Well that wasn’t very fun.

Now there’s dust in my eye, great, that’s this new thing useless already.

My vision is mainly a blur of brown. And walking needs some work. I can’t help but feel I’ve forgotten something.

Now, let’s grab a wall and try this again.

I place tentative step forward, shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

I feel like a toddler.

A very big, skinny toddler.

With each step I pick up the pace, starting gradual, but very soon I start tipping over.

Panicking, I throw my legs forward in front of each other to right myself. Which sends me past a point of no return. Now I’m barrelling through the tunnel system with no idea how to stop.

SOMEONE HEEEEELP!!!

Weaving my way through the dungeon like a drunkard in a frenzy, there seems to be no end to the madness. All I can do is stop myself from colliding with a wall and it meaning the end of an especially short and unsatisfying story.

***

In another location, a group of young beginning adventurers were clearing the spoils of a long and tiresome battle. But a profitable one, especially with a certain set back.

There were four in the group, two were picking up as many drops as they could, though they seemed to have a system of what they took. The other two were stood back, in quiet discussion.

“I don’t know man, are you sure it’s all right to do this?”

This one was in a long cloak, with a wooden stick in one hand, and a fist sized crystal in another; the mage of the group.

“Of course I am, the priestess granted the blessing to me, are you saying you don’t trust an agent of the temple?”

This adventurer has a feel of leadership and strength, and had the best armour and equipment of the bunch.

“What? N- No man, it’s just it seems a little harsh to just leave her in here”

“If it weren’t for her, we would have had no problems. We almost died because she couldn’t fight off any of her share of monsters”

“I don’t know what you were thinking, bringing her along. You said it would be fine, now you want to go and leave her down here to die?”

The leader sighs and looks like the conversation exhausts him.

“Look, she said she could keep up and she’s barely hanging on even with us slowing the pace. She has to go”

Right at that moment the rattling of bone resounds through the tunnels. Whatever it is it sounds like a lot of them, and they’re running.

The leader guy takes charge.

“Alright guys, we’ll sort the drops later, for now we need to get somewhere quieter”

Everyone stopped their current task and loaded up. The only one that had trouble was the slightly feeble looking girl trying to carry two bags full and keep up with the much faster males in the group. As the leader led himself and the other two capable fighters, he thought to himself.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

No hard feelings kid, it had to be done

But even as he thought that, a cold smile stretches across his lips

***

Back with me, the unstoppable sprinter, he had been spending the last few hours barrelling through the tunnels, the wind kicked up by my speed blowing off the worst of the dust from my previous fall.

At present I was still going at full speed, with only my desire to not re-die fuelling my resolve. If it kept going like this, it was likely I’d lose whatever kept me held together, I’d fall to pieces.

I wonder if that’s what a nervous breakdown feels like.

I’ve passed a lot of other monsters, turns out the thing with the tail I got stuck on is a lot more crablike than I thought. I don’t know why but scorpion seems appropriate for a name.

But I guess this will be a tail passed through the ages, the rare tunnel skeleton, sprinting eternally, without thought of stop or break, he shall not be granted any resp-

*crash*

*rattle*

-ite.

Can’t trust anyone these days, get whimsical for only a moment and someone puts a low ceiling in front of you.

My head is gone but It seems to be functioning still. I can see my body fumbling around at my command.

Left, no my left.

Now come forward. NO NOT THAT FORWARD THIS FORWARD.

And after much struggling I finally reunite with my body, useless thing, and start to search for any of myself that also dislodged.

I find the missing finger and a kneecap.

Oh not any of my kneecaps, but it doesn’t hurt to have spares.

So know that I’ve learnt my lesson there, I resolve that it is back to crawling. And off we go.

This is definitely not the area of the tunnels I came from. It’s all winding and uneven terrain. I’m fairly sure that I saw a smaller rodent tunnel entrance too. But I couldn’t fit in there, so there’s little use pondering if there’s an infinite chain of smaller circumstances where something like me is doing the same thing while stumbling across the entrance to a smaller world.

Rounding a corner, I see something new, a slightly pink brown life energy. It came into view of my partially sighted eye.

My first thought was; how dare it be more alive than me? But then I realised that was probably just compulsion trying to reassert itself after it made me lose total faith in it. Not to day compulsion, maybe when I’m strong enough to kill something, but not today.

On the other hand this thing does look awfully pathetic from where I’m kneeling. Maybe I could kill it just a little, what’s the harm in that?

So here I am, just your average bony thing with an urge that I can talk to, about to kill something I’ve never seen before.

What could possibly go wrong?

I wish my bones would stop rattling so much. I-it’s not like I’m nervous or a-anything. I j-just can’t move a-around normal-ly.

B-but a-anyway, lets g-get down t-t-to business

***

Just a few metres in front of the undead was a meek young girl. One could see that she had a feeble constitution. Her eyes were pale grey, with a slight shadow beneath them, making her looks constantly weary. Her frame was skinnier than the average, but relatively well hidden by the large patched cloak with many improvised pockets and pouches.

All in all, apart from the new looking armour (although also cheap looking), she gave off the impression of helplessness, poverty and the need for care.

This impression would have been amplified if there was anyone else in the tunnels to find her.

“uuuu, I knew that jerk had it out for me” the girl whimpers as she curled her legs to her chest.

“What will big sis think when I don’t comeback? She’ll be sad. But… maybe… she might be relieved she doesn’t have to deal me anymore”.

With thoughts turning into despairing notions, she begins to lower her head, too caught up in her sadness to notice the shakily moving collection of bones suddenly begin to rattle in her general direction.

“She might be able to sell papa’s land and work at an actual farm instead of keeping me around forever” the girl begins musing about the positives that she might bring by being left down here.

At the same time, the bunch of bones wobbles its way closer, seeming unstable on its legs.

“a-and m-maybe she’ll even f-find a nice s-stable boy to h-hit it off with”. Now crying, her own world was quickly dissolving. But her thoughts were cut short.

*rattle*

*clunk*

*fwump*

She’s taken by surprise to hear another noise. Fearing what she will find in front of her, she cowers timidly in her cloak, looking through a gap in the fabric.

She pans around to see what’s there.

Nothing.

“Few, for a moment there I thought there was-“

She looks down.

“Was...”

A skull is laying a foot away from her, stood upside down, balanced on a hole in the crown.

“ummm…”

Her fear building, bubbling inside her like a kettle.

Then an eye snaps in her direction.

“IYYAAAAAA!!!”