Gold magic surrounded Kimi, and the cycle reset.

She found herself back in her single room at the inn on Floor 1, a notification asking if she wanted to customize anything. She hit no, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

This cycle the assigned race was half-dragon. Kimi liked being a half-dragon, the wings were-

She froze half an instant before a scream echoed through the building. Wrenching her door open, she ran to the end of the hallway and slammed herself into Y’s door. It splintered from the force, letting her stumble in. Her arm and shoulder hurt, but she barely noticed as she ran to him.

Y was on the floor, trying to scream as he dug thick claws into his snout. The claws on his thumbs had pierced the flesh under his chin, and blood poured out as he tried to break his jaw off.

“Y!” Kimi yelled, dropping to her knees. She grabbed his wrists, but his fingers kept tightening. “Y, listen! Look at me! Y!”

He didn’t notice her. Claws tore black scales off his long snout, showing white bone. He continued trying to scream.

Kimi felt panic enter her mind. There was nothing she could do. No way to help him. Tears ran from her eyes as she shouted his name again, trying to get him to hear.

Suddenly green magic surrounded him, and he fell asleep. His hands relaxed, but that only let her see the extent of the damage. Kimi gently pulled his hands away from his face, and a healing spell covered him. It stopped the bleeding, but the cracks in his bone and missing scales remained.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Kimi finally looked towards the door. Nikki and Avi were in the doorway, everyone else behind them.

Nikki took half a step into the room. “Sorry, I- Sleep seemed good?”

Kimi wiped away her tears. “Yeah, thanks.”

Avi followed Nikki and fixed the door behind him. Or at least made the door look like it was fixed. He nervously watched Y.

“Should… we stay here this cycle?” Nikki asked.

“Or ask the Admin what to do?” Avi suggested.

Kimi shook her head. “Thanks, but I can handle this.”

“Are you sure?” Nikki asked.

Kimi looked at Y, her hands tightening around his. She felt a rapid heartbeat and wasn’t sure who it belonged to. “Yeah.”

Avi glanced at Nikki, then back at Kimi. “What happened?”

She took a deep breath. “It’s… about how he died.” She adjusted her grip on Y’s hands again, hoping he wouldn’t mind her telling them. “There was an earthquake, and a beam fell from the ceiling. He was under a table, but it broke through and… hit him in the face. Not hard enough to kill him, only enough to break his nose and teeth. But it pinned him down, and he suffocated. Next thing he knew he was waking up as a kobold, and he says it felt like the beam was still there.”

Nikki knelt down next to Kimi, putting her arm around her in a loose hug. “He’s trying to get it off?”

“Yeah.” Kimi shuddered. “This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him claw his face off, but usually… Usually he wakes up and it was just a bad dream.”

“We should ask the Admin to change his race,” Avi said. “It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“You should go,” Kimi said softly. “Let the others know we’re staying here this cycle. Don’t worry about us.”

“You’re sure?” Nikki asked.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to the Admin. We’ll be ok.”

Nikki got to her feet. “Ok. If you change your mind we’ll come right back.”

Y stirred in his sleep, his face and hands twitching.

“Thanks. We’ll be ok,” Kimi repeated.