(Strive 13:2)

Selene’s orb of light drifted over us as we waded together through the muck. “After it paralyzed you, the floating eye turned its attention to us,” she said. “The interesting thing is that those things don’t attack you themselves. But once you succumb to their gaze, you become easy pickings for the thousand other monsters in the dark.” She spoke calmly, as if she were a nature guide on a wilderness safari.

“Fascinating.” I shivered as I imagined being devoured by some unknown beast, unable to move a muscle. “So what happened after that?”

“El shot a Firecracker at the thing as it chased us. She must’ve panicked, poor thing, and I caught a glimpse of the monster in the resulting flash. That was just enough for its paralytic gaze to take effect. Next thing I remember is waking up to the taste of ground-up imitation turkey and soda.” She made a tsk sound and changed direction slightly, almost bumping into me.

I felt slightly miffed at the lack of gratitude. “So how do we find Artem and El? I guess the most natural place to go would be the entrance to the next floor.”

“That’s right,” she said, and clicked her tongue again. “Your Quicken spell doesn’t burn, right? Might as well activate it, in case we’re attacked by monsters.”

“That’s a good point.” I had to double check how to sign the letter Q on my cheat sheet, but once I formed the seven signs, the world promptly turned Matrix-green. “Sounds like so far on this floor, we’ve got a big paralyzing eyeball creature and an unknown spiky entity. Oh, and endless amounts of mud. Anything else I should know about?”

Selene stared at me. “What?” she said, and her voice was a slow-motion drawl.

With a start, I realized that Quicken had altered my perception, making the whole world crawl like molasses. As Selene blinked at me, I could see her eyelashes move down, then up, in two separate motions. I recalled how fast Mia had grabbed my hand when I had tried to Examine her. She had interrupted me between two signs, which was, in retrospect, an almost inhuman reaction. Her right eye had been green then.

I wondered what my speech had sounded like to Selene just now. Probably a lot like Alvin the Chipmunk. Disabling Quicken, I repeated the question.

“Oh,” she said. “This is a floor of unknown unknowns. I’ve passed through before, but never stayed long enough to document the monsters that live here. It has changed somewhat, but it’s always dark here, and always unpleasant. The only good thing is that Mia’s Interchange is effectively neutered here.”

“That’s good,” I said. “By the way, what’s up with the tongue clicking?”

“Sound’s better than sight for navigation here.” Selene made the short, sharp noise again. “The reverberation can tell you a lot about the environment around you.”

“Wow,” I said, impressed. “You’re like a bat.”

Selene looked at me, her eyes impassive in the low light of the Lux spell. She clicked loudly, seemingly more to make a statement than anything, then turned and kept walking. “Multiple trees at 30 meters ahead, 50 meters ahead-right, 20 meters behind… and half a meter to the left.” She reached out and knocked on the wood next to us. “No sign of a staircase or elevator.”

“How did you learn to do this?” I asked. It wasn’t even a skill, as her kada remained dark when she demonstrated the ability. This was just raw talent and training.

“I was bored a lot as a child.” She shrugged. “This was one of the ways I amused myself. I made a game of it at times, walking around with a blindfold on my eyes while I tried not to bump into things.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“I should’ve played fewer video games,” I muttered to myself. “Maybe I could’ve learned how to echolocate too.”

“I can show you the basics,” said Selene, “if you don’t mind being a bat.”

“Maybe later,” I said, thinking of El and Artem lost in the darkness. “I’m batty enough as it is.”

“Alright,” she said, “By the way, I don’t know if that made sense in your language, but puns generally don’t translate.”

“Ah.” I scratched my head. “Duly noted.”

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A soft whir in the distance announced the return of the floating eye. I Quickened myself and pulled Purgator from my inventory.

“Close your eyes,” Selene commanded. “I’ll point you.”

“Are you sure?” I said slowly.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

“Uh…” I said. How could I respond? I trusted her judgment on some things, but I wasn’t sure if my trust extended to life-or-death fights with magic eyeball monsters. “Alright.” I shut my eyes as she turned off the Lux lamp. “Let’s give it a try.”

“Not just the one enemy. There are more incoming,” said Selene’s voice from next to me. “Multiple entities, small. Not eyes, I think. Nearest one at two o’ clock, distance ten meters, five meters, three…”

I fired to the right and felt my plunger strike true as a jolt ran up my arm. There was a desperate yelp as I blindly yanked my catch toward me. “Get over here!” I growled. “I’m Scorpion, bitch!”

Something impaled itself on my fist, showering me with steaming innards that metamorphosed into red licorice. Its companions yowled in fear, giving away their positions.

“Four o’ clock, nine o’ clock,” came Selene’s voice, calm as always, and I was already firing my plunger to the left. This time, though, I hit only air.

“Which one’s closer?” I yelled.

“Four—” Something slammed into Selene, and I opened my eyes by instinct. All I could see was a furred snarling thing, lit by dim white characters scrolling around her wrist. I leaped for it, but there was a sharp crack, and the monster went limp. In the near-pitch black, I perceived a shape like a wolf with evil rows of teeth and only bumps where its eyes should’ve been.

I clamped my eyes shut as soon as I’d verified it was dead. Silly of me to even open them for a bit, but it was hard to break lifelong habits.

“The eye,” Selene said, “at six o’ clock.”

I shot Purgator behind me and felt it stick, the whirring louder than ever as the eye let out a mouthless screech. Feeling the resistance of the eye’s weight, I grappled myself toward it. Hardening at the last second, I pierced a jelly-like layer and found myself in a warm world of vitreous fluid. All around me was the organic smell, the feeling of blood pumping. An ear-shattering vibration came through the body, conducted by solid tissue directly into my ears. I could feel the tissue around me writhing and twisting in a disgusting manner.

Though my eyes were shut and I held my breath, I couldn’t shut my nostrils. The smell was revolting, but more than that was the texture of gristly flesh all around me. I pinwheeled my arms inelegantly, trying to do maximum damage before I’d have to surface to breathe. What is it they say in business school? Carving out a niche for yourself? I stifled the urge to laugh.

I detonated, and all of a sudden the tissues around me went slack, and everything collapsed to the ground. I fell heavily and dug my way out of the smoking eye. Selene had turned her lantern back on, and was staring at me in shock. I knew I must look like hell, covered in burnt white jelly and dark ichor.

“Well,” I said. “I’d say that was more or less a success.”

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Selene butchered the wolf, peeling back the skin with a knife and cutting through flesh to pull out a skull and immense breastbone. She inspected the breastbone, rapping at it with her knuckles in satisfaction.

“Could suffice for a small reading,” she said, seeming pleased, as she filed it away in her inventory.

“You really took that thing down.” I wiped myself off with a towel. “I thought you were a healer.”

“I’m not as fragile as I look,” said Selene, looking at me critically. “Physically or mentally.”

“I just—” I thought for a moment. I just what? Think that women should be protected? Think that a new widow should be coddled? Was it considerate or patronizing to feel that way? If someone told you they weren’t hurting, did it take away their agency to act as if they were? “Never mind,” I said. “We made a pretty good team there.”

When Selene looked at me, I could almost feel her gaze penetrate the veil of my thoughts, and I had to wonder if a minor form of telepathy wasn’t part of her arsenal.

We had gotten ourselves as clean as we could get in the muddy darkness when a torrent of rabbits poured straight down from the abyss above us. Either El had learned to fly, or she was messaging us from the fourteenth floor.