Unceremoniously, Walter crashed through the floor, collapsing onto his first-met love, his savior, and tumbled with her. Ultimately he ended up on top of her. For a moment that seemed to stretch on Walter stared into her eyes. Sapphire blue eyes, and a hint of green, that were as deep and mysterious as the ocean.

“I’m sorry!” He jerked his hand away when he realized it was on her breast.

“Get off!” she snapped, swatting at him. It looked casual. The effect, however, sent Walter flying. When he landed he was sure both her ‘casual’ strike and the landing bruised him immediately.

“Close the portal!”

He could not help but stare at his savior.

At first glance she looked like the girl next door type, albeit very pretty. When he looked closer she became more mesmerizing. Her long blonde hair ended at the small of her back. At the top she had elaborately braided it, with the braids themselves holding it out of her face, and the rest freely swayed. Each movement she made sent waves through her hair.

The next thing he noticed was her military uniform. Charcoal black with gold trim and it was very well tailored, accentuating her form. He could not recognize any of the insignia, though she had plenty. She had a row of medals as well. Walter wondered if she was a military hero.

‘Of course she would be wearing a pleated skirt,’ he thought.

Finally his attention lingered on her body. She was just a few inches shorter than him, which Walter considered the perfect height, and had the right blend of slim and hourglass figure. It was clear she was blessed with great genetics and athleticism.

In short, she was perfect.

A tentacle emerged from the portal. It had the same appearance as before, a conglomeration of faces. Only, as it invaded this world from that void beyond, it seems to grown more substantial and less transparent. Each face mumbled gibberish that Walter instinctively covered his ears from.

It wrapped around his savior’s wrist, tightly. She sneered. After stomping her foot on the floor for traction she yanked the tentacle, stretching it taut, and with a sudden slash cleanly severed it. It was impossible for Water to track her speed. The only thing that told him she slashed at all was the afterimage of light reflecting off the saber.

“I said close this portal!” she demanded a second time.

“We should leave it open! We have an opportunity here! We have a responsibility to try and pull another through!”

For the first time since he was saved he noticed there were others in the room.

Three men, dressed in rust-red robes. Over their hearts was an embroidered insignia of a circle with a book inside it with wine-colored thread. Frankly, they looked like wizards. Crossing over their right shoulder to left hip was a black sash with a gold trim, with insignia embroidered as well, matching his savior’s own. Walter wondered if they were wizards in the same military.

Another shadowy tentacle emerged. It was much larger this time. It looped around the arguing wizard, lifted him up, and then pulled him into the void beyond the portal. A rising sound, like thousands of maniacs giggling, could be heard. At any moment it felt like something incomprehensible and malevolent was going to pollute the world.

“Close it,” she repeated a third time, breathlessly.

The remaining two wizards quickly obeyed.

The portal cracked, separated, and for a moment hung in the air. Finally, it exploded into motes of light which quickly faded away.

The whispering pressure was gone with a moment of silence in its absence.

Walter realized he was holding his breath.

Then a woman, curled up in the fetal position, began to wail, loudly. Tears streaked down her face leaving long black lines of ruined makeup. She was dressed in revealing clothing.

His savior looked at him.

Walter immediately said, “I love you.”

“What did you idiots do to him?” she snapped, turning a fierce gaze at the two wizards.

They looked at each other with faces of guilt.

“We cast an [Infatuation] spell on him.”

“And you intended to use a prostitute as the target?!”

Her rage caused the curled-up prostitute in the corner to wail louder. Walter wanted to give her some comfort, or at least shush her, but had no idea how to do that. Besides, his savior’s anger was metaphorically freezing the room.

“Well, she was the intended target but it linked to you.”

She grit her teeth. “How did you even get her here?”

“A lot of gold, and some magic.”

“Do you have any idea how many laws you have broken?! You mind controlled two people and opened a portal? You will be lucky to see the light of day again if you’re not executed!”

“Yes! We’re aware!”

“Then why do it?!”

She stepped towards the wizard. She looked like she might throttle him.

“Because it was the best chance to! What are we supposed to do? Let this opportunity pass? The best conditions for a [Dimensional Portal] in over a hundred years and a bunch of cowards wanted to overlook it!”

“You could have started a war!” she screamed.

“It’s a small price!” the wizard roared back.

Another man, with a thick black beard and dressed in a uniform resembling his savior’s, opened the door and leaned in, reporting concisely, “Enemy en route.” He was gone the next moment.

“Right,” she said flatly, “We’re going back. I will be taking the visitor and the prostitute. Keep up or stay behind, I don’t care which.”

“Now wait just a minute! We can’t just let you take him.”

She tightened her grip on the saber. Her leather glove creaked.

“Try me.”

The wizard fearfully lowered his head.

Finally, his savior addressed him. All hint of anger in her voice was gone. She was formal, as if speaking with a superior.

“May I have your name?”

“Walter. What’s yours?”

“Lady Elin Folcey, knight of the Order of Idrin, first rank.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Please try to focus. Our lives are at risk.”

“Of course, I’m sorry.”

“Are you capable of fighting?”

