Nikolai was slow to wake up, his consciousness gradually coming back. His eyes flickered open, and he found himself being dragged by the significantly smaller Kaelith, her slight frame struggling to hold him up, her movements a bit jerky and definitely labored.

  Nikolai groaned. “Why didn’t you make Lurk do this, Kaelith…?” he asked, his voice raspy.

  Kaelith paused, and he felt her shoulders slump slightly in relief. “Lurk is severely damaged, and I haven’t had time to repair him yet…”

  Nikolai patted her side gently. “I’m fine, let me down…”

  Kaelith looked over her shoulder, the mask obscuring her features, but her eyes looked worried as she obliged him. She didn’t quite let go of him, though, and continued to support him, clearly afraid he would fall over.

  He smiled. “Thanks… I think I am okay. I can move.”

  She nodded, then slumped against the wall of an unfamiliar hallway. She looked exhausted, and as she slid down the wall, her leg seemed stiff and unresponsive.

  Nikolai frowned and slid down next to her. “Your leg… how is it?”

  She shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s not great, but you did what you could. That healer, Ulin—she was with Calim’s team, the expedition leader, you know? Anyway, she said that she couldn’t do much for me. That it was… possibly permanent.”

  Nikolai grimaced. “Sorry… no, scratch that. Fuck her conclusion. We’ll get you fixed up.”

  She chuckled softly. “Can’t argue with blind optimism…”

  Nikolai sighed. “What happened, Kaelith? Ulin and Calim… They passed us then? How long was I out?”

  “Hours. Not sure, honestly. I think I passed out for a while after carrying you from the gauntlet room too. They went on, said that they would finish the dungeon,” Kaelith explained.

  “So after all our hard work, they get to take the glory, eh?” he said bitterly.

  Kaelith giggled. “Oh? You want to go fight some undead overlord right now?”

  Nikolai had to admit that sounded like just about the last thing he wanted to do right then, and he shook his head. “Nah, you’re right. This is it for me. I feel like my body is mostly healed, but it goes deeper than that. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it, but Lazgrim told me that extensive damage takes a toll—that despite healing, your body won’t take to it the same way. Besides, I used my own lifeforce to power those last spells…”

  Kaelith’s eyes widened. “You did what!? Are you insane?”

  Nikolai smirked. “We’re alive, aren’t we? I’ll recover with some rest, or a lot of it… I mean, we could go hunt some undead and top me up, but neither of us are really in a condition for that. You know, now that I think about it, am I becoming some kind of vampire?”

  “I’ve known you for a day, perhaps slightly more, and already my sense of what is normal is starting to fray…” Kaelith said, her tone equal parts resignation and amusement.

  “Well, welcome to the bloody team, Kaelith. That’s how every moment of the last few months has been for me,” Nikolai chuckled.

  For a while, they just sat together, both exhausted and hurt, neither feeling up to moving quite yet.

  “By the way, where is Lurk?” Nikolai asked.

  Kaelith patted her chest. “I packed him away.”

  Nikolai raised an eyebrow. “That seems a little wrong somehow…”

  Kaelith’s eyes widened. “Oh! That reminds me—we got some pretty good loot from that gauntlet!”

  “What? How?” Nikolai asked in confusion.

  “What do you mean, how? I had Lurk collect it, of course. We got a few runes, a bunch of materials from those insects, harpy feathers—quite a good haul!” she said cheerily.

  Damn. Nikolai had honestly forgotten about the whole looting thing. What kind of gamer was he!? Not that he had any way of looting anything—he had lost his bag, the looting knife, essentially everything he had brought in—but… he looked at Kaelith. He had gotten quite a lot in return for it.

  Kaelith gave him a puzzled look. “Something on my face?”

  Nikolai flicked the black face mask. “I can’t see your face…”

  After a while, the two of them began moving up through the dungeon together after having rested for a bit longer. They encountered no monsters, and it seemed almost eerily quiet. After their fifth break, footsteps began echoing up from below, and Calim came into view in the murky tunnels.

  He looked haggard and bloodied, but he smiled when he saw the two of them. “Ah, I see we caught up. I thought I told you to wait for us, Kaelith.”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t going to wait around to see if you failed. We are not exactly in the best shape.”

  Nikolai was surprised by her suddenly flat, almost hostile tone, and was instantly wary of this Calim.

  The sun-tanned man stopped in front of Nikolai, then crouched down and extended a hand as the rest of his team came up the tunnel. “I don’t believe we have met properly, have we, Nikolai Travelion?”

  Nikolai shook his hand but kept his face neutral. Then someone came running up to them.

  “Nikolai! You’re awake!” Erik exclaimed, and Nikolai couldn’t help but smile. Of all the people who had entered this bloody crypt—well, besides Kaelith—he was extremely happy to see Erik was okay. He had met his wife and child, and would have really hated for him to get hurt.

