image [https://i.imgur.com/pxrOXYz.jpg]

I absorbed my environment. Pillars along the sides of the room supported the 20-foot ceiling, and a shallow layer of red dust covered the floor. A giant column blocked the other half of the battle.

The praven jaculus lost its grip on me, freeing me to reach Charitybelle and Fabulosa on the other side of a pillar. My legs carried me faster than the demon could slither. I ran across the dust—it probably wasn’t paprika or chili powder, but I took a chance anyway. To my shock, nothing dreadful happened. The red dust kicked up and settled as I crossed the room’s center.

On the other side of the column, I intercepted Fabulosa’s advance on Charitybelle, who teetered on 15 percent health. Charitybelle, lying on the ground, reached for her hammer. The other praven jaculus flanked her, though Bruno occupied the half-dead demon’s attention. Her Flying Wall shield hovered by her side, defending as well as it could against her other attacker—Fabulosa.

Because I couldn’t reach Fabulosa, I ended Charitybelle’s easier problem, the serpentine demon. I Charged the jaculus and released all my mana from Imbued Weapon. Thankfully, my strike from behind critted, finishing the level 10 demon. It faded like a ghost, dispelling in a flicker of light. I glumly added demons to the list of monsters that didn’t leave behind cores, coins, or magic items.

I backed into the pillar, downed a health potion, and gave Charitybelle a much-needed Restore. The spell lived up to its name. She received four health for every rank I possessed in light magic, healing her for 72 damage. Casting the spell had cost me. The remaining jaculus pursued me around the pillar, but the potion cushioned the health loss.

Fabulosa waved her saber as if swinging at a gnat. Her clumsy and confused movements bought us a precious reprieve. She held the blade long enough for its illusory attacks to trigger, but the illusions confused the naga Possessing her. Watching her blade foil her attacks reminded us we weren’t fighting Fabulosa—we fought her puppeteer.

With one jaculi gone and Fabulosa slowed by the naga’s unfamiliarity with her weapons, Charitybelle had time to scramble away.

I called Fabulosa’s name to draw her attention.

Fabulosa, showing no sign that she’d heard me, lurched toward Charitybelle, swinging her Phantom Blade.

I intercepted her, opening myself to another scimitar slash from the remaining jaculus. The demon had relentlessly attacked me since combat started. Between its strikes and the damage ticks from Infernal Pain, I looked in worse shape than my remaining ally.

Possessed-Fabulosa switched targets, and I defended from two fronts. This combat seemed like such a mess. The Prismatic Shield’s size and extra stamina seemed the only favorable condition. Between the scimitars and Infernal Pain, my 320 health pool had dropped to a third.

Charitybelle finished casting Rally, healing herself, Bruno, and me for 40 points. She began another long-casting spell, Restore, for which I would be the recipient. I needed it since Fabulosa and the praven jaculus double-teamed me.

I gouged my short sword into the remaining jaculus demon while fending off Fabulosa’s awkward saber thrusts. Charitybelle’s pet badger nipped at its tail. And yet, the monster showed no sign of self-preservation. It relentlessly directed its fangs and scimitar at me.

After healing me, Charitybelle put an end to the jaculus with a Scorch. The spell did only half its usual damage, but at least it worked.

Undeterred by the demon’s fading existence, her badger clawed at the incorporeal body. Bruno’s teeth clicked in empty air, furious that he couldn’t tear it into ribbons.

When Charitybelle directed a Scorch on the naga, the spell hit for minimal damage—but at least it worked. Why had her Scorch worked and mine failed?

When Charitybelle’s fire hit the naga, its slitted pupils rolled in its sockets and refocused on me. The demon released its coils and dropped on me, fangs open.

I had only 90 health left, so the naga’s attack proved dangerous enough to trigger Anticipate, pulling me across the floor and out of harm’s way.

As I regained my footing, Charitybelle shook Fabulosa awake. Fabulosa slumped against a pillar, smiling at Charitybelle—unaware of our engagement in combat.

Fabulosa brushed the hair away from her eyes. “Oh, hi, C-Belle. What’s up?”

“We have a naga here!” Charitybelle’s wide eyes directed Fabulosa to the monster.

When Fabulosa saw the naga, her expression changed to a mask of confusion.

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As the naga recovered from its fall, I shot another Scorch, but the spell fizzled again. The combat log denoted my spell’s failure, but not the reason for it. Had something Cursed me?

The naga lashed its fangs at Fabulosa, who squeaked in surprise.

Fabulosa shook off her stupor by the time the naga’s strike landed, creating a third Infernal Pain debuff in my interface.

The debuffs leaked 18 health from each of us every six seconds, and the naga inflicted a nastier bite than the praven jaculi. It critically hit Fabulosa for 62—although she had a nearly full health pool when it struck.

With over a third of my health, I Charged the fiend with a short sword and Prismatic Shield.

The naga’s hiss unsettled me, a noise incongruous with the beautiful, painted face—although it matched her fangs. Its passive facial expression seemed off. The naga wasn’t vicious or angry at our intrusion into its temple—which seemed wrong for a guardian spirit.

I held up my Prismatic Shield to guard Fabulosa’s escape, thinking the reflection might annoy the serpent, but I remembered this wasn’t a medusa.

