“Nooooo!” A woman appeared on the edge of my vision, rushing towards me. No, her target was not me but the remains of the man-monster I slayed. Upon reaching the ashes, she dropped to her knees, one hand hovering over them like she was afraid to touch.

"Elijah...." His name escaped her lips between ragged breaths. “You promised..." A sob ripped the rest of her words away. She reached out to touch the ashes but her fingers jerked back as if burned. She closed her eyes and forced her hands to grab the ashes, creating a sizzling sound as the heat bit her skin. " Together ...” She muttered as the ashes sifted through her trembling fingers. “"We were supposed to be together forever."

"That was him, wasn't it?" She looked up at me, her face tightened with something between anger and desperation. "You killed him." Her hand clenched in the ashes. "It was supposed to be me. How could you…"

I shifted my weight. This scenario was making me uncomfortable and I was unsure of what to do. Should I apologize? Or maybe even …

“Finish the job, never leave loose ends.” A voice echoed in my mind. For a moment, my grip on my sword tightened, but I quickly banished the thought.

No, I’m a knight, not a murderhobo.

I took another look at her and wished I hadn't. This was the part where I'd usually hit ESC to skip the sad NPC backstory. Pull up the dialogue options, pick whatever gave the best rewards, and move on to the next quest marker. Simple, clean, and efficient.

But my fingers kept twitching for a keyboard that wasn't there. No menu. No dialogue options. No convenient way to distance myself from what was happening. Just a woman kneeling in the ashes of someone she'd loved, her grief as raw and real as the desert heat burning against my skin.

I tried to focus on the technical stuff instead. The way her character model's tears caught the light. The animation rigging that made her hands tremble. The voice acting that made her sound so... human.

Except that kind of clinical analysis fell apart when you were standing close enough to see someone's world ending. When you could watch hope dying in real-time, reflected in eyes that looked too detailed, too alive to be just another bunch of polygons and shaders.

Games weren't supposed to make you feel like this. They weren't supposed to make your chest tight watching someone fall apart in front of you. But here I was, feeling like the villain in someone else's story.

I swallowed hard before finally saying, “he wasn’t human anymore. I had to defend myself”

She didn't respond but instead kept staring at the ashes slipping through her fingers. I waited, giving her time to find her words.

“I know…” she admitted. Her voice was rough from crying. "The light poisoning... we knew what was coming." Her fingers tightened around another handful of ashes, holding on like she could keep some part of him from blowing away. "I promised to stay with him through it all, but he..."

She clutched at a golden locket hanging from her neck, leaving ashen fingerprints on its surface. "He chose for both of us." The words came out bitter like they'd been sitting in her heart too long. "Said he wouldn't let me watch him turn into one of those... things."

Light poisoning? It sounded almost ridiculous, being poisoned by light itself. But after what I'd just seen...

I wanted to ask her more about light poisoning but watching her kneel there in the remains of her world, I swallowed them back. It did not seem like an appropriate time for questions. Instead, I offered her solitude.

Time passed as I stood beside her, watching the desert winds carry the ashes away piece by piece. Eventually, her breathing steadied and she lifted her tear-streaked face.

"Thank you for staying with me,” Her voice was quieter. “Not many would have.” She studied me for a moment. “Are you an exile as well?”

I shook my head. “I’m not from around here”

Ada's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of curiosity on her face. "A traveler, then? You're a long way from... well, anywhere." She glanced at my battered state. "You look half-dead on your feet," she said. "And these wastes... they're not kind to the unprepared. I know better than most what happens to people alone out here."

"Yeah," I replied. As the adrenaline of the fight wore off, I became increasingly aware of my exhaustion and injuries. "Is there anywhere to rest nearby?"

She seemed to mull this over, her gaze drifting to the horizon. After a moment, she straightened up, decision made. "Well, the nearest town is Caelivitas, but it's quite a trek through unforgiving terrain." She paused, studying me. "But if it's a haven you seek, we have a camp nearby. It's not much, but it's safe... relatively speaking."

“Thank you, I appreciate it”

She nodded, wiping the last traces of ash from her hands. "Follow me," she said, turning to lead the way. "The camp isn't far, but we'll need to be careful."

New Quest: Escort Ada to base Priority: Medium

The desert stretched endlessly before us as the sun continued to burn bright.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Status Effect: Heat Exhaustion HP Regen reduced to 0%

I fell into step behind Ada, watching how she moved, each step deliberate, testing the ground before committing her weight.

"Keep to my footsteps exactly," she warned, not looking back. "The sand isn't always as solid as it seems. One wrong step and you'll sink knee-deep, if you're lucky."

I tried to mirror her movements. Each step through the loose sand felt like wading through molasses.

"So," I ventured, trying to distract myself from my burning muscles, "you mentioned you're exiles?"

Ada's pace didn't falter, but her shoulders tensed slightly. "Most of us are. Some by choice, others..." She gestured vaguely at the wasteland around us. "The Church isn't kind to those who show signs of light poisoning. At best, you’ll end up as a beggar on the streets. At worst… '" She shook her head but did not complete her sentence.

