Zeni awoke with a start, momentarily disoriented by her new surroundings.

Where am I?

Slowly, her memory returned and she shivered, looking around.

The fading light filtering through the cavern's ceiling painted the sky with vivid hues of orange and purple, a clear indication that the sun was setting. As she lay there, she became acutely aware of the dull, throbbing pain in every inch of her body—a not-so-subtle reminder of the life-and-death struggle she had just endured.

But something was decidedly off. The suffocating weight of the monstrous creature was no longer pressing her into the ground, and she wasn't even in the same spot anymore. Instead, she found herself on the other side of the pool of water from where she’d been, away from the treacherous sands. Her head rested on her pack, and Neith's borrowed cloak was draped over her like a makeshift blanket, providing a surprising sense of comfort.

Confusion swirled through her mind as she tried to piece together how she had ended up there. The last thing she remembered was the beast's dying thrashes and the darkness that had claimed her consciousness.

As she pondered her situation, the tantalizing scent of cooking meat wafted through the air, pulling her out of her reverie. Zeni lifted herself up with great difficulty, her muscles protesting every movement, as if they were staging a mutiny against her battered body. Behind her, she spotted a merrily crackling campfire, its flames casting flickering shadows on the cavern walls like a troupe of cavorting imps.

Beside the fire sat the imposing figure of the fully-armored warrior, his attention seemingly focused on the hypnotic dance of the flames.

What? She thought. Why is he here? Did he yank that creature off of me?

It was impossible to discern his thoughts, as his helmet remained firmly in place, hiding any hint of his expression. As Zeni stirred, the massive man turned his head slightly to regard her, his helmet's eye slits revealing nothing of his emotions.

It was in this peculiar situation that Zeni found herself—nursing sore muscles and a bruised ego—wondering what sort of joke had been played on her. The cavern, which had so recently been a chamber of terror, had transformed into a cozy alcove, a relative haven of warmth and safety.

If nothing else, she could be grateful for the unexpected turn of events, though she couldn't help but be wary of the hulking warrior who had apparently come to her rescue. The sight of him, a silent sentinel by the fire, was both reassuring and unnerving. She was filled with questions, but her aching body demanded rest and sustenance before she could attempt to unravel the mysteries that surrounded her.

Zeni's eyes flicked back and forth between the armored warrior and the shagallu corpse, her mind racing as she tried to piece together the situation. Panic suddenly swelled within her as she realized that the Ankh could have been taken while she was unconscious. She squinted at the ogre-like beast, her heart skipping a beat as she noticed that the faint glow still emanated from within its body. She sighed in relief. The Ankh remained.

Maybe he doesn’t know? She thought, regarding the armored figure. Maybe he just thinks it's a regular ol’ glowy monster?

With a determined grimace, she attempted to stand, her legs wobbling like a newborn calf's. Each step toward the fire was a Herculean effort, her muscles protesting vehemently as she approached the silent, hulking figure.

"You, uh, wouldn't happen to be the one who moved that monster off me, would you?" Zeni asked, her voice wavering but resolute.

The armored warrior remained as silent as a tomb, but Zeni wasn't one to let a little thing like a lack of response deter her.

“Well, I suppose I should thank you, in any case," she said, shifting her gaze to the mangled remains of the winged creature lying next to the ogre-like beast. She shuddered, her mind conjuring images of the creature's final moments as it thrashed above her.

"What's on the menu, then?" she asked, trying to inject a bit of levity into the situation.

The armored man stirred, making a slight gesture in the direction of the winged beast. Zeni's stomach roiled. There was no way she was going to be able to eat one of those—those things.

Stolen story; please report.

But…then her stomach made a sound akin to a dying whale, and she realized she was hungrier than she thought.

"Mmm! Nothing like a bit of flying terror for supper," she quipped, attempting to hide her unease.

With a resigned sigh, Zeni settled down near the fire, her legs shaking like a poorly made jelly. As she tried to get comfortable, she couldn't help but wonder what other peculiar nonsense awaited her beyond this point.

The armored warrior remained silent, but Zeni took this as a cue to keep talking.

"And that winged creature, my goodness! The strength it had in its claws! Nearly tore me apart, it did. I can't believe I managed to defeat it. I guess I'm stronger than I thought," she mused, glancing at her own trembling hands.

As her monologue began to wind down, Zeni noticed the blood smeared across the warrior's armor.

"You've been in a few scrapes yourself, I see," she remarked, her voice tinged with concern. "Hope you didn't get too banged up out there.”

The armored hulk seemed to regard her for a moment, before silently returning to stare at the fire.

“Lovely,” Zeni sighed.

For a time, she sat in silence, her thoughts tumbling over one another as she contemplated their current situation. Eventually, she couldn't help but ask the question that had been nagging at her.

"Why did you come back, anyway? You must have been way far ahead of me,” she wondered.

