Mistress Ariessa Ricon is currently running inside a long dark tunnel located deep underground, trying to keep up with young man in front of her. Right now, they are both fleeing for their lives from whatever nightmarish creatures they are supposed to be “hunting” that week.

Several nearby villages have been plagued with unexplainable disappearance for several months now. Desperate and tired of living in terror, the villagers had sent messengers to the Order of Enahel requesting for help. The Order of Enahel in turn dispatched two of its knights two investigate, Mistress Ricon and the young man.

Both knights scoured the countryside for weeks before they finally discovered an ominous cave located deep within the Black Forest. Venturing into the maze-like caverns, Mistress Ricon and the young man had stumbled upon a vampires’ nest/hidden goblin village.

Discovering they were both heavily outnumbered, both knights decided to return to the surface to get some backup. But Mistress Ricon had accidently alerted the vampires/goblins to their presence and given their locations away. A huge swarm of vampires/army of goblins began pouring out of the nest/hidden village, and Mistress Ricon and the young man are forced to run for their lives. The hunters have now become the hunted, which bring us to the present scene now.

Even though a massive group of monsters is virtually at her heels, even though Mistress Ricon knows that if she was to trip and fall now (thus virtually guaranteeing her death), the female knight isn't panicking at all (well not yet anyway). The reason is the young man in front of her. She could die from blood loss to a vampire’s bite/being stabbed by a goblin’s knife at any moment but right now, Mistress Ricon feels like she’s in the safest place in the world.

The young man suddenly stops running and turns around immediately. “Duck!” he shouts while pulling the sword hanging from his waist. Mistress Ricon follows the young man’s order unquestionably and dives to his side, the young man’s sword sailing inches from her head. She rolls several times before coming to a stop and turning, just in time to see a vampire/goblin falls dead on the cavern floor, its body cleaved from the left hip right up its right shoulder.

The young man sheaths the sword back into its scabbard, turns and stretches out his right hand to Mistress Ricon who is still crouching on the floor. “Let’s continue with our morning jog, shall we?”

Mistress Ricon grabs his warm hand and she is lifted up almost effortless by the young man. Such a display of skill and strength, Mistress Ricon would have let herself be impressed for a few seconds if it wasn't for the fact they are still in grave danger. Together, they begin running again while still holding hands, trying to find a route to the surface to escape from their dire situation.

“Morning jog? Shouldn't it be an evening stroll?”

“It’s evening already? I kind of lost track of time while we’re in here.”

“You have the worst sense of time. And direction too. You've gotten us lost.”

“I got us lost? I thought you were leading the way.”

“Me? But you’re the man here.”

“What the- You’re always on my ass, telling me to follow your orders since you’re the senior. You've picked a hell of a time to dump the leadership on me.”

“I'm not dumping anything on anyone. I'm still the leader of this team, and you still have to follow my orders. Lower your head for a bit.”

*stabs

“Thank you. I still don’t see how we getting lost is my fault.”

“You’re welcome. Well if you didn't doze off early last night, you wouldn't have missed the team meeting where I delegated the role of scouting to you.”

“Team meeting? There’s like only two of us here. And I slept early because it was your turn to keep first watch. Jump to your left please.”

*slashes

“Thanks for that. Seriously, I had a memo informing the date, time and place of the meeting. It’s your own fault for not being aware.”

“It’s a small matter. Well, at least show me the minutes of the meeting so I could read what was being discussed.”

“There aren't any. Bend over backwards for a bit.”

*slices

“Thank you. Let me guess… I was the secretary who was supposed to be taking notes?”

“Don’t mention it. See what I have to deal with? A subordinate who is lazy and…”

“Insubordinate?”

*cuts

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“Ow! You nicked me! There wasn't even any enemy there!”

“I know. That was for the backtalk. Right, that was the word I was looking for: a subordinate who is lazy and backtalks a lot.”

“And I failed to see why we need to have this conversation right now. Or why we are still holding hands.”

“We are having this conversation right now because every time I try to end it, you would always try to get the last word in…”

“Not always…”

“See? And we are still holding hands because you still haven’t let go of mine.”

“Me? I thought you’re the one who refuses to let go. You know…”

“…”

“Because you get scared so easi-OWWW!”

“…”

“My hand! You’re crushing my hand!”

“I'm sorry. This weak scared defenceless woman is so paralysed by fear, she doesn't know her own strength.”

“At least 80% of that statement is a lie!”

Mistress Ricon lets go of the young man’s hand. They are still running… and the enemy is still chasing them… and still there is no sign of an exit,

“Godsdammit woman. I think you broke a few fingers…”

“…”

“Ariessa?”

“I'm scared.”

“I know.”

“…”

“We’ll get through this. This time tomorrow night, you’ll be sitting by a fireplace, sipping on a hot chocolate drink, with a warm bed waiting for you.”

“That’s a comforting last thought,”

“No, it’s something to look forward to. Something to fight for. Something to-”

“Live for.”

“Damn straight.”

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“It’s a small matter.”

“This warm bed, will you be joi-“

“Did you know that you snore?”

“…”

“And loudly too. Seriously, after your shift was over and it was my turn to be the lookout. As soon as your head touches the ground…”

“…”

“Boom. Your loud snoring must have kept half the wild animals away. I didn't even need to keep a vigilant watch for the night.”

“You know what? Give me your hand. I think there’s still some fingers left I haven’t broken yet.”

Before Mistress Ricon could take the young man’s hand so she could “comfort” herself, they found themselves stopping abruptly. The cavern that they have run into has no other way out except for a large chasm in the floor.

“Godsdammit! It’s a dead end, we’re trapped.”

“Oh ye of little faith. We still have another way out of here.”

“What? The giant gaping hole in the ground that leads to Gods know where? And you want us to jump into it? Are you crazy?”

“Hey, don’t knock on the giant gaping hole in the ground until you've tried it. For all you know, it could lead to the candy store. Or the bakery.”

“Okay, now I know you’re definitely crazy.”

“What? Are you telling me you don’t smell the sweet scent of blueberry muffins wafting out from there?”

“Like if you take out a dictionary to look up “crazy”, do you know what you will find?”

“A smiling picture of me?”

“No! The definition of the word crazy, which you absolutely are!”

“Jokes aside, I think there’s a river down there. I can hear the sound of water running.”

“Really? I don’t hear anything.”

“Trust me, I have excellent eyesight.”

“That doesn't even make any sense. And you’re crazy if you think that-”

“But do you trust me?”

“…Yes…”

“Good, that means we’re halfway out of here.”

“And what’s the other half?”

“You and me… taking a leap of faith into the giant gaping hole in the ground… that leads to Gods know where.”

“…”

“You can hold my hand if you like.”

“…come closer to me.”

“Okay I don’t know why we’re huggi-“

“Just so you understand, I'm not hugging you because I'm scared. I'm positioning myself so I could use your body as a pillow to soften the crash we’re bound to suffer when we inevitably smash into the ground. Is that clear?”

“Crystal. Are you ready?”

“No.”

“Good. Do you remember what I told you about the secret of flying?”

“Throwing yourself to the ground and believing in your heart that the earth will move out of the way?”

“In three… two…”

“By the way, that quote is really stu- AHHHHHHHHHHNOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

BANG!

“GOOD MORNING MISTRESS RICON! I'VE BROUGHT YOU SOME BREAKFAST SO YOU CAN HAVE THEM IN BED. DID YOU HAVE A NICE NIGHTMARE?”