Smooth hands scrape rough brick.
A soft limp,
disoriented,
I walk on.
Legs unstable, taking steps with exaggerated care. A tear completes their journey, and finds what lies beyond its dreams, at the end of its life’s work. Yet it holds, afraid of the end, of the fall. Unwilling to join the family and friends that lie below, that lay in waste upon the dirt.
Smooth glass slips from my hands.
Clink
The last counterweight keeping me stable.
clink
My last hope for comfort.
CraCK.
I watch the quickly foaming liquid sink away beneath the packed dirt. The world around me blurs as I watch on, the strength to lift myself from the ground fading with the bubbles. My hand moves forth, gripping onto broken glass. Holding the last of my worth in life; and like dreams past, it cuts and bites. Fights with me, a fight I no longer have the will to win. The last of the potion falls away, slipping through my grasp.
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The taste of salt on my lips, over the bridge of my nose. The itch of tears as they travel and caress. Even in my last moments, my dearest friend and oldest companion, holds me tight.
Regret.
A jealous lover is he, whispering in my ear of all the nothings I have done.
Thump.
His hand caresses my cheek, finger brushes over an eye, in the blackness I see all the things I should have done differently.
Thump.
Our fingers intertwine. showing me the strong grip that I lack. A hand that failed to hold tight to what I claimed dear.
Thump.
A bite to the shoulder, the dance of kisses along my jaw. Flesh both taken and marred, a way to display my hubris to others.
Thump.
His cold hand travels along my body, seep into my breast, clutching at my heart.
Quiet sobs grow louder, no longer able to be contained.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Thump.
“I’m so sorry.”
A cough, the renewed taste of blood on my tongue, mixing with the salt on my lips.
A throat long ripped bare from screams.
The thud of stone grows closer, slow though it moves, the promise it carries is inevitable. Undoubtedly no liar, the pulped remains of my little brother, our friends, a clear testament.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’m so sorry.”
My ear tickles at the whisper, a breath of self-hate and pity.
This was your fault, you deserve this.
“I know, I’m-”
Thump.
______________________________________________
Successful dungeon defense - +5 DP
Flawless dungeon defense - +10 DP
C rank threat(s) - 1 +5 DP
D rank threat(s) - 3 +6 DP
Reward = 26 DP
Kill bonus x1.5 DP
Reward = 39 DP
Total = 40 DP
______________________________________________
Th-they’re dead?
They’re dead?
“They’re dead!! You did it!” Glowing happily amidst consuming darkness. The feeling of pride transfers along the link between myself and my creation.