Public Release: March 1st, 2019 - 5:00 pm EST

I felt my knees shake and my mouth tasted like it was stuffed with cotton. The aura I was feeling belonged to a Fae. I tried to turn my head and scream, to tell the men to start heading back. Fighting back through the Tsavo nests was the best option at the moment.

I could see the Fae’s silhouette with my new detection ability. HIs eyes were like black holes, swallowing everything in their path. He was watching me.

From his aura I could feel a slow creeping death, like pure hellfire personified. To me, he was synonymous with the grim reaper.

I stepped back once, my legs shaking bad.

“Calliope?” called Sal. I wanted to turn and tell him to run, but I was afraid. I was afraid the moment I took my eyes off that silhouette in the distance it would get closer.

One of the nearby Tsavo tried to get past me. I killed it without even turning my head, my arm shooting out to the side like a bullet. My [Detect Fae Energy] let me track them without my eyes. It would let me track the Fae without using my eyes too, but I still couldn’t turn my head away. I needed to keep my eyes on him.

The Fae watching me flinched. It cocked its head to the side, and then the silhouette smiled, the black outline around its mouth arcing upwards slightly. I felt a buzzing chill shoot through my entire body.

“WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!” I screamed as I cut down every Tsavo within my reach. I pivoted on my back heel, and I turned towards the carriage.

“Now, why would you ruin the fun by running away?” asked a cold voice. I knew who it belonged to even if I didn't know how the voice reached me. I didn’t turn around. That Fae’s energy was much, much higher than mine. He was stronger than me, but that didn’t mean he was fast enough to close such a gap in just a moment. He clearly had a way to watch me just as I now had a way to watch him. I got chills when I wondered just how long he’d been watching in the first place.

I could feel him getting closer at a breakneck speed. He was faster than me. He was stronger than me. I couldn’t see a way to win. I didn’t have the levels to do it…

But I remembered, from my time in the game days of SHO, that levels weren’t everything. Nox himself told me that the differences post level 1000 were much smaller.

From the aura difference alone I could guestimate about a 200 level gap between us. I mostly leveled accounts against NPCs, but that didn’t mean I never PvP’d properly before. I knew the most common strategies and the best options.

Of course, the best option here was to leave. To escape.

But I couldn’t see how.

Stolen story; please report.

I looked at the carriage. I looked at Sal. I could even see Lily’s eyes peeking out of the side window.

This Fae was going to catch me no matter how far I ran. I couldn’t hide and he was faster. That meant our fight was inevitable.

I had a choice at that moment. I could either fight him there, in The Pass, next to the few people I cared about in all this world and putting them at risk, or I could do the right thing.

In hindsight, it wasn’t a decision at all.

I stopped moving.

“Sal," I said, "take everyone and run back the way we came. I can sense all the tsavo, and there are none along that path. Try your best to lead everyone out of here.”

“Calliope, what’s going on?” Sal asked.

“We don’t have time. Get Lily out of here, now!” I barked. I could feel my hackles raise. The air around me smelled like petrichor, as if a storm was about to arrive.

I turned my back on the carriage. I pulled out Belial’s Blade in a flash, and as I moved I cut down each and every one of the Tsavo before me. Now that I could sense them, their ambush tactics and strange natural camouflage abilities were worthless. They had the aura of a Rank 8 or 9 beast, but they certainly didn’t have the combat capabilities of one in a straight up fight. They were fast and that was it... But I was faster.

Every Tsavo in the tunnel died within three seconds of my unsheathing my sword, but it wasn’t enough. The Fae was still coming.

I wanted to run away. I wanted to hide. I could feel his aura looming over me. I felt like Atlas bearing the weight of all the world on my shoulders.

I turned my head back and saw the faces of my two best friends. I smiled. In spite of everything, all my fears and anxieties at that moment, I smiled.

“Get her somewhere safe,” I said. Then I started to run. I felt a wetness on my cheeks. Perhaps this was the last time I’d ever see them.

“Calliope!” Sal’s voice echoed after me.

“Ah, what a good girl. That’s right, don’t make me chase you down,” said the Fae. I wasn’t certain what kind of skill he was using to transmit his voice over such a distance, but, quite frankly, I didn’t give a damn anymore.

I didn’t have a choice. Running away? That wasn’t an option anymore. Not while I had friends behind me, not while I had people I needed to protect.

-

I ignored the twists and turns of the caverns ahead. Along the way I cut down a myriad of monsters and beasts purely because they were in my way. I cut through stone, rock, and root to travel faster. Without having to stick to a path others could follow behind, I was truly free to traverse The Pass in my own way.

I could sense his aura growing closer and closer. The more I used my [Fae Energy Detect], the greater the picture it painted in my mind. The world around me started to show up in detail. I could see the crest of the mountains above and the depths of the tunnels below.

I could see the curve of the slopes and the vault of heaven in the skies.

I didn’t even realize it was night time before. Inside The Pass the cycle of day and night seemed to have no real meaning. There were too few places where sunlight reached.

I could forsee where we’d meet. The place of our battle would be just outside of The Pass, in a large basin.

I cut off my [Fae Energy Detect] and let the dark world return to me. I had memorized the way forward. I couldn’t risk to waste even a little bit of my own Mana.

I couldn’t lose any advantages.

[Level up!]

I regained my lost level as I cut down another monster in my path. I could feel dark energies twisting at my ego, at my very soul, but I paid it little mind.

Why would my own corruption matter if I didn’t have the strength to stay alive in the first place?

I threw my head back and laughed. I wasn’t sure why I laughed, either. One of my thoughts must have struck a chord.

I licked my lips and I held my blade tight.

In all my time since I became Calliope, this would be my greatest test. No, perhaps ‘test’ was too light of a word. ‘Judgement’ had a better ring to it.

My laughter echoed behind me, chasing after my trail of destruction.