When Harper woke up again, he was surprised to find himself not in his fridge. Instead, he appeared to be laying on his back in front of a giant door. He couldn’t see where it ended from his current position. He stood up slowly, not trusting his body to move any faster. He patted himself down and froze when he saw his hands.

He was so emaciated it looked like he would die any second. He barely had meat left on him. Skin and bones was literally the only way to describe him.

What the fuck happened to me? How did I not notice before?

“...Hey, you. Awake?” A croaking voice sounded to his left.

Harper looked over to the voice in question and was surprised to see not Malgren, but Alvieri sitting against a tree. He had a piece of wood in his hands that he was carving with his glimmer.

“Wh-” Harper coughed up a lung as his dry throat screamed at him. He tried to speak again, and his voice croaked out almost as harshly as Alvieri’s. “What’s going on? Where’s Malgren?”

“Recovering. Injury too severe. No energy.” Alvieri tilted his head to a rucksack on his right, which Harper hadn’t noticed until now. “Food. Eat.”

He didn’t question him for even a second. He ran over, tearing a chunk of cooked bird meat from the bag. It didn’t have any seasoning, but it might as well have been roasted duck from a 5 star restaurant. He smiled from ear to ear as grease dribbled down his chin.

Alvieri cleared his throat. “Water inside too.”

Indeed, there was also a waterskin inside the rucksack. Harper cracked it open between mouthfuls of meat and guzzled down some water. He plopped himself down in front of Alvieri as he slowed his pace. He then alternated between devouring meat and gulping water.

Harper pointed a giant drumstick at Alvieri’s chest. “So, what’s with that core on your chest? You a cyborg?”

Alvieri looked down and a pained expression crossed his face. “...Empty.”

Harper cocked an eyebrow. “O…kay. Is that why your voice is all creaky?”

Alvieri shook his head. When Harper kept staring at him, he responded. “Sick.”

Harper nodded deeply. “Mmmm, I see. You sick between respawns?”

Alvieri nodded. Harper grimaced. So he needed to be careful of diseases or risk becoming permanently sick? He was lucky the pond water from before hadn’t gotten him sick. Granted, for all he knew, he actually may have been sick.

A groan sounded out behind him, and he was reminded of the giant door. He turned to face it and saw that something had opened it a crack. Alvieri’s glimmer flew over, slicing whatever was coming out before it even had a chance to show itself. The door groaned shut again.

Harper turned to look back at him. “That’s one impressive ability. What’s it called?”

Alvieri cleared his throat again before speaking. “Ghost Blade.”

Harper grinned. “That probably should’ve been obvious, huh?”

Alvieri didn’t respond, instead choosing to stand up. He looked down to Harper and beckoned as he walked away.

Harper stood up and followed behind. He made sure to grab the rucksack first, of course. “Man, you and Malgren both aren’t much for talking. Hope Luna’s more of a chatter at least.”

Alvieri let out a long hoarse wheeze that Harper assumed could only be a laugh. It was terrifying.

Once Harper caught up with him, he looked up at the door in earnest. It was a dark brown metal of some kind and had a giant demon face frozen in an angry scream on the front. It was on an obelisk that stretched maybe a few feet taller than the door and was a decent walk from side to side.

He looked over to Alvieri. In return, he gestured for Harper to go first. He complied, walking up to the door and placing his palm on it. He pushed on it, but with how he was, he had no illusions of being able to do anything. Even at his peak he didn’t think he could move a door that dense.

Luckily, he didn’t have to. The door groaned open once more, practically on its own. He took a hesitant step inside, and let out a breath when Alvieri followed him in. He honestly expected the man to trap him inside.

Once they were both inside, the door slammed shut on its own, causing Harper to jump slightly. Alvieri let out a snicker.

Harper looked over at him with a flat expression. “What, it was loud!”

A smile cracked across Alvieri’s face. “Sure.”

Harper rolled his eyes and looked forward again, taking in the sight. The floor was quite well lit, but the ceiling was pitch black.

If anything’s up there, we’re screwed.

The floor was made of cobblestone, which hurt Harper’s bare feet a decent amount. The walls were smooth stone with torch sconces every so often. A parallel line of pillars stretched all the way to the ceiling and also each had torches on them. Vines had claimed much of the real estate on the walls, pillars, and even the floor. Far in the distance was what looked like a circular room with a well lit altar at the center. There was nothing else of note.

Harper took a subconscious step forward. Alvieri grabbed him, but it was too late. A small spike shot up from the ground, piercing through his foot. Harper screamed out in pain as he tore his foot away.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He fell back to a seated position and clasped his wounded foot. “What the fuck! Is nowhere on this godforsaken planet even a little safe?! I know this is meant to be a prison planet or whatever, but still!”

Alvieri kneeled down next to him, pushing Harper’s hands out of the way. He then put his hand over the hole. After a moment, he moved his hand away and the hole was gone.

Harper blinked at the spot on his foot. The pain had disappeared, hell, there wasn’t even any discomfort. He looked up to Alvieri to thank him and cried out in shock.

Alvieri was now missing an eye. He didn’t seem fazed by it in the slightest, which was even more disturbing. “You lead. I follow. You fight. I heal.” Alvieri stood up, took a step back, and faded away.

Harper was once again alone. Only this time, he didn’t even have the security of his fridge. Only himself, a rucksack with some food and water, and an invisible companion he didn’t trust.

