Shit, shit, shit! Matt thought. This was it. This was how he was going to die.

The Pomeranians from hell—black eyes and sinewy spikes—had cornered his group against the cave wall. There was no way out. They were trapped. There were ten or twelve enemies left in the pack, which had formed a semi-circle, cutting them off from the entrance.

Everything was happening too fast. Another volley of dark spikes hurled toward the group. Matt screamed but the sound didn’t come from his body.

This can’t be how we die.

Matt Blood Slashed his mace, burning a deep maroon afterimage into the air. It hit three of the dogs. It wasn’t enough. He Blood Slashed again. Light and arrows flew around him. It wasn’t enough.

“Get behind me!” Matt yelled.

Fallyn, Kurtis, and Val pressed themselves into the small dip behind them, the lesser mirror of the alcove with the flowers. Matt stared out at those blooms, and the monster-Pomeranians snarled, as he locked into a protective stance. He bent his knees and held his mace horizontally, hands firm and hip-length apart. He cast Rapid Regeneration one final time and then activated Bulwark.

Power rose from the depths of the earth. His feet melded into the ground. He was solid, immovable, one with stone.

Black daggers flew at the group. Some hit Matt, some got through. He couldn’t move to attack or intercept more. Light and arrows arced to the dogs. Val’s bowstring vibrated at his ear.

The spiked creatures jumped and ripped at his arms and mace: one, two, three, four,... His arms became slick with black and blood. The injuries felt distant. He was stone.

The last sparks of Rapid Regeneration faded into his wounds. Matt couldn’t re-cast it without breaking Bulwark. He watched the battle play out in front of him, as his health ticked down slowly. He tried to hold out, as one dog died, then another. Fallyn called out targets in a voice so distant. Spikes slashed at his legs; teeth tore into his arms.

30%—he was at 30%. Matt needed to break out and heal. He tried to move his lips, to warn his group of what he was about to do. But stones don’t speak; he was stone. In horror, Matt realized that the no movement requirement of Bulwark applied to speaking. He couldn’t warn his group of what he was about to do.

Then Matt lurched forward, off-balance. His vision turned red.

What? He hadn’t ended it, had he?

Six remaining monster-dogs swarmed in behind Matt. He cast Rapid Regeneration and pivoted to face looks of horror from his group. He Blood Slashed across the enemies between them—but it didn’t work. The empty green line in his heads-up display pulsed. He hadn’t deactivated Bulwark; his stamina had run out. Mat swung and swung to lesser effect.

Why did I get that fucking bush skill!

Two of the dogs died. Then another. Matt continued to swing. Then enough stamina returned for a single attack. He Blood Slashed and the final dogs dropped.

Matt took a deep, deep breath and then blew out slowly. He let his mace clatter to the ground.

He began to loot while the blue sparks continued healing. With all of the points he’d dumped in health, it was taking a while. His next points were going to stamina; he decided then and there. He was getting that regen skill too, as soon as he got a Skill Point.

Bacon smell started to waft and the black began to steam from his limbs. The first few Pomeranians yielded CCs and junk, but then the items got more promising. Matt looted medium gloves, a bow, and a staff. They said ‘Bind on equip’ so he gave away the weapons. Fallyn also looted a staff, so Matt’s went to Kurtis.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The cat-man equipped it but gave its dog head carving a grumpy stare. Matt felt similarly about his new purple gloves. They were almost pink and bulky like outdoor work gloves, loosely extending halfway up his forearms. His outfit was getting ridiculous.

Fallyn passed Matt a two-handed sword. The Level 5 weapon was a certain improvement over his Level 1 mace. The text on it confirmed. Matt scrolled to it in his inventory and was blown away. The ‘Basic Broadsword’ had ‘+500 Weapon Power.’ His mace had only had 100.

“Thank you!” Matt said emphatically around the black interface.

Fallyn smiled and nodded.

