“I’m not doing it.”

‘Yeah, I’m going to have to agree. That’s pretty far down.’ Tar had been unsummoned when Cael entered the dungeon. Since he didn’t have enough points in [Intelligence] Cael couldn’t even resummon the elemental yet.

That meant they were stuck using Cael’s eyes to stare into the seemingly bottomless hole in the center of the server room.

“I promise it’s not that far down.” In the darkness of the pit, Cael could barely make out the flashing of metal moving around.

“What’s your name?”

“My creator called me the Avatar of War.”

“That’s-” Cael was interrupted.

“As a nickname, you may call me Ava.”

Cael stared at the metal ladder that was slowly extending toward him. A handful of metal elementals skittered around on its surface, adding to its shape like an unsettling 3D printer.

“Oh. I thought you were going to make me jump.”

“No, you would have died.” The small metal beings completed their task and melded into the wall once more. Cael took a careful step onto the ladder. After all, he had seen its construction and knew that the whole thing was hollow. Contrary to his expectations though, he found that it didn’t wobble even after he had eased his whole body’s weight onto it. He happily began to descend into the darkness.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ava.”

“I have to disagree. Your presence here means that either my defenses are insufficient, or I don’t really exist.”

Cael couldn’t really say anything to that.

“Oh. Well, thank you for making the ladder.” He wasn't sure if it was on purpose, but the scored surface allowed him to easily keep his footing.

The ladder ended on a small metal platform, also rough and with railing on the sides so that Cael wouldn’t fall over the edge.

“Go in there.”

It was too dark to see properly, but Cael’s hands were still able to find the rim of a tunnel bored into the side of the hole. A few thick wires branched into this tunnel, laying haphazardly along the bottom. He leaned down and felt around.

“Do I have to crawl?” The small tunnel didn’t seem to be tall enough for him to stand. It was a tight fit already, and he was basically squatting. “Don’t answer that one. I already know I do.”

“Continue until the junction. You will be taking a right.”

‘Well, I guess you did say there wasn’t a regular exit.’

This crawling position was not helping the pain in Cael’s ribs and he had to take a short break on the way, but after a while of crawling, he did manage to reach the junction. It was pitch black, so he had almost knocked his head on the wall, but he had managed to catch himself.

He turned right.

“What’s my next turn?” There was no response for a bit, so he continued in silence.

A thunderous groaning echoed past him and the tunnel jolted, tossing Cael to the ground. A metal shriek followed.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ava?” Cael clutched his side with a grimace, “What’s going on?” She didn’t answer for a few seconds, and Cael didn't move, unwilling to continue without more information.

“Turn around.” She finally answered.

“What?” Cael picked himself up and stared into the darkness, waiting for clarification.

“Turn around now! Run!” For the first time, Ava’s voice shifted away from its regular emotionless state. Cael didn’t like it.

“What’s going on?!” Cael asked again. He was a little scared, but he turned around and started to crawl in the opposite direction.

“Don’t talk.”

“Be quiet.”

“It might hear you!”

Ava sent a rush of thoughts all at once before they solidified into something concrete. “Just move!”

“It?” Cael whispered as quietly as he could. Not talking was out of the question, but he could at least try to be quieter.

Another shriek came from behind him. It was not metallic. It was animalistic.

Monstrous.

His already pounding heart sped up, adrenaline dulling the pain in his ribs to nothing.

He moved.

‘Ava, what the hell is that?’

“The Enemy. Type 39, tier 5.”

‘Tier what?! Elaborate!’

“[Swarm Lancer, Level 210].”

Cael almost crumpled when his hand caught on a thick cable. It was a miracle he hadn’t collapsed already. His breathing was growing ragged from panic and exertion, but he had to keep moving.

He might die if he stopped.

“It’s coming. Go faster!” She commanded.

Cael threw himself forward, ignoring the way his knees slammed into the metal. He clawed his way forward, scrambling over the wires and cables he couldn’t see.

“Right!”

Cael dove to the side, blindly trusting her guiding voice. His thigh slammed into the wall painfully enough that it cut through his panicked thoughts. His breathing grew more erratic as he dragged himself down the tunnel toward the faint red light at the end of it.

“When you get to the end, I need you to jump as far as you can!”

The creature shrieked again and Cael fought the urge to look back. It sounded like it was right behind him.

The monster slammed into the wall behind Cael. Then it saw him. He knew it had.

It roared. Not an eerie shriek like it had been doing up to this point, but a deep bestial sound that shook the air and rattled Cael’s bones.

‘Cael, jump!’

His hand slipped over the edge and Cael almost went tumbling into the abyss beyond the tunnel. He barely managed to catch himself on one of the cables.

In the brief moment he needed to rebalance himself, he could hear the monster’s footsteps, pounding closer and louder.

He leaned out, over the void, and grit his teeth. Then he kicked off the wall, throwing himself as far as possible into the darkness.

And he was falling again

“A-Ava?”

“Hold your breath!”

That was all the warning she gave before Cael impacted something wet and sunk into it. Instantly, the light cut out and he lost his bearings.

A few seconds passed as he struggled to find the surface, but the liquid was thicker than water could be and he struggled to move within it.

His lungs were already burning after his panicked flight from the creature, and Cael desperately needed to breathe.

‘Tar, I can’t breathe. I- I don’t know-’ Cael was struggling to find the words in his panic. Tar got it though.

‘Ava, where’s the surface? We’re running out of oxygen.’

“Just wait a little longer. Right now there is no surface.” She sounded distracted, like her focus was on something completely removed from Cael’s imminent asphyxiation.

‘We can’t wait any longer.’

“Hold on for a few more seconds. I need to move you further…”

Cael dragged his hand through the thick liquid to pinch his nose and mouth. He knew he shouldn’t breathe in any liquid, but the painful contraction of his lungs was making that more and more difficult with each passing moment.

His lungs screamed their need through searing agony that dug into his chest and tore muffled screams from his covered lips.

Cael was going to die here, wasn’t he? Suffocated in a pool of who knows what? His vision was turning starry around the edges. He’d expected everything to start turning black, but maybe it already had. It was impossible to tell, as dark as it already was.

Something popped distantly, and Cael was thrown sideways, instantly ejected from the liquid. He slid across the floor for a second before slamming into the wall and blacking out.