Vivi watched, wide eyed, as the camp she just spent hours building was bathed in misty ether, as if a geyser had erupted below. The surge was blinding and deafeningly loud; it sounded like a rampant waterfall mixed with the ethereal sizzle, or perhaps like a hundred blades being sharpened at once.

Active ether quickly settled within the environment. Wisps flowed into the campfire and Vivi’s burrow. Some flowed into Vivi’s stone seat and into the staff-like branch beside the burrow. Most wisps, however, flowed into the twilight elk’s skull.

Then the monster formed.

Fire fluttered in the air, as if having gained consciousness. The worts in Vivi’s burrow crawled out like maggots rising from their nest. The burrow itself deformed into slime-like liquid, preparing to turn into an abomination.

The twilight elk’s eye holes gained a green glow. Wisps rose from the skull, forming an ether-aura.

The fire formed the monster’s body, shaping a robe of ethereal flames. The burrow’s ceiling turned into scorched arms with thick fingers. The green-eyed twilight skull rose to the top, acting as a head. The monster stood at over twice Vivi’s height. It stared down at her like a shaman coming to punish her from hell.

The monster picked up its staff. The same staff Vivi had so conveniently left laying around, having now turned into a real weapon. The shaman pointed the staff at her.

On command, the army of worts attacked, having turned into hundreds of spiders with claws for limbs, all shining with active ether.

“Run!” Lucius shouted, bringing Vivi out of her trance.

Vivi bolted in the opposite direction. A spider jumped, claws first, at where she had just stood. Adrenaline filled her every muscle. She ran uncaring of where, forgetting her caution of the unknown. Any part of the world where that thing didn’t exist was preferable.

“What is that!” Vivi screamed. The spiders’ ethereal sizzle stayed by her trail, dangerously close to her head.

“A boss monster!” Lucius said. “It’s shooting something! Dodge!”

Vivi glanced over her shoulders to see the monster’s staff glowing with ether. A laser-like projectile shot forth.

Vivi rolled to the side, barely dodging the beam of ether. The projectile flew past, cutting through trees like nothing before eventually crashing into a mound of stone. The mound exploded, dust flying everywhere.

The spiders jumped for Vivi. She rolled on the ground, avoiding their claws, and sprung to her feet, continuing the run.

“I told you not to keep the skull around!” Lucius said in her head. “Do you see now why you should listen to me?”

I’ll listen! Vivi thought. How do we live!

Lucius had no response. Behind them, the shaman monster sprung forth after Vivi. It didn’t run with legs, of course. That would have made Vivi’s life far too simple. The monster floated at will, and at speeds not even Fellwater’s cursed child could dream of outrunning.

In a flash, the shaman’s terrifying face appeared in front of Vivi. She froze. The monster stared at her in the eye. Vivi swore she could see consideration in its glowing eye-holes.

Compassion was not one of its considerations. The monster raised its staff, preparing to strike.

Lucius tackled Vivi with force, sending her flying out of the monster’s attack. She tumbled across the ground, body flaring in pain. The monster’s staff hit the ground where she’d just stood.

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

The blow landed on stone. The ground cracked as if it were glass. A shockwave erupted from the blow, hitting Vivi like a punch to the face. The mere shockwave of the monster’s blow hurt this much.

Sprawled on the ground, Vivi’s vision wavered. She saw the blurry claws of an approaching spider. The creature approached cautiously, as if expecting Vivi to somehow defend. She tried to push herself up, only to fall on her arms.

The shaman turned to face her. It was playing with her. An entire ether surge fueled its powers… Vivi knew the monster hadn’t used a fraction of its full power. It could have easily killed her by now.

Lucius’s presence wavered. Something had happened to him, though Vivi had no energy to cry out. She lay on the ground, muscles too tired to move.

Strongest of the strong… Vivi thought. I will become… For Grandpa…

The monster raised its staff, giving Vivi one last goodbye glare.

The journey was over. Less than a day was all Vivi had in her. She had no way to escape. The fourth level was insane.

Suddenly, Vivi heard a crackle. The crack in the ground where the monster had slammed its staff grew in size. The monster turned its head, watching the crack cautiously.

That was when Lucius’s figure dove head-first into the ground, smashing right through the crack in the ground. The ground collapsed.

Vivi let out a scream, finding herself at a free-fall. The stone under her broke, as if floorboards had snapped in half, sending her down below.

Directly below was a raging river. Vivi swung her arms in a futile attempt to stop the fall. The plates of stone landed in the water first. Next came Vivi, her body smashing into the current with explosive force. Her eyes went black for a moment, feeling nothing but cold and pain, until her senses returned some seconds later.

She would have preferred if her senses didn’t return. The current pulled her down the river; it threw her to obstacles she couldn’t see, bouncing her around like she was a rag. She tried to gasp for air, only to draw water to her lungs.

Grab something!

For a moment, Vivi managed to rise her head above water, just in time to see a rocky slab poking out of the river—a piece of the ground that had fallen with her. The slab was stuck at a slight angle between a narrow opening. Vivi slammed into the stone.

The impact nearly knocked her out cold. Water smashed into her from behind, attempting to clear the rock out of its path. The slab wavered, slowly losing its hold.

Pull! Vivi growled, pulling herself up with all her might. She barely felt her limbs; her torso was freezing cold and bruised, yet somehow hot inside at the same time. Vivi pulled, then pushed herself atop the slab of stone. She managed to crawl atop the stone, above the river. She coughed water, while gasping for air.

The stone beneath her wavered. It wouldn’t stay still for long. Vivi pushed herself to her feet and jumped to the ground.

The jump was weak; her legs barely held, but most of her body made it to the ground. From there, she pulled herself to safety, onto the dirt.

Seconds later, another rock smashed into the slab with enough force to crack right through. The rocks continued down the current.

Adrenaline kept Vivi’s body upright. Her breathing was rough, utter shock filling her thoughts. Somehow, she was alive.

Lucius? Vivi asked in her thoughts. Are you there? Where’s the boss? Lucius!

She received no response. Lucius’s presence wavered. She could barely feel him inside her core. The boss monster didn’t seem to have followed.

Around her, new colors were added to the leafless forest. Blotches of dirt were scattered across the stone ground. Green fungi and mushrooms grew from tree trunks and from the dirt patches. The fungi had a shiny glass-like texture. The larger mushrooms blinked like green lightning bugs.

White misty blobs of ether approached from within the forest. Ether auras.

Vivi’s heart dropped, another round of adrenaline rushing through her veins. She glanced around her for an escape-route. The monsters approached at a concave, blocking her exits. The river was too wide to jump across.

It was a pack of wolves with saber teeth longer than Vivi’s neck. There were at least seven of them, slowly inching closer. The wolves’ fur was coated in ether. Their eyes were entirely white, wisps rising from the sockets. Their ether-auras weren’t as powerful as the death rabbit’s, but these monsters appeared far more intelligent.

Wolves can hunt prey down a river, Vivi thought, recalling old teachings. Even if she jumped down the river, the wolves would follow her, killing her when she attempted an escape.

She was dead. Vivi had nothing.

She turned around and was about to jump back into the river as a desperation attempt, when a sharp whistle flew past her ears. An arrow shot over the river, toward the wolves.