A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, tickling just past his silver eyebrow. He tilted his head upward slightly, his gaze glued to his hands. He hoped that the sweat wouldn’t fall past his eyelid just yet; he needed all the vision he had if he wanted to do this successfully.

“Victus, hurry it up!”

“Shh! Even the smallest shift in weight and the trap will activate. You gotta be patient with this stuff, Fang..”

He was known for his efficiency with fetch quests, at least, in the town he’d been staying at for the past couple of years. Slowly, he exchanged the pyramid on the old stone podium with a small bag of sand, carefully backing away.

“See?” The half-elf turned to his partner.

“Did you grab the artifact?” She asked.

“Yeah, gotta say, this thing sure looks old. And expensive..”

“Great, hand it over,” the woman held her hand out from a suspicious distance. He slowly reeled his hand back, hiding the artifact behind him.

“Now hold on, how do I know you won’t just take it and run?”

She crossed her arms, “Good point. I should kill you first.”

There was an awkward silence between them, Vick's vibrant red eyes showing fear. He made a small, raspy laugh, “Haha, good one, Fang. You’re joking, right?” She suddenly threw a knife at him, but Victus was an agile fellow, and since he anticipated such, he moved. The knife flew past his pointy ear into the bag of sand he placed on the podium, knocking it off of the pressure plate beneath. With a painfully slow click, the cave began to rumble, and bits of debris started to fall around them.

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“Well, now you’ve done it!” Victus looked around for the nearest exit, spotting a faint light from a nearby hole. Fang glared, outstretching her hand again.

“The artifact, now!”

“Ugh, fine!” Victus tossed the pyramid to her, and the two made a run for it. By some stroke of luck, they managed to escape the dungeon through the nearby hole. Faster than her, he helped her up, quickly pulling her out from the hole.

Once she was on her feet, Fang blasted him with a surge of electricity, and he flew back onto the dirt, trembling. It felt as if lightning was spreading throughout his chest, seizing his body’s muscles. She stood over him, grimacing.

“Consider this a warning, Victus Knightsilver: if you come and try to find me, I’ll fry you until you’re nothing but a sad little pile of ash,” she spat on the ground and walked away. Victus glared, trying his best to reach out to her.

“Damn..You..” His vision slowly faded to black.

* * *

He woke up a few hours later, in the dark, cold forest. The mist surrounding him made visibility poor. Victus slowly got up and looked around cautiously, holding his side. Faint howling could be heard in the distance. “Good going, Vick..Team up with some ex-bandit and now you’re regretting it, well boohoo. Even a child could’ve seen that coming. Whatever. I’ve gotta get back to town,” he started walking.

Victus winced with almost every step, touching the source of his pain. If it wasn’t burnt, it was definitely bruised. He sighed, looking up. Even if the sky wasn’t cloudy tonight, his confidence in navigating with the assistance of the stars was miniscule. His pace began to pick up when he heard a branch snap nearby.

“I swear, Fang, when I get back to town..I’m coming for you,” he told himself, limping. Victus came to an abrupt halt when returning his gaze to the path ahead of him. For a moment, he thought he saw a ghost, and not just any ghost, but..

A long lost friend.

“D-Duncan?” Victus moved faster, catching another glimpse of them, “Duncan, slow down, I’m..I’m hurt..!”

He tripped, falling onto the dirt with a loud thud. Weakly, he pushed himself back up, leaning on his arms. A knot began to form in his throat, as memories of the past flooded his mind, and he remembered simpler days…