Light poisoning again. The question that had been nagging at me finally burst forth. "So, what exactly is light poisoning?"

She stopped in her tracks, turning to face me with surprise. “You... don't know about light poisoning?”

I shook my head.

"You really are from far away, aren't you?" Ada resumed walking, her pace a bit slower now. "To be honest, we're not entirely sure what it is. The church has a simple explanation, of course. They call it divine punishment. A curse that turns sinners into monsters." A bitter smile crossed her face. "Convenient, isn't it? Blame the victims for 'straying from the light.'"

"But you don't believe that," I said. It wasn't a question.

"What I believe..." She glanced up at the merciless sun above us. "What we've seen is that the sun makes it worse. Those cursed... they change faster when exposed." She gestured at the barren landscape around us. "This used to be grassland, you know. Green as far as the eye could see. Now look at it. It's like the light is consuming everything it touches."

I absorbed this information. "Is there a cure to light poisoning?"

A bitter laugh escaped her. "We’ve tried plenty. But once afflicted, the only known cure … is death." She cut herself off abruptly. "Hold up." Her arm shot out, blocking my path.

A glint in the distance caught my eye, something metallic half-buried in the sand. My gamer brain screamed treasure and I started to walk towards it.

Warning: Unknown anomaly detected

"Stop." Ada's hand shot out, gripping my arm. "Don't look too long," she said quietly. "The light plays tricks out here. Makes you see things you think you want." Her fingers tightened. "Things that you desire, things that you remind of home. That's how they get you."

The warning notification pulsed red in my vision, but I couldn't look away from that gleam. It seemed to shift, becoming whatever, I wanted most – a legendary weapon, a rare artifact, a pile of gold... each possibility more tempting than the last.

"They?"

A haunting screech shattered the illusion. In the distance, a shambling figure emerged from behind a dune, its skin gleaming like polished metal in the sun. Yellow light poured from its eyes and mouth, and I realized with horror that the glint I'd been drawn to wasn't treasure at all.

Warning: Light Zombie detected Threat Level: Severe Recommended action: Avoid combat

"Down," Ada hissed, pulling me behind a rock formation. "Let it pass. Fighting attracts others."

We pressed ourselves against the stone, barely breathing. The creature's footsteps crunched closer, accompanied by a sound like wind chimes.

I gripped my sword but I was exhausted. After the last fight, I wasn't sure I could take another one.

Ada noticed my white-knuckled grip and shook her head. "Save your strength," she whispered. "The camp isn't far now, but we'll need to make a run for it once it passes."

The footsteps grew louder. In response, Ada’s hand dipped into a pouch at her waist, withdrawing a handful of crystalline dust. "Stay still."

Cloak of Light

She threw the crystals in the air, letting the dust cover us. As they fell, they caught the sunlight and bent it. The air around us shimmered like a heat haze, and suddenly the world beyond our little bubble looked slightly off-kilter as if we were viewing it through warped glass.

"Light bends light," Ada explained. "They can’t detect us like this."

Status Effect: Invisibility

Through the magical distortion, I could see the creature pause barely three meters from our hiding spot. This close, I could see the details I wished I couldn't. Its movements were wrong and awkward. With each step, hairline fractures spread across its surface, light seeping through before its skin sealed itself again. I could hear a grinding sound, like glass against glass, as it moved.

But what hit me hardest wasn't the horror of what it had become, but the glimpses of what it used to be. A wedding ring, grown over with crystal was still visible on its finger. A name tag, warped but readable, fused into its chest.

Its head swiveled, searching. Yellow light leaked from its mouth as it tasted the air. Ada's hand tightened on my arm.

Small crystals grew and shattered around its feet with each movement, creating that wind chime sound I'd heard earlier. They caught the sunlight and scattered it, sending rainbow refractions dancing across the rocks.

I found myself mesmerized by the display, my eyes drawn to the hypnotic pattern of light and crystal. Ada's elbow dug sharply into my ribs.

"Don't stare," she mouthed silently. "The light... it pulls you in." I forced my gaze down, focusing on the sand between my feet. Even then, I could feel it, a gentle tugging sensation at the edges of my mind, like hooks made of light trying to draw my attention back.

Finally, agonizingly, the creature turned away. We waited until its footsteps faded before Ada released her grip on my arm.

"Clear," she said, brushing the remaining crystal residue from her clothes. "Let’s go."

We burst from our hiding spot, feet pounding against the sand.

"Stay close," she ordered. "And whatever happens, don't stop."

More screeches echoed behind us, but Ada didn't look back. "Almost there," she called. "Just a little further."

My lungs were on fire. Each step felt heavier than the last. Just when I thought I couldn't take another step, Ada veered sharply left, revealing a narrow crevice in a rock face I hadn't even noticed.

"In!" she commanded, practically shoving me through the opening.

We tumbled into blessed darkness, the temperature dropping immediately. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out the shapes of crude furniture.

"Welcome," Ada said, still catching her breath, "to our humble haven."