Then Matt’s attention was drawn to another item in his inventory. He’d forgotten about the fish.

Fuck. That could’ve helped.

Matt pulled the fish icon to his mouth, and sure enough, the buff notification popped up and floated away: ‘+300 health and +300 health regen. 1 hour.’

The group cautiously proceeded to the far end of the chamber. They still had to find those darn mushrooms.

“Looks clear,” Matt reported, gazing into the passage ahead.

It seemed to go straight for maybe twenty feet, purple vine still spidering along the ceiling. They hurried through the corridor Kurtis’ sake, and about halfway to its end, they almost missed seeing an opening on the right. An oval opening revealed a bulge of a room, about half the size of the last chamber, with a single Pomeranian sleeping at its end.

They filed by quietly. Then the corridor dimmed, as a shadow crawled along the ceiling and then slunk into the room.

Val darted after it, yelling “It saw us!”

Matt dashed in behind her. By the time he got into melee, the monster was at half-health. Val, Kurtis, and Fallyn rained bright death on the beast. Matt Blood Slashed with his new sword. It dropped with a whimper, name graying out.

“Nice!” Kurtis congratulated.

Holy crap that was fast.

They found three similar rooms, as they continued through the hallway. At the back of the fourth, they found a treasure chest. Outwardly, it looked like the one with the lemon, but when Matt opened it, a loot window popped up and zoomed away. He got another staff, which no one needed, but Fallyn and Val got their first trinkets. Both were rings with the same stats, but Val insisted on trading so that she got the pinky-purple one. At least someone wanted that color.

The group made quick work of a few more side rooms, as the way turned and seemed to spiral up. It broadened to a chamber and then shrunk again to more of a hallway. Up and up and around they went. Another chest somehow yielded two trinkets for Matt: a black tooth necklace that gave +100 Magical Resist and a purple gemstone pin that awarded +100 Stamina Regen. He pulled the necklace towards him to equip it. It certainly completed the outfit.

Then he pulled the pin to his left shoulder, hoping to affix it beside the rainbow enamel one.

“Ow!” Matt yelled, as much in shock as in pain.

“Matt?” Kurtis said, looking around for more enemies. His tail was frizzed and the orange hairs on his neck stood on end.

“I think I just got an earring,” Matt said, blinking as his eyes watered. “Why do people do that?!” He prodded his throbbing left ear and found the gemstone. It wasn’t until they exited the chamber that he thought to cast Rapid Regeneration. He hissed as it started to take effect.

A few minutes later, Kurtis announced, “There’s water up ahead.”

Matt couldn’t hear anything, but the cat-man’s ears flared.

“Moving water. Like a river or a stream. We’re getting close.”

They proceeded through another chamber and two side rooms, clearing the Pomeranians and finding no mushrooms. Matt was beginning to worry that they’d missed them.

“I haven’t seen any either,” Fallyn said softly as if reading his mind.

Matt nodded and stalked forward, sword in hand.

Perhaps ten minutes more, through a chamber and around a bend, Matt began to hear that rush of water. It was faint at first, and then he turned a corner, and the sound opened with the huge cavern ahead. Stalactites and stalagmites formed a jagged maw in front of him. A platform of rock extruded in the middle. Water rushed out its left side and dropped off into darkness. Orange and green vines joined the purple from the other chambers—and pale blue mushrooms glowed in shelves along the far wall.

Shadows moved along the stalactites.

Matt looked around for Pomeranians. “Do you see any?” he whispered.

Val gave him a confused look and Kurtis’ tail frizzed.

Matt searched the ceiling of the massive space. The shadows slid ever so slightly.

Maybe it’s nothing.

Then the shadows moved more. They stretched and climbed as if from something moving behind the platform. Matt wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. Whatever made them was monstrous and huge.

Then a scraping noise sounded behind him. Matt glanced back over his shoulder as dread sunk into his core. He watched as the last inch of the cavern’s entrance disappeared behind a large flat stone.