I hated adventuring just as much as I thought I would. Endless walking, following a map which my 5/20 intelligence could apparently barely read, and diving into dusty, cobweb and skeleton-filled dungeons.

When the first skeleton had leapt out of the darkness, I’d almost wet myself in fright, and Bastion had rolled around on the floor in laughter, while Brick hacked it into pieces. He was just lucky he was a better navigator than me, and that Brick had a preference for his head to be attached to his shoulders.

And all of this in search of a treasure Kira had directed us to find, so we couldn’t even keep the fruits of our labour.

“The main dungeon should be just in here,” Bastion said, staying a few steps ahead with the map open. “Be aware of tra-AHPS!”

The wood elf screeched as he fell down what looked to be a mine shaft, but Brick grabbed him by the wrist before he disappeared and hauled him back up.

“Right, well,” Bastion coughed, dusting himself off and folding his map up to shove in a pocket. “I’ll just put this away.”

“Stay close to me, Emma,” Brick said, and I happily stuck like glue to his side.

“Aha!” Bastion announced, pulling his sword out of its sheath. “Here’s the door. There’ll probably be a few enemies in here, Emma, so keep back. Let us do the fighting.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be an archer or something?” I asked, indicating the untouched bow and quiver on his back. Bastion was a lot more reckless than I had realized back in town.

“Yeah, but this is more fun,” he grinned, slashing his sword in the air.

“Here,” Brick detached a short sword from his loincloth and handed it to me. “If anything gets within arm’s length, stab it.”

“Excuse me?” I blinked, taking the sword more out of surprise than acceptance.

“Alright, ready?” Bastion asked, but before I could say ‘no’ he shoved the door open and ran through, hacking and slashing as he let out a warrior cry.

Brick made a sound of annoyance at the back of his throat and rushed in after him, leaving me to take up the rear.

The room was filled with sprays of blood as monsters erupted from the walls only to be cut down by Bastion and Brick. Despite the gore, it was almost beautiful, the dance the two brothers made of it. Bastion looked wild and alive, cutting his way through enemies with impressive speed. Brick was slower and more methodical, making confident sweeps with his axe that cleaved heads from shoulders and sliced beasts in two with efficient movements that spoke of experience and grace.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I edged into the room, and a rat headed towards me. It was larger than normal, and its fangs looked so large it couldn’t shut its mouth properly. It must be a dire-rat.

I stabbed it as soon as it came near me, and it let out a pitiful squeak as it died. Disgusted, I edged a little closer to the guys.

“Hey, you’re doing great!” Bastion called out to me, giving me a blood covered thumbs-up, before stepping backwards and falling down a mineshaft. “Aaaaahhhh! Ouch! I’m okay!”

“Bastion, you idiot!” Brick grumbled, but the moment of distraction was a mistake. A final dire-wolf leapt at him and took a chunk out of his side before he managed to cleave it in half.

“Brick!” I screamed, running over to him and reaching his side as he fell to his knees.

“What’s happening?” Bastion called from his hole.

“Brick’s hurt!” I sobbed, laying him down on his back. “Hang on darling, I’ll get you some slime!”

I whipped open my satchel and rummaged inside, but my shaking hands slipped, and I dropped the bottle down another mineshaft.

“Damnit!” I cried. “I’ve got another one in here somewhere. Just you wait, darling.”

Brick’s hand grasped mine, and I looked up into his eyes. They were taut with pain.

“Breathe, Emma,” he said, his calmness bleeding into me.

I followed his instructions and took a deep breath, then grabbed the last bottle with steady hands and poured it over his wound. I watched the muscle and skin knit itself together with relief, but even when the last drop had come out, the wound was still seeping and raw. I fetched my bottle of scabby-grow and doused the wound with that as well, before remembering Lily’s advice around internal damage.

“Sweetheart, look at me,” I said, turning to Brick and stroking loose strands of hair out of his face. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he grunted. “Not good, but a heck of a lot better.”

“Good,” I said, chewing my lip and glancing around the dungeon to be sure there was no immediate danger. “I’m out of slime, but… I can sing to you. And I… I could try make some from the source.”

He nodded, his expression still tense.

“What’s happening?” Bastion called out. “Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” I replied. “Stay put.”

I kneeled by Brick’s head, positioning myself to where he could reach me easily, and started to sing.

“It’s okay, my sweet orc,

You’ll be okay now,

My darling warrior,

Let’s get this done now,

And go home together…”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my song. I thought of Brick, of making a home with him here. Of buying a little house in town and making a life together.

I took a shaky breath, then kept singing, doing my best to maintain my focus just as Brick was threatening to shatter it. At this rate, he’d be lucky if I didn’t whip his loincloth up and take him right here on the dungeon floor.

Incredibly turned on, I pushed the image out of my head and focused on the present instead. I had a job to do, regardless of how it was to be done.

I thought of my love for him, and when I felt his firm grip on my thighs, I looked down at him with a smile, knowing he’d regained his strength.

I caressed his cheekbones with my thumb and planted a gentle kiss on his smug mouth.

This world was weird, and in so many ways, it was totally stupid. But Brick was here and somehow, I had the means to sustain him. To keep him alive. I suddenly didn’t care about finding my way home to my original world anymore. Regardless of if I ever figured that puzzle out, I had a new home right here with him.

“Well,” Brick grunted, sitting up and sliding me down to sit in his lap. “I’ve never done that in a dungeon before.”

I laughed and buried my face in the curve of his neck, feeling comforted by his muscular arms as they wrapped around me.

“Uh, guys?” Bastion called. “I think I found the treasure. And there’s more here than Kira mentioned.”

Brick and I shared another grin. Maybe we would get some fruit from our labours after all.