Behind them, another blast of fire lit up the fog as they marched the medusa down the hallway. Calista kept the point of her sword firmly up against her prisoner’s back as the medusa’s golden eyes glanced back over her shoulder. “I suppose we can get a little more acquainted now that we’re alone?”

Calista grimaced as she glanced nervously behind them. There was another burst of flames as a knight cried out in pain and anger. However, no one appeared behind them. “I don’t think you appreciate the position you’re in, lady. We’re calling the shots now, not you.”

“Oh, I just wanted to properly introduce myself. My full name cannot be spoken in your tongue, but you can call me Narene.”

As they marched, Lefty leaned forward, “And just what brought you to this dungeon, Narene.”

When the medusa tried to look back again, Calista shoved the point of her blade right against the woman’s jaw. “Face forward, bitch.” Then, with her free hand, she pushed Narene between the shoulder blades to keep her moving. “Shut it!” Calista growled to Lefty. “We don’t have her blindfolded yet.”

They reached the next doorway, the one where they had first spotted the medusa, and after Calista led their prisoner through, Lefty shut the door behind them. Calista pushed the medusa up against the wall and switched her blade to point at her prisoner’s back. Behind her, she heard Lefty cast something magical on the doorway.

“If you think that’s going to stop Severin from finding you, you’re going to be sorely mistaken,” Narene said.

Calista frowned, “First, Severin isn’t going to have any trouble finding us because we’re going to find him first. And second, I don’t recall asking your opinion on the situation.”

The many snakes of Narene’s hair hissed, “Oh, you little thing. You don’t know what you’re in for, do you?”

“I know I’m going to be having a lot more fun than you are,” Calista said.

Behind her, Lefty had finished his incantation and so Calista looked back at him and nodded toward her pack. “If you look around in there you should find some cloth and a pair of manacles.”

She kept the point of her blade wedged between Narene’s shoulder blades as Lefty fumbled through her pack. Moments later, he stepped around her with the cloth and manacles. As Calista held the medusa at sword point, Lefty blindfolded the medusa and then twisted the prisoner’s arms behind her back as he fastened the shackles.

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Narene let out a frustrated hiss as the last clamp shut around her wrist. “You may think you have me, but you’re still horribly outnumbered and stuck with no way out.”

Calista lowered her sword. “Let’s talk about that. We want to know why we can’t log out.”

The medusa looked unsettled. “You can’t either? We thought it was just a problem on our end.”

“So you are a player,” Calista said.

Narene sneered. “Of course I am. What did you think I was? Some monster Severin keeps here for his pleasure?”

“He seems to keep a lot of things here for his pleasure,” Lefty said. “Why not you too?”

Narene’s sneer deepened. “If you mean those things he keeps down in the dungeon. They’re nothing more than an advanced form of pornography. I’m not threatened by such things.”

Calista felt her fingers tighten around the hilt of her sword. “What do you mean, you’re not threatened by them?”

Narene shrugged. “Men are all the same. At least mine is honest about it.”

Calista felt her body go cold. “He’s not yours, he’s mine.”

“Yours? Are you telling me you’re going to steal him?” The medusa threw her head back and laughed. “You’ll have to find him first. You think you’re the first female who has stumbled onto this place and caught his fancy? You’re in for a rude awakening, little one. He only wants to look at you and torture your character. He has a thing for it. And to be honest, I don’t mind it one bit. I was hoping to go to bed early tonight anyway.”

“Uh …” Lefty took a step back. “… if you two are going to do this, I don’t know if this is exactly the ideal time or place.”

Calista shot him a glare.

Lefty was apologetic, “I mean, from a tactical perspective.”

Calista glared harder.

Lefty sighed, “Fine, I’ll watch the door.”

As the mage walked away, Calista grabbed Narene by the snakes, shoved her face into the wall, and pressed the point of her blade again to the medusa’s throat. “Listen ass-hat. I don’t know how you met him and just what kind of game you’re playing here, but Blake is about to become my ex-fiance.” She saw a surprised look cross Narene’s face. “That’s right. He and I have been together for nearly four years. Or, at least, I thought we were. Apparently he had different ideas.”

Narene had frozen, her body stiff with a stupid look pinned to her face. After a long silence, she finally muttered, “Wait, what?”

Calista’s reply was pure acid. “I said, Blake and I have been dating for four years and he was supposed to call me tonight, but he stood me up, again, so I logged on to do a dungeon and now we’re here. So you either start explaining exactly what this place is and how we’re supposed to get out or I’m going to gut you like a fish and find another way to kill the bastard. Do you understand?”

Narene looked crestfallen. “But … he said he moved to Ohio to be with me.”

Calista’s eyes went wide, “What?”