He slung the rucksack onto his back. “Fuckin’ A, man. Guess I better get moving.”

* * *

The mausoleum, as he decided to call it, was slightly humid and cool. If not for the traps everywhere, he would’ve even said it was better than the world outside. As it was, Alvieri was invisibly pushing him away from traps he kept accidentally setting off. There were swinging logs, spikes, arrows, and even false pillars that slammed together when he tried to walk between them.

The last one had broken his leg, forcing Alvieri to heal him again. This time the healing cost Alvieri an entire arm. Harper grimaced as he watched the arm melt away into nothing.

“Careful.” That was the only thing he said before vanishing again. He said it so casually it sounded like he was telling Harper to watch out for an end table in a dark room and not literal death traps.

Harper did indeed do his best to be careful. This time, he actually managed to see a trap before it caught him. It was a floor spike trigger. The cobblestone was slightly raised in that spot. When he walked over it, a hand tapped his back, ready to push, but then found it didn’t need to. He felt the hand pat him twice, and he smiled, proud of himself.

That’s when the mausoleum changed it up on him. With no warning or trigger, the wall to his right opened up. Out came a desiccated corpse wielding a tw0-handed hammer and wearing rotting armor made of what appeared to be iron. It moved with surprising speed, swinging the hammer down at him and forcing him to jump backwards. The impact shattered part of the stone floor, sending debris flying everywhere and cutting him as it sliced past his face.

He would have used his Void Touch or clones, but he didn’t trust that he had the energy to survive it. So he did the only thing he could. He ran.

While he hadn’t been able to evade most of the traps, he did learn their positions. If he was going to walk back through the mausoleum, he needed to be able to avoid the traps on the return trip. He avoided floor spikes, arrows, and the false pillars. There was only one trap he was looking for.

While he’d been running, the corpse, which was likely a draugr, was bearing down on him. It had no trouble chasing after him, clearly much stronger than the decay would imply. It swung the hammer at him multiple times as he ran, and he felt the woosh where his head had been moments earlier. He broke into a full sprint.

Finally, he reached it. He stomped down on the trigger, then threw himself to the ground. The warhammer slammed down into his foot, turning the bones to powder. He cried out in agony. He then heard a crunch, followed by a clatter. That was his signal.

He pushed himself up to his hands and knees, then turned around and crawled for the warhammer. It had fallen just out of reach of the draugr’s hands. They both reached for it, but Harper was just barely faster. He grabbed the warhammer and tugged it away.

He pushed himself to a kneeling position. His foot was screaming at him, but he ignored it.

The draugr started rising from the ground. He didn’t have much time before it had the advantage again.

He lifted the warhammer over his head. He nearly fell back from the weight. He was only just strong enough to lift it in his current state.

The draugr was just about standing. Thankfully, its clumsy movements meant it was a fast runner but a slow riser.

He swung down with everything he could muster. The draugr had finished rising, so rather than bash its head as he intended, the head of the hammer slammed into its stomach, knocking it back to the ground.

This time the draugr was slower to rise. He took his chance. He raised the hammer and slammed it down on its head. He raised it again. Slam. Raise. Slam. Raise. Slam.

He raised the hammer for another go at it, but felt a hand on the warhammer. He looked up. Alvieri was looking at him with sadness in his eyes.

He pulled the hammer away, setting it down on the ground. “Malgren mentioned sister?”

Harper’s face hardened. “What about her?” Harper sat down when he saw Alvieri do so. He noticed his foot had been healed. He looked at Alvieri. His other hand was missing. He winced.

Alvieri followed his gaze, and understanding crossed his face. “Fine. But no more healing.” He leaned against his knee with his one remaining arm. “Now, sister. What happened?”

His face hardened further. When Alvieri was unshaken by his resolve, he relented slightly. “It was my fault she died. Let’s leave it at that.”

Alvieri cocked his head to one side with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

Harper growled as he pushed himself to his feet. “Yes. Drop it. If you’ve forgotten already, I still want you dead. You’re weak enough right now I could kill you with hardly any effort.”

The glimmer flitted up to Harper’s throat between blinks. It nicked his throat. Another blink and it was gone. But it was there long enough for Harper to notice something.

He leaned in with a bewildered expression. “Your eye, it went milky for a second. Are you… blind when you do that?”

Alvieri nodded. “Sensory deprivation. See through blade. Am blade.”

He’s literally blind, deaf, can’t feel a thing, and has no hands, but can still kill me in a blink? What the fuck man, that’s unfair.

Harper watched as Alvieri silently faded away, which he took to mean the conversation was over. He stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where he’d been a moment earlier. Who was this man to ask about his sister? Why would he even care? Harper’s mistakes were no concern of his.

He reached down and grabbed the warhammer, carefully stepping over the dead draugr and the trap trigger. He then wound his way through the long hallway up to the point where the draugr had appeared. He looked at the wall, but the gap was gone. He walked up close to it and put his ear against it. He could hear a draft.

He looked to his left. The hallway he was in stretched far into the distance. At the end was an altar surrounded by standing candles. He was almost certain there were more draugr and traps, all leading up to a boss fight with some sort of giant monster. He’d have none of it.

He hefted the hammer in his hands. It had an excellent weight to it. He reared back and slammed the hammer into the wall. It chipped a decent bit of it away, but not a large amount by any stretch of the imagination. He sighed, reached back into his rucksack, and grabbed the water skin. He took a deep swig from it, then wiped his mouth.

“This is going to take a while…”