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River hums to herself, spinning the sword around her hand as she wanders through the forest toward her home shared with A. The sun beams down between the leaves clinging to their branches, casting a warm glow across River’s dark hair and skin. The forest sings with the sounds of creatures skittering through the brush and chimes with the moaning and groaning of monsters lurking in the shadows.
A zombie stumbles out of the lush woods onto the path in front of River, reaching out at her. Its flesh has begun slipping off its arms, and its pointy fingernails are dead and black. At this point, River and the others have been here for a while now, so the sudden presence of a groaning monster doesn’t do much to shock her. Instead, face blank, River grips her sword firmly and swipes out, knocking the rotting zombie’s head right off its neck. While its head lies motionless on the dirt, the body continues aimlessly limping in her general direction. A kick to its chest easily sends it toppling to the ground, allowing River to jump over it and dart down the path.
While some of the zombies can be quite quick on their feet, River has noticed that the ones missing heads are not. For one thing, they can no longer see or hear the person or people they’re attacking. After a few minutes of skillfully darting along the path, River can hear the rushing of water from a nearby brook. She’s nearly back to the base. No dangers can find her there. There she’s safe.
She should have known better.
“A?” River calls as she arrives at the entrance to their home of a hollowed-out hill.
When there’s no answer, River grabs the wooden knob on the door, preparing to casually swing it open. Just as she pushes it, she senses A’s life force creeping up behind her. Things start to play out in slow motion. A sharp gust of air pushes against her back, her hand stays tightly gripped on the doorknob, the floor goes out beneath her to reveal a pit with sharp spikes lining the bottom, and River swings to the side. It’s all she can do to latch both hands tightly on the door and throw herself toward solid ground beside the pit. River rolls along the stone floor, banging her back against the packed dirt wall with a thud. Groaning, she looks at the entrance to their home to find A standing there, frustration lacing the lines of her face.
“What in Death’s realm, A?!” River shouts, dragging herself to her feet with the help of the sturdy wall. “What are you doing?!”
A growls, narrowing her brown eyes into slits. “You were supposed to fall in!”
A throws her hand out, tossing a ball of sharp air at River, but River manages to leap out of the way. She lands in the centre of the main room across the pit from A. River stares at her in disbelief. She was trying to push River in? Aren’t they allies?
“W-why?” River stammers. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
A snarls. “No. You’re dangerous.”
A reaches out and a harsh wind slams into River from behind, propelling her toward the pit once more. In a kneejerk reaction, River reaches out, grabs onto A’s arms, and uses her body to throw herself out of the house and back into the forest. A shouts in surprise and disappears into their base. Moments later, a chime dings from River’s wrist, but she can’t focus on it over the pounding of her own heart and the tingling of adrenaline. It’s only when she doesn’t hear anything coming from inside that a pit exactly like the trap A had devised drops into her stomach. Frantically opening the hologram on her wrist reveals a terrible truth.
A died.
Two lives remaining.