of my neck almost like a thin needle breaking my skin. I lost all feeling and control of my body as I fell forward. My hands went limp and the dagger dropped to the ground with a clatter, followed by my face. I didn’t even feel anything other than a wave of numbness. It felt like my entire body had lost circulation.

I need to try some magic.

But I failed at that too. It felt as if my mana was trapped in my chest once more just like my days when I was a slave wearing a Slave Collar.

Slave Collar… but I’m not wearing one? I checked my body and I wasn’t wearing anything I didn’t recognize. What does this mean? How is she disabling me like this?

“What are you doing?! Why did you just attack me?!” Sylvia yelled in surprise.

I tried to answer but I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move my body to look at her.

“Guess you can’t talk… idiot. Did you hit your head while you were sleeping?” Sylvia scoffed.

Sylvia grabbed my body then flipped me over so I was on my back and looking up at her.

“Listen here. I’m not sure what is going through that thick skull of yours but you clearly don’t understand the situation we are in right now.” Sylvia said while looking over me. “We are at the bottom of a dungeon. I’m not even sure how long we fell, but it was long enough for me to wake up after blacking out after you crashed into me. I barely had enough time to heal you in mid-air. Then we continued to fall for far longer than I care to admit. We are probably hundreds of floors deep in a completely unknown dungeon.”

Hundreds of floors? How did we survive the fall?

“We are surrounded by monsters that have been coming in waves at random intervals, thankfully they only come one side at a time. I’ve been healing and protecting you for at least three days non-stop. And I’m tired and starving. And right now we need to work together. Because if we don’t we are both going to die down here.”Sylvia said the last part while poking me in the top of the head with her finger. Then she sighed. “I’m going to release you with the hopes that you understand now.”

This doesn’t make sense. Why is she defending me? If she is capable of clearing the monsters then she is capable of clearing this floor. Her pack is missing but if she fell then her food and water must be somewhere so her starving makes no sense. Something isn’t adding up, she should have let me die.

I regained control of my body slowly. It felt like my blood was rushing back and the tingling sensation that you get after your leg falls asleep racked my body. It was very unpleasant.

I moved to sit up while Sylvia took a few steps back and crossed her arms. I didn’t have any plans to attack her again. I might have lashed out in anger but it was mostly just to see what she was capable of… mostly.

She sighed, “We should start by trusting each other. Even though I’m not sure I can trust somebody who just tried to stab me…”

“How did you stop me? I didn’t sense any magic and you blocked my mana. How did you heal me? And-”

“How about instead of telling you I just show you. Besides, even if I told you there is no way you would believe me.” Sylvia interrupted.

“Show me what?” I asked.

“It can be our first trust exercise. We take off our masks,” she suggested.

“Not happening.”

She sighed again, “Listen, Voker, I know you aren’t what you appear to be. I was the one that cut your leg off after all. I literally watched the color of your leg change right before my eyes.”

“You took my mask off? And cut my leg off? Why…” I trailed off.

“I swear I didn't touch your mask. And why?” Sylvia turned her head away, “Because your leg was damaged significantly. It took me less time and… resources… to regrow your leg than if I tried to heal it. I’m sorry I couldn’t heal any of your scars on your chest but I figured you didn’t want to be flayed alive. Not that I would do that anyways… Cutting your leg off was already hard enough for me…”

Sylvia turned back to face me but it looked like her pale skin had changed colors too. Was it because she was disgusted? Maybe…

Sylvia continued, “I know you are a Dark Elf… well part Dark Elf even though I thought it was impossible. Your ears are real as far as I can tell.”

“And if I am?”

“Voker, I'm not threatening you. I’m being serious when I say we need each other. I need you.”

“Why? Shouldn’t you have enough food? That silver ring on your finger is a spatial storage ring, isn’t it? Your sword came out of thin air and it wasn’t an illusion. That much I’m certain of. I just don’t understand why you healed me,” I argued.

Sylvia sighed and ran her hands through her purple hair. “Yes, I have a spatial storage ring. And like I said it would just be easier to show you than tell you. I’ll even take my mask off first if that’s what it’s going to take.”

“Do it.”

“You promise me?” she asked.

“Yes.”

"Fine…” she said begrudgingly.

I got up from the ground and took out my scabbard from my ring once again so I could lean on it. Sylvia reached for her bronze mask and took it off slowly. And I was surprised, to say the least.

It was true that I’ve never seen an Elf that I considered being ugly but Sylvia seemed to be a cut above the rest. She was as beautiful as her voice. Her elegant High Elf features and unblemished pale skin were accentuated by her dark purple and black hair. If I had to guess she was probably a few years older than me. Around fourteen or fifteen. She might even give Mom a run for her money.

But oddly enough she was keeping her eyes closed. Then she opened them and my heart sank.

“How… how is that possible?” I muttered.

Anger swelled in my chest and clouded my mind.

“That’s rich coming from a mixed Elf that shouldn’t exist. I don’t need to see your face to tell that you are scowling at me. I’m sorry about your injuries but I wasn’t the one that hurt you,” Sylvia scoffed.

“Shouldn't exist? You are the one that shouldn’t exist! Are those really your eyes?!” I questioned in disbelief and anger.

“I told you it would be easier to just show you. And yes, these are my real eyes,” said pointedly.

Redder the deader.