The armored warrior paused for a moment, then gestured toward the fire and the roasting winged beast. Zeni's eyes widened as understanding dawned on her.

"Ah, so you were hungry," she said, a small, wry smile playing on her lips. "Well, I can't blame you for that. I'm famished myself."

With a shrug, Zeni reached for a piece of the beast cooking on the spit, tearing off a chunk with her fingers. As she bit into the surprisingly tender meat, she reflected on the strange turn of events that had led her to share a meal with a silent, armored warrior in a subterranean chamber.

"You know," she continued between munched bites "I thought I'd be terrified eating a creature that nearly killed me. But it's actually quite delicious. And, I suppose, cathartic. Like, ‘you try to eat me? How’s about I eat you right back?’ Life's weird that way, huh?"

Zeni glanced over at her stoic companion, searching for any sign of reaction. But the warrior remained inscrutable, his helmet hiding any hint of expression.

“Thanks for ditching me back there in the ring room, by the way. Real classy, big guy.”

As they continued their meal, Zeni's curiosity was piqued by a sudden thought. "You know, I saw a few dead monsters on my way to this chamber. Were you the one who killed them?" she asked, studying the figure's imposing form.

The warrior just stared at her.

"Fine…And what about that, uh, shagallu thing?" she continued, pointing at the fallen beast. "Did you kill that too?"

For the third time, the warrior gestured at the winged creature, its lifeless form still sprawled out on the chamber floor.

Zeni's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place.

"So that thing killed the shagallu? And then I killed the winged creature?" She shook her head in disbelief, marveling at the strange and deadly chain of events that had unfolded. "Well, that's something, isn't it? But, how on earth did that little thing kill something so big? And without leaving any visible wounds?"

As if in response to her query, the armored figure suddenly reached into his pack and began to rummage around. A moment later, he lofted something towards Zeni. She flinched away instinctively, but as the object came to a stop next to her foot, she realized it was entirely harmless.

It was a scroll. But more so, the sight of it startled her.

It lay before her, a masterwork of both beauty and menace. Its outer casing was black parchment, an obsidian canvas, adorned with intricate patterns of blood-red ink, which interlaced to form a marriage of awe-inspiring splendor and spine-chilling dread. Each artfully crafted design appeared to dance in the firelight as if imbued with a life of its own, a mesmerizing waltz of shadow and crimson.

As Zeni reached out to lift what was clearly a nefarious relic, she marveled at the paradox of its existence – an object so alluring in its form, yet clearly imbued with an air of malicious intent.

Gingerly, Zeni traced her fingers over the delicate lines of the exquisitely wrought designs, each stroke of the artist's hand having been placed with passionate precision. The scroll whispered stories of forgotten legends and hidden secrets, its very existence , Zeni felt, held the untold mysteries that had once flourished in a bygone age.

As she turned the artifact over in her hands, the exquisite interplay of black parchment and red ink seemed to create an illusion of smoldering embers—the duality of its nature—captivating yet foreboding. Clearly, to hold such a scroll was to cradle a piece of ancient history, an artifact that bore witness to the razor's edge that once separated light and darkness in a world long past.

"What is this, m’dude?” she asked, looking up.

It was her ultimate surprise to find that her companion was no longer sitting where he’d just been, but instead, had moved a few feet away, closer to the fire. Even more perplexing was that he appeared to be sleeping, his armored form perfectly still. Zeni looked back down at the bound scroll in her hands and shrugged.

"Maybe it’s a…I dunno, bedtime story? Or a helpful guide to not dying horribly in this forsaken place?"

She frowned, her mind racing as she tried to decipher the man’s intentions.

Man.

Well, she really didn’t know that for sure, did she?

"You know, I've just assumed you're a man in that armor," she mused to the seemingly sleeping form, her voice barely audible above the crackling fire. "But for all I know, you could be a woman. Or a very intelligent cat."

She chuckled softly at her own joke, her gaze returning to the scroll in her hands again. It practically glowered at her. With a sigh, she decided to leave her questions for another time. For now, she would focus on what was right in front of her: a warm fire, a makeshift meal, and a mysterious companion who had, for reasons unknown, come to her aid.

Zeni smiled to herself, thinking that perhaps her journey through the depths of this dungeon wouldn't be so terrible after all. She’d known in her heart that that was the case, but since arriving, it was a bit…well, perilous, wasn’t it? She’d considered that possibility, but still, even despite her near death a handful of times, she wasn’t deterred. She wanted to be a Rahhalah, and she wanted to continue delving into dungeons.

Doing cool shit, she thought to herself. I just gotta keep going.

As she bit into another piece of the winged creature, she thought about the strange and fantastical tales that would unfold in the chambers yet to be explored.

Whatever lay ahead, she was ready to face it—with a full stomach, and maybe, just maybe, a silent, armored friend at her side.