Chapter Twelve

She lifted her head from his fur. Everything felt far away, numb. She looked down at her hands; his blood covered them. She slowly stood up, shaking as she walked to the edge of the pool. Her reflection stared back at her. Moira almost didn’t recognize the haunted person in the water's reflection.

She undressed, tearing off the dirty blood-covered clothing. She had to get them off. She couldn’t bear to feel them against her skin. To feel his blood. She let them fall to the ground, forgotten.

Moira slipped into the pool of water that had cost Duke his life. She scrubbed at the blood covering her skin, rubbing and clawing it away. She just wanted to erase it all.  

Once she was done, she crawled out of the water and curled up against the cave wall, pulling her legs to her chest.

Gone. Her mind couldn’t comprehend it. This afternoon he’d been running through the grass with her, happy, healthy, alive. He was. The change of single word. From is to was, reverberated through her body, like lightning had struck down from the heavens. She was the one who was supposed to protect him. But he’d saved her. Pushed her out of the way.

She stood, bracing herself against the wall.

Her screen was flashing red with notifications, she waved them away. She didn’t care what kind of things she’d gained. None of it mattered.

Congratulations! You have defeated the Meusasaur!

Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 12.

Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 13.

Congratulations! Archery has reached level 5.

Congratulations! Sword Basics has reached level 2.

You now have 40 free attribute points available!

One notification was left flashing. Requiring an answer.

Would you Like to Loot?

Yes/No?

She selected Yes and watched blankly as the Meusasaur dissolved into black dust. Gone forever.

Her loot popped up. She ignored it all, except for the clothing.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

(1)Waterproof Tunic +1 Constitution.

(1)Waterproof Leather Pants +2 Constitution.

(1)Monster Core

Moira shivered as she pulled on the tunic and pants. They were both the same shade of gray as the Meusasaur. She felt sick to her stomach touching them, but she had nothing else to wear. They would have to do until she could find something else. At the very least, they provided more protection than her previous clothing.

Moira looked back at the notifications; she had 40 free attribute points available. She should have applied them before the fight. Maybe then Duke would still be alive. Her eyes watered and she rubbed her face, feeling numb. She needed to keep moving forward.

Not thinking too much about it, she split them up, adding 5 points to strength, dexterity, and intelligence, then added 7 to constitution, 8 to charisma, and 10 to wisdom.

Moira glanced over the changes, numbly. Her hands shook as she noticed one change she wasn’t expecting. Duke was missing from her character sheet. The companion section was gone. Tears welled up; she wiped her face and pushed the grief down, deep into the core of her being. Right now, she needed to focus on surviving. She couldn’t let his death go to waste and if she let herself feel too much, she’d fall apart.

It was time to leave. The doorway in the pool was unguarded. All she had to do was swim. There was just one thing she needed to do before leaving.

Shaking, she walked back to where Duke’s body lay. She couldn’t leave him here in this dark cavern, all alone. She’d bring him with her. Together, they’d leave this place behind. Then she would find him a nice spot, maybe under a tree, to rest.

Moira kneeled beside him and gently closed his eyes. She pressed her face against his velvet cheek and breathed in his scent one last time. Her breathing shuddered as she added his body to her Inventory.

His weight disappeared and her arms fell to her sides, empty. 

She slumped forward, a shaking sob broke forth. She hated this place, this awful world that had destroyed her best friend. She hated whatever god had upended her life and brought them both here. She hated them. This wasn’t her world. She had no responsibility to help it. She was just a girl from the Midwest.

Moira stopped shaking, her face going still. She looked up and made a silent promise to whoever was watching. Then, with determination, she pushed to her feet. She would make it out of this cavern and this dungeon. Then she’d find a way to get revenge on whoever had brought them here.  

She approached the pool again and didn’t hesitate before diving in and swimming to the door at the bottom of the pool. While light glowed softly from the moss, the water was still murky. It took her two tries to find the door at the bottom with enough breath left over. The door was silver and made of metal. A wheel was attached to the handle. She yanked on the handle. It was locked.

Moira strained as she tried to spin the wheel to unlock the door. Bubbles escaped her mouth. She didn’t have much air left. Moira let go of the door and swam back up, gasping for air as she breached the pool’s surface.

She took a deep breath and dived back down, finding the door more easily this time. She pulled on the wheel, this time spinning it the opposite way. It gave in, and the door popped open.

She’d been turning it the wrong way. Of course, she had, because this day just couldn’t get any easier.

She swam through it as quickly as she could, into a dimly lit tunnel. Moira kicked her feet, pushing her way through the tunnel. It stretched forward for what seemed like forever.

Her chest hurt as she ran out of air. She swam faster and pushed forward until, finally, a hint of light peaked through. She reached up her arms and broke through the surface, gasping for air.  

Congratulations! You have passed floor 1 of the Dungeon: Grow or Die.