Sylvia’s eyes should have been impossible. She shouldn’t exist. My existence was just pure luck. If two Elves from different subspecies tried to conceive it would happen eventually. But this…

They still lacked the swirling motion that every other race shared in this world but there was no empty color in those eyes. Unlike the two vampires I had seen, Sylvia was staring at me with completely crimson eyes. They were so bright they seemed to shine like rubies in the dim light. I remember reading that only the ancient vampires had fully red eyes.

“How?”I asked.

“We can talk about that later. And I promise I’ll tell you but I need to get some rest and I… need to eat. So now it’s your turn, please.”

Despite her beautiful voice, I could tell she was frustrated. She had bags underneath her crimson eyes and she looked dead tired. And eat? Oh…

“So that’s why you need me… You need my blood,” I said coldly.

“Yes, that’s right. I need to drink your blood or I’ll die. My stash is nearly empty. I have extra food I'll give you in return. And I promise I won’t take any more blood than I have to. I can even increase the rate at which your blood replenishes. And I didn’t even drink from you while you were recovering…”

“And if I say no?”

Sylvia balled her fists and glared at me in anger, “I don’t know what you want from me! I saved you from falling to your death! I healed your wounds even though it took most of my power and energy! Then I even protected you for days while you slept and recovered! You might be strong but you will die down here alone! The monsters will wear you down until you can’t go on anymore! This floor is massive! It could take days to find the exit!”

I guess she is right. And even though I’ve been fully healed my leg is still not perfect. It’s going to take days to get my leg back to normal. And if the monsters are indeed coming in waves I would run out of mana and stamina eventually… sigh.

“Fine. I understand,” I said.

I grabbed my mask and willed it into my spatial storage ring. I hated to admit it but she was right. I needed to be able to sleep even if that meant putting a marginal amount of faith into her. I watched as the color of my skin went from a cream white into my normal light tan.

Sylvia watched me and her mouth opened slightly revealing her fangs.

“I… I thought you said you were disfigured?” she asked.

“Obviously it was a cover. You were the one that healed me after all, right?”

“I did think it was weird that you didn’t have any injuries on your face. I thought maybe you just had similar scars on your face as you do on your chest. Your mask changes so much about you. I didn’t expect you to look like this.” Sylvia leaned a little closer, “You have different colored eyes too… I’ve never seen someone with two different colored eyes before. And your skin and hair color is that of a Dark Elf. But your face looks like a High Elf and so do your ears…. you really are mixed aren’t you?”

“Clearly.”

Sylvia leaned back and narrowed her eyes, “Even with your mask off you're the same. Whatever.”

I scoffed at her and summoned a pair of seats made of earth magic so I could sit down. Standing on my leg was getting tiring and I needed a few seconds to sit down. Besides, the quicker I feed her the sooner she will go to sleep.

“You can use earth magic?” Sylvia asked with surprise.

“Yes. Now sit down so we can get this over with.”

Sylvia moved closer and sat down in the chair with a sigh. I extended my arm towards her but she just looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing….” she grabbed my hand and held it close to her mouth then stopped short. “Hey… what’s your name? I mean your real name?”

“Who said Voker wasn’t my real name?”

“I just know it’s not.”

“So what. Do you need to know my name to drink my blood? Wasn’t a problem for the last one.”

“That’s! I just… it feels weird drinking the blood of somebody I don’t know, okay? I’m not some kind of monster…”

Uh, huh.

“Kaladin.”

“Kaladin?” she asked.

“Kaladin,” I reaffirmed.

With our little exchange done, Sylvia grabbed my arm gently and lifted it towards her face. She opened her mouth revealing her sharp fangs but stopped and looked at me again with her crimson eyes.

“What now?” I asked.

“Thank you,” she said quickly.

Then in one quick motion, she sank her fangs into my arm. It was so fast I barely registered it. It felt like being poked with two small syringes. Her fangs were smaller and they must have been even sharper than Jessine’s. Was she making them smaller? Maybe it’s because she is younger? And what’s this weird numbing sensation? I don’t remember Jessine doing this to me. Or maybe Jessine was just trying to hurt me every time?

The feeling of my blood leaving my body washed over me as she started sucking. But she stopped only after a few seconds. She wiped the blood off her mouth and my arm with her sleeve and laid back on the stone chair.

“Why did you stop? Surely that wasn’t enough.”

After having my blood drained by a vampire for an entire year I, unfortunately, understood just how much it took to sate their thirst.

“Because you are still recovering. I don’t want you to pass out when you are fighting. With your leg still not in perfect shape you are going to need everything else working. Besides, I still have some left in reserve anyway.”

I see. I erected a small hut out of earth magic so she had a place to sleep. It would also make finding her easier when I came back. I tried using the gray stone that was around me but I couldn’t force it to move with my magic.

So it is the same stone that was at the bottom of Sandervile?

“Sylvia, what kind of magic did you use on me?” I asked.

“We can talk about it later,” she huffed while crouching into the earth hut.

“And your origins?” I asked.

“I said later.”

“Okay then…get some sleep.”

“I already planned on it!” Sylvia yelled back in frustration from inside the hut.

“But before you do. Tell me about these monsters I’m about to go kill.”

“FINE FINE FINE!” she complained.

“Thanks… I guess.”

This is going to be a nightmare.