  “Erik, I am happy to see you got through okay.”

  The big man grinned widely. “That should be me saying that, lad. You looked pretty bad when we found you earlier.”

  Nikolai nodded with a slight wince. “Yeah, still not in top shape, but I’ll live…”

  Erik crouched and put a hand on his shoulder. “Good job staying alive, lad. Here, let me help you.”

  Nikolai hesitated, but then let the big man help him to his feet, before he reached a hand back to Kaelith. She took it gently, which seemed to surprise everyone for some reason, and with the support of the larger group, they began making their way out.

  As they went, Calim and some woman named Ulin kept badgering him with questions. Nikolai just waved them off, claiming exhaustion. He really, really didn’t want to explain things to them. They seemed very curious about what had happened to his own group, about his magic, how he had healed Christina—Erik’s wife—and so on. In the end, Kaelith stepped in and demanded they leave him alone, which, to his surprise, did the trick. They seemed wary of her.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  It took a long time, but when Nikolai finally stepped into the sunlight, it was a balm. It felt like he had spent years in the crypt, and while it had probably only been maybe a week, it felt amazing to be done with it.

  What he hadn’t expected was the light state of chaos that greeted them. Soldiers were there, and every adventurer coming out was closely inspected and questioned for their names and badges, much to everyone’s annoyance.

  The guildmaster himself was present as well. It was the first time Nikolai had met the man, and he didn’t like the glances he was throwing his way. They weren’t hostile, just incredibly probing.

  Eventually, they were allowed to leave. Carriages had been prepared for everyone, and they were escorted back to the city by a procession of soldiers.

  Nikolai was dropped off at the hospitarium, and once again the others seemed surprised when Kaelith got off with him. She didn’t say anything, but simply stood with him in silence.

  Calim nodded to Nikolai. “There will be a debriefing at the guild in two days, so take this time to rest, you two.”

  Nikolai waved them goodbye half-heartedly and shivered slightly when he met Ulin’s eyes as the carriages began rolling away. He was going to stay clear of that one.

  Taking a deep breath, he turned to the large stairs leading up to the beautiful building. “I almost feel like being back in the dungeon was preferable to all this,” Nikolai said to Kaelith, and she nodded in fervent agreement.

  “At least the undead stay quiet,” she said.

  They were ushered through the doors by the guardsmen on duty, clearly recognizing Nikolai.

  Both of them looked at him worriedly, like he would collapse right there and then.

  Once through the doors, he found himself in a familiar scene. The talk of patients and nurses stopped as they stepped in, everyone staring like they had seen a ghost. That was until one of the nurses rushed over. “Nikolai!? Someone! Call Lazgrim!”

  Nikolai smiled and assured the nurse he was okay. Kaelith didn’t get even half the attention he did, and all the fawning he was receiving seemed to annoy her slightly. She didn’t say anything, but she did step a little closer, her shoulder leaning just slightly against his side.

  Lazgrim burst through the door, and before Nikolai knew what was happening, he was caught up in a rough embrace. “You’re okay, lad! Oh, I heard a team had returned, claiming you had fallen in the crypt, but here you are, here you are!”

  “You’re crushing me, teacher…” Nikolai groaned, and the dwarf immediately let him go.

  “Ah, apologies! Please, come, let me check you over immediately!” Lazgrim said, already gesturing for nurses to prepare a treatment room.

  Nikolai protested that he was well enough, but the old dwarf would hear none of it.

  In the treatment room, Kaelith helped him undress. The suit he had conjured from the cane was torn to pieces in many places, but the grey outer robe covering his shoulders barely had a smudge, not a scratch on it. He still felt stiff, his torso and arms not quite as flexible as they should be, but Kaelith didn’t seem to mind assisting him.

  Once he was in his underwear, another issue cropped up. He hadn’t washed himself for at least a week, and that made him extremely self-conscious. He was absolutely nasty, covered in dried blood and grime. As Lazgrim had him lie down, he protested, asking if he could perhaps take a bath before anything else, but the dwarf once again overruled him.

  “Lad, I have treated warriors for longer than you’ve been alive. I have seen much worse. Now be quiet and let me have a look at you.”

  Kaelith sat slumped in a chair, her eyes were lidded, but never for a moment left Nikolai. She didn’t seem to distrust Lazgrim, but at the same time didn’t seem willing to leave his side for even a second. Lazgrim had tried to push her out of the room, but she had simply shaken her head and sat down.

  Lazgrim’s hands glowed as he inspected Nikolai. Despite the healing he himself—and also Ulin—had performed, his torso was still discolored from the badgering of that big monster guy.

  The old dwarf growled, “