Calista threw open the entrance to the Freelancer Tower stairwell to climb to the fourteenth floor and save Passi.

Her heart plummeted as she tripped over the unconscious fairy child, who lay at the base of the stairs in a pool of her own blood.

“Passi? Passi! No, no, no!” Calista shouted frantically as she lifted the fairy child in her arms and cradled her to her chest. The child’s blood soaked into Calista’s Amazon dress and stained it red. Passi was limp, but Calista could see her chest rise and fall. Her breath was shallow and erratic, but she was alive.

“It’s okay, Passi. I’ve got you. I’ll keep you safe,” she whispered. Withdrawing Rain’s healing potion from her inventory, she poured it into the wound in Passi’s stomach. Her flesh sizzled as it began to heal.

“Shit, it’s not strong enough. Come on Passi. Hang in there,” Calista begged, as Passi began to spasm.

Calista carried her into the lobby, leaving a trail of blood behind. Laying the child on one of the lobby couches, Calista knelt and placed a hand on Passi’s forehead.

“Bat… Battlefield Stabilization,” Calista stammered, praying that her new talent would work.

Calista’s hand emitted a soft white light that quickly spread across Passi’s skin until it encapsulated her in a thin, translucent shell. Passi stopped shaking. She stopped breathing. Her entire body became suspended in a moment in time.

“Who did this to you, pumpkin?” Calista demanded, an intense rage bubbling up inside her. “I swear, when I find out who hurt my family, I’ll…”

“You there! Amazon woman. Stop wasting your time with that monster and come help me!”

Calista recognized the voice, and her anger multiplied.

Judy Brass dragged her way along the ground into the lobby, her dead legs trailing uselessly behind her. The woman’s face was filled with outrage and fear, both soaked in the self-righteousness the CEO had manifested at Milly’s trial.

Calista’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the woman who had tormented the love of her life.

“Wait here, Passi. I’ll be right back,” Calista promised. She grabbed her Spear of Pinga and marched over to the CEO.

“Calista, isn’t it?” the CEO said, suddenly aware of just how vulnerable she was. The lobby was empty, save for the unconscious child on the couch. “Look, this dragon… it’s stronger than all of us, right? We’re all going to die if we don’t work together.”

Calista did not respond.

“If… if you help me, I’ll make sure your girlfriend is found innocent on all charges. We’ll drop the whole Enemy of the Tower thing. I’ll… I’ll apologize. Just please don’t leave me here.”

“You made her life hell,” Calista said coldly as the woman continued to crawl towards the Tower One elevator. “You took an innocent, beautiful, loving woman and made her an object of hate. You demonized her for your own gain.”

“That was Stone’s idea!” protested Brass. “I just… played my part. Mistakes were made, Amazon. This world – it brings out the worst in people. We did what we thought was right, but I see now that it wasn’t. We can all have a fresh start. We can set this all behind us.”

Calista considered the desperate woman as she crawled away.

“Rain would take you up on your offer. She’d say we all need to work together to survive,” Calista replied. “And Milly… my girlfriend has a big heart. She’s the most wonderful woman in the world, and I love her more than anything. Despite herself, she’d help you.”

“So… you’ll help me?” Brass asked desperately, a twinkle of hope in her voice. “A fresh start?”

Calista knelt beside the woman and sighed as she came to a decision. “A fresh start? Yah, I think Milly could use a fresh start.”

Calista thrust her spear into the CEO’s chest and pierced her heart. The elderly woman gasped, her eyes wide in surprise as blood erupted from her mouth.

Judy Brass’ final words were lost in the gurgle of her own blood and fell on deaf ears.

Calista watched as the light in the woman’s eyes died.

“Sorry Rain. Sorry Milly,” Calista muttered, her anger extinguished with a numbness that took hold deep within her. “This was inevitable. I won’t let her hurt my family anymore.”

With a tug, Calista withdrew her spear, and the CEO collapsed against the lobby floor.

Calista left Brass’ body behind, picked up Passi and headed out the northern lobby exit. She needed to get as far away from the Dragon of Endless Shadows as possible.

Congratulations! You have defeated Judge Judy Brass.