Walter shook his head.

“Magic or anything of the like?”

Again, Walter shook his head.

Elin bit the inside of her cheek a second before saying, “I see. As a knight it’s my duty to protect you. I vow to get you to safety, even at the cost of my own life.”

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She had placed her hand on her heart and stood straight. Walter was aware this wasn’t just an empty vow to give someone confidence. The idea she might die for his sake upset him. He was grateful someone would protect him, certainly, but not from her.

“And I promise to protect you as well.”

Once he heard the words, ‘[Infatuation] spell,’ Walter had already put two-and-two together. At first he wasn’t sure why he was being so forward with this girl, Elin, because he was normally so shy with women. So, he was making a conscious effort not to let the spell dictate his actions.

The words slipped out faster than he could stop them.

Elin stood there wide-eyed. Her face had become blank.

“Sorry, that--”

“No,” she said, briefly smiling, before drawing up her seriousness again, “It’s fine. I understand. But if you’re not a warrior please let me do the fighting.”

He nodded stiffly.

“There isn’t much time. Please stay close.”

“Are we going to fight our way out?”

“We have no chance of fighting. We’re going to try and sneak and, if that fails, run.”

Walter wanted to ask more questions but Elin was already on the move. She shot the wizards a dagger-throwing look and they shuffled to follow her. The prostitute got on her feet as well, though a bit unsteady.

Elin peeked her head out the door then waved everyone to follow them.

Outside were the remains of a fight. The bearded knight stood at the ready, wielding a mace. Scattered around him were the broken bodies of the undead. Many had crushed skulls and twisted limbs. While they were inside talking Walter surmised he was outside fighting.

“We’ve been very lucky so far,” he said warily, “Nothing huge yet.”

“It’ll hold out,” Elin answered, “We need to get the visitor and woman to safety.”

“The wizards?”

Elin gave him a sideways look, “Tourists.”

The wizards bristled but didn’t retort.

Walter tried to look around. Intellectually he had already arrived at the conclusion he was in another world. When he looked up at the night sky he felt it. Two moons, one eggshell white with a bright luminous glow and a rust red one with a nearly imperceptible purple halo.

The city was derelict. Everything was black on black. Grey soot, or something resembling it, seemed to cover almost every surface. Buildings were a medieval style with the upper floors jutting out and hanging over the street. Everything suddenly felt so squeezed together, like a shrinking room.

Clutching his chest Walter forced his breath to stay measured.

“We have to move. It’s not long until they mob us.”

Their group took on a diamond formation. The bearded knight in the front, on point, each wizard on opposite flanks, and Erin guarding the rear. In the center was Walter and the prostitute.

Although they moved cautiously the undead still shambled into their group. Unlike how Walter imagined how a rotting corpse would move they still moved as strongly and fluidly as if they were alive. He couldn’t imagine defeating one of these monsters one-on-one. Both the bearded knight and Elin dispatched them in one strike each.

“Do they know we’re here?” Walter asked nervously.

Elin shook her head, “No, the undead can just sense the living. We basically stand out like a torch in the dark to them.”

“If we get bit are we--are we going to turn into a zombie?”

Elin gave him a weird look, like he asked a childish question, “No. Why would they bite you anyway? They don’t eat. You might get sick though because they are rotting. We need to move again, please get back in formation.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Up ahead the bearded knight stopped at a corner. He turned around suddenly and started waving then ducked into an alcove.

Elin grabbed Walter by his shirt and yanked him into a hiding spot as well, a sunken doorway. The prostitute followed them, huddling at Walter’s back.

“What’s going--”

“Quiet!”

Then he heard it. Footsteps. Loud ones. A giant’s footsteps. When it finally strolled into view Walter immediately shrank back against the darkness.

A troll, that much was obvious, but it was disgusting. Its skin hung loosely and it was covered in stretch marks and boils. It wore scraps of leather as clothing, tied to its body in mismatched ways. Some of the leather was not tanned and was just dried skin. From its mouth hung strips of bloody flesh. Walter was unable to tell if its mouth was injured or if it recently ate something, or someone. There was no way to tell if it was living or undead.

The acrid smell of urine filled the air. The prostitute had wet herself.

With an alarmed look Elin glanced at the prostitute then kept a fearful eye on the troll. Walter realized in terror they might have a strong sense of smell.

The prostitute started whispering, “I’m sorry,” over and over until Elin put a hand over her mouth. Elin mouthed, “It’s okay,” and, “Be quiet.” The prostitute nodding, crying fresh tears.

But the footfalls did not slow or come their way. The troll continued on its path.

Elin breathed a sigh of relief and Walter relaxed along with her.

“I can’t take this!” one of the wizards hissed. His face was white and he was trembling.

He ran.

Elin commanded, “Stop!” as loud as she dared but the wizard was already sprinting, lost in panic. When he was out of sight Walter could hear the excited groaning of the undead and then the wizard’s horrifying scream. It wasn’t just a sudden scream. It was one wracked with pain.

It was clear he was being beaten to death, torn apart, and that it would take a while.

The troll roared.

Then the cacophony began.