The naga’s scaly bulk pushed across the floor, and I planted my feet as we hit simultaneously. I played the role of the tank—a shield between the monster and my companions.

/Praven Naga critically bites you for 66 damage (0 resisted).

/You crit Praven Naga with Charge for 68 damage (0 resisted).

/Infernal Pain (x3) deals you 18 damage.

/Infernal Pain (x3) deals Charitybelle 18 damage.

/Infernal Pain (x3) deals Fabulosa 18 damage.

/Infernal Pain (x3) deals Bruno 18 damage.

/Bruno dies.

I checked the combat log. I hadn’t imbued my weapon with as much mana, so my critical hit wasn’t as high as it could have been, but it still took 20 percent out of the naga’s health. The badger had fallen to zero health from Infernal Pain, but we could resummon him after combat.

Fabulosa finally composed herself and began attacking again. Charitybelle cast another Rally, and we all recovered 40 health. That, combined with us rotating Rejuvenates on one another, tipped the battle in our favor.

Charitybelle healed and cast direct damage spells until she nearly emptied her mana. She picked up her shiny hammer and joined us in defeating the ambush. Together, we quickly pounded the level 14 creature’s health to zero. It hissed a cryptic farewell before disappearing, speaking in common tongue so that we could understand it. “Leave no door unopened.”

Like the praven jaculi, the naga-demon disappeared in a flash of light. We stood facing one another, panting from exertion.

Fabulosa echoed the words. “Leave no door unopened? What kind of death message is that?”

Neither Charitybelle nor I had answers.

Fabulosa rubbed her eyes. “What in the world happened? I woke up and saw you guys in the middle of combat.”

Charitybelle and I laughed and reassured her she had done nothing wrong.

Fabulosa gaped in disbelief as we caught her up on recent events but laughed when we told her the Phantom Blade confused the naga. “If that don’t beat all. My disorienting sword saved the day. At least I didn’t hurt you guys.”

Charitybelle and I watched her, but Fabulosa seemed better than fine—she looked well-rested, if not a little disappointed that she’d missed the fight.

I looked around. Aside from the blood and kicked-up dust around the pillars, no signs of battle remained. The game hadn’t rewarded us with any loot. Even the demon’s scimitars disappeared. “Don’t worry. It was a weird battle. You didn’t miss much.”

Charitybelle wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t get any experience. That’s weird—we should have gotten experience.”

My shoulders slumped. “That battle was a bit of a ripoff. Demons stink.”

We spun around and looked across the room. Nothing moved.

“Y’all, my status says that I’m still in combat.”

Charitybelle furrowed her brow. “Look at Rest and Mend in the interface–it’s grayed out. We can’t recuperate.”

Fab remained the only one with a nearly full mana bar. Remaining in combat state meant very slow mana and health regeneration. Everyone had nearly full health, but Charitybelle and I lost most of our mana in the fight, making me wish I hadn’t dumped so much into Imbue Weapon.

This wasn’t good.

We waited, but nothing happened. Fabulosa and Charitybelle placed more glow stones across the room to counter the distracting shadows of Presence. The pillars’ shadows shifted whenever I moved, and the constant movement kept us jumpy.

Charitybelle turned to me. “What did the snake say, ‘Check the doors?’ Or was it ‘Open all doors?’”

Fabulosa answered. “Leave no doors unopened. It had a thick accent, so maybe that’s a poor translation from its native language.”

Had the naga given us a puzzle or a metaphor? Sphinxes made riddles, but I wasn’t sure how they related to nagas. Did the naga consider the grill we busted down a door? Had it repaired the barrier, trapping us inside? We had Charitybelle’s hammer, but maybe that wouldn’t work from the inside, like my fizzling spells.

I sniffed the red dust. “I have a bad feeling about this. C-Belle, can you check to see if the grill is still open?”

Charitybelle padded off toward the entrance while Fabulosa inspected the altar, careful not to touch it.

Still in need of answers, I combed through Mineral Communion’s visions. Memories from the masonry depicted reptilian humanoids using the room as a communal feeding hall. The residual red dust came from gelatinous goo issuing from the altar. They ritualistically ate together, but the red dust didn’t seem dangerous.

I laughed as I watched the vignettes. “It’s not an altar, Fab. You can touch it if you want. It’s generating red stuff. Look at the bottom. There should be red stuff oozing from underneath it. It’s food, I guess, for the reptiles who built this place. But I don’t know if—”

A vision of a hulking canine humanoid retreating into the broken opening in the wall stopped my train of thought. The nearly seven-foot-tall creature hunched over with claws resembling human digits, and it wore a belt from which small tools and pouches dangled.

Fabulosa grew alarmed when I stopped talking. “What do you see? Why are you making that face?”

“Oh, nothing. Sorry. There’s a robed hyena creature—a gnoll. It crawled into that crack.” I gestured to the break in the wall.

“What? Where?” Charitybelle looked around as she rejoined us. She thought I referred to a present danger.

“No. I’m talking about a vision from the stones.”

Comprehension dawned. “Oh. I see. Okay. Anyway, I checked the grate. It’s still busted down. We can leave if we want.”

I chewed my lower lip. “No. I don’t think we can.”