You have been awarded 20,000 experience points.

You have leveled up twice and received four attribute points and one class talent point.

Warning: Deceased players drop only one random item. All other items are destroyed upon death.

Random Item Received: Cloak of the Aristocracy

Gold: 10,504

* * *

Milly dashed through the southern lobby entranceway, headed for the stairwell.

She narrowly avoided Judy Brass’ body, her enhanced reflexes vaulting her over the dead woman. She hardly registered the CEOs death. Brass was just another casualty amongst hundreds the dragon had already left in its wake.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

She bolted up the stairs of Freelancer Tower, vaulting off the walls to avoid the pool of wet blood that covered the concrete of the first-floor entrance. She didn’t have time to consider the source of the blood or what had happened.

Leaping up the stairs three at a time, bolstered by the power the God Contest has granted her, she ascended at an incredible speed.

Headed straight for the Dragon of Endless Shadows.

“Cally, are you there?” Milly telepathically spoke to her girlfriend as she climbed. She needed to hear Calista’s voice one more time. Perhaps for the last time.

“Milly? Milly! Don’t come to the Castle. I need you to stay safe,” pleaded Calista. Milly could tell something was wrong with her.

“I’m… I’m already here, Cally,” Milly said as she passed the fifth floor. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t just watch you die.”

“Honey…,” Calista said with an intense sorrow. “I’ve… I’ve got Passi, but she’s badly hurt. We’re outside the mountain lobby, hidden in the pines on the west side. Can you make it here?”

“Will she make it?” Milly asked. Calista’s words struck her like a needle in her heart, so she fed the feeling to the flames.

“I’ve got her in my Battlefield Stabilization, but…”

“Good. When this prison comes down, you rush her to Whitewing,” Milly said, her heart racing. “Don’t turn back. Don’t try to help anyone else. Don’t… don’t come after me. Protect Passi, my love. Keep her safe and be there for her. Always.”

“Milly, what are you doing? Where are you?”

“I’m headed for the roof,” Milly admitted. “Cally, I can help save everyone. It’s the only chance we have. I can’t tell you any more than that – it’s… God Contest stuff, like at the Arena of Protection.”

The silence from Calista was deafening.

“I trust you, my love,” Calista replied hesitantly. “Just promise me you’ll come back to us. I can’t do this alone, and Passi needs her mom.”

“I… I promise, Cally,” Milly lied. “I’ll be there soon. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Milly wiped the tears from her eyes as their connection faded. Even Salem’s Fury couldn’t consume the emotions that filled her heart with those four simple words.

I spent my whole life without love. I won’t let some fucking dragon take that from me. I won’t let it destroy my family. I won’t let it take my world.

“Rain, you there?” Milly asked, reaching out for her best friend. “I need you.”

* * *

“Shit, Stone, on your left. Six of them!” shouted Rain from the head of their defensive line. Her dagger flashed as she lopped off the arm of a shadow-controlled corpse. Rain thought it had belonged to a lawyer from Legal Eagles, but in the heat of battle, the woman’s name escaped her.

Elmer and the Freelancers had rendezvoused with Rain outside the tower to gather together the surviving players on the beach. Stone and the Carthage sisters had been the first players they had encountered. Fighting against a horde of the creatures, even the high-level Stone had been nearly overrun by the shadow’s combined strength.

Rain, against the objections of Elmer, had intervened to save the trio.

“This was no time to turn against one another.”

Jacob Stone planted his tower shield into the sand, and it duplicated twice over, creating a wall of shields two high and wide. He pressed his shoulder against the wall and shoved, wincing in pain from the errant enemy spear that had skewered his shoulder.

The four shields rocked forward in a connected collective and slammed into the six oncoming creatures. The enemies were hurled backwards and the sound of crunched bones filled the air.

“Cynthia. Finish them,” commanded Stone as his shield returned to him.

Cynthia’s three sand hounds sprang forward and sunk their teeth into three of the creature’s throats. Mohammad’s arrow found the eye of the fourth, while Elmer’s axe and Alison’s rapier finished off the other two. Elmer bled from shoulder to elbow where a shadow’s sword had gotten through his defense, and Alison’s leg had been scorched by a fire blast from another.