Walter nearly started to follow the wizard in blind terror. It was a collection of so many monstrous cries Walter could hardly tell them apart and his imagination conjured up every movie monster he could think of.

He knew they would be after him.

“Stay close!” Elin chided him, keeping a tight grip on his shirt. Then she commanded, “We’re moving!”

Now they were running. Elin didn’t let him go, half guiding and half dragging him through the streets.

The bearded knight was on point again. But this time his strikes were hasty and meant only to clear the way. The undead assailed them on all sides.

“Push through the buildings!”

At Elin’s order the bearded knight kicked in a door. It exploded into scraps and splinters. He ducked inside and a short fight could be heard. Without checking if it was safe yet she shoved the survivors through.

“The window!”

The bearded knight had already knocked the window out and cleared the glass. He was on the other side, clearing out a few lingering undead, clearing the way for them.

The wizard brushed passed them, climbing through the window and falling on his face on the other side. The prostitute followed, nearly paralyzed with fear, timidly climbing though.

“Move!” Elin barked.

The undead filled the doorway. Snarling, clawing, climbing over each other to be the first to kill them in their frenzy.

Elin shoved the prostitute through, grabbed Walter in a hug, and jumped through the window with him. They sprawled on the cobblestone road, Walter could feel the air compressed out of him by the impact, but Elin gave him no time to breathe. She snatched his shirt again, yanked him to his feet, and started dragging him.

“Don’t stop! Run! No, the other way!”

The prostitute had run the wrong direction. When she turned around to join them the undead were at the window. They grabbed her and pulled her through, dragging her over the broken glass shard still embedded in the window pane.

She shrieked in terror and agony. She kept shrieking as they ran. Walter squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the sounds of striking, as the sound shifted from what sounded like hitting a punching bag to hitting a clump of wet paper. Somehow she was still shrieking.

Elin kept urging them on.

The bearded knight slid to a halt. Everyone glanced at him and then to what made him stop.

The troll had tracked them.

It brought its raised fist down on top of the bearded knight.

It crushed him. The sound was so much worse than how the prostitute was beaten to death.

“We’re going to die,” the wizard said helplessly and sat down.

Walter just stared mutely at the troll, which was picking up the mangled body and chewing with a sharp yet bored expression. While it was eating it did not care about anything else.

During the display Walter’s eyes were seeing but he was incapable of perceiving. He was in shock.

“Snap out of it!” Elin demanded, slapping him. Walter just slowly turned to look at her. “Get up!” The wizard was hugging his knees now, rocking.

She could only save one.

Elin gave only one moment to try and think of a way to save both. When she could not think of a way she immediately picked Walter and started dragging him down a side street.

Either it was because the wizard had given up, inadvertently distracting the undead as bait, or because they had lost them, the two had a stroke of luck. They were running but they were making distance between them and the cacophony. Lingering undead were still in their path now and again but Elin slashed them down.

They did not slow, however. Elin was sure they might have used up all their luck and the longer they remained in the Necropolis the more likely something they could not fight off was going to catch them.

Eventually Walter, exhausted and breathless, said, “Wait a second.”

“We can’t! If we have to keep mov--”

Walter doubled over and vomited. Then he dry heaved. While he recovered Elin vigilantly kept guard, nervously looking about. When he finally stood up he looked dizzy a moment. His face was pale. He wiped the sweat and shook his head clear.

“Okay,” he said, panting. “Okay. Sorry for the wait. Let’s go.”

She nodded grimly.

Their pace was a little slower, to account for the lack of athleticism on Walter’s part, but it stayed quick and steady. Elin quietly tried doors, passing through houses that were unlocked, and out back doors or windows. The more choke points they passed through the better. The less they were in the open the better.

“Elin.”

“What?”

“It’s really quiet. Did we get to a safe area?”

Goosebumps prickled on skin. The only time a mob of monsters would stop pursuing would be if a very powerful monster chased them off.

The air filled with the gentle flap of one large pair of batwings.

“Move! Move! Move!” Elin harshly whispered, shoving Walter into house and around the corner. She pressed him against the wall and covered his mouth.

“Don’t let the dragonfear make you panic!” she quietly warned.

When it landed it was loud. The floor vibrated from the impact sending tremors up Walter’s legs. Each step it took produced smaller quakes. He could feel the pressure in the air change with each breath it took. Sulphur permeated the air.

He clung to Elin tightly to steady himself. He could feel her violently tremble amd she clenched her teeth to prevent them from chattering.

It sniffed. After a moment it flapped its wings, jumping into the air, leaving behind flurries of dust buffeting everything in its wake. Elin strained to hear, waiting until she could no longer hear the slightest indication of its flapping.

Then, and only then, did they take a deep breath.

The dragon’s presence, specifically its [Dragonfear Aura], had created an area where the monsters vacated around them. As such they had a short window where they could move freely and Elin took advantage of it. They sprinted at top speed towards the outer edge of the city, they kept sprinting until they crossed the crusted and barren plains surrounding the city, and they did not slow until the lights of a nearby camp were visible.

And when they got close, with Elin calling and waving to them, Walter passed out.