Rain dispatched two more creatures that charged them from behind them with a thrust of her dagger and blast of her fire. She tried not to look at their faces as they fell.

Behind their line, Minerva and Edna watched helplessly as their tiny battle formation fought their way across the beach to the eastern side of the tower where they would be sheltered from the dragon’s blasts. Minerva trembled, her miniscule level inadequate for the challenge they faced. Edna’s own shadow abilities were useless in the face of the dragon’s overwhelming shadow magic.

Frank knelt in the sand between Minerva and Edna, a thousand-yard stare fixed in his eyes.

Rain surveyed the battleground. Across the beach, the survivors had gathered themselves into similar cohorts and were carving their way through their former coworkers to find shelter.

A cohort fell victim to the dragon’s flames, and their dead replenished the shadow creatures.

“Rain, you there?” came Milly’s telepathic call.

“I’m here Mils,” Rain said, as she dodged the clumsy strike of a low-level shadow. It was Brenda, a marketing executive from EnergyWave who had liked her teas.

Rain grasped the woman’s arm and shoved her away, then ignited her with a wave of flame from her palm.

“I’m… I’m almost at the roof. I need you to promise me something,” Milly requested.

“I’ll watch out for them,” Rain replied, knowing what Milly was going to ask. “You know I will. But I won’t have to, Mils. You aren’t going anywhere, okay.”

“… yah,” Milly mumbled as she passed the fourteenth floor. Her mind flashed to her bedroom, and she recalled the warmth and love she had found in Calista’s arms. A love that had eluded her for her whole life.

“Alchemist, we need to move before that dragon targets us,” Stone demanded abruptly. “We head north. You take point. I’ll protect the rear.”

“You belong in the rear, given how much of an ass you are,” Elmer spat, the battle doing little to temper his hatred for the CEO.

“Knock it off you two,” Rain scolded the pair. “Stay together and work together. Let’s move.”

They circled around Tower Two as another dozen shadow coworkers charged towards them.

“There are more of these creatures, Mils. Whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. I don’t know how much longer we can hold out,” Rain instructed. “And when you are done, maybe we’ll grab supper? I’m thinking… roast boar. Again.”

Milly chuckled despite herself, appreciating her friend’s levity. “Yah, boar it is. I’ll… I’ll see you soon. Thanks Rain, for being there for me these past three weeks. For being my best friend. Thank you… for everything.”

Milly ended the connection.

Take care of them for me, Rain.

* * *

Milly bolted out the stairwell onto the Freelancer Tower roof. Her heart raced and her eyes stung with the few tears that had escaped Salem Fury’s flames.

The sky above the beach was filled with darkness, obscuring the four terrains that lay beyond the prison erected by the Dragon of Endless Shadows. The sounds of battle and the screams of the dying filled the air. She peaked over the edge to glimpse the carnage below.

How many of us are still alive? Less than half? And more die every second that you waste asking stupid questions like that! Come on Milly, focus. Focus!

Milly tore her gaze from the battle far below and turned towards the massive dragon. Its scaled head was level with the tower, but the gap between them was a hundred feet – the length of a basketball court. If she missed, she would plummet sixteen stories and die.

Not that my plan has a high chance of survival even if it succeeds. Cally. Passi. Rain. Luna. Take care of yourselves. I love you all.

The dragon belched another stream of shadow fire. From this distance, Milly could feel the creature’s intense craving for the souls of the dead. The sensation wafted off the beast like perfume. Milly had felt that lust before, as she had slain Gorath with Xavier’s black blade. The blade had a deep and insatiable hunger for death that resonated with that of the dragon.

It won’t stop until everyone is dead. Luna, we need to fix this. Now.

Milly backed up until her heels pressed against the northern edge of the roof. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, seeking the calm of her flame.

You can do this Milly. You can do this. Do it for your family. Do it for those you love. And do it for yourself!

Her eyes shot open, and she kicked off the ledge, dashing across the roof with every ounce of speed her enhanced strength and agility could give her. She covered the distance in less than a second.

She felt her feet touch the southern edge of the roof.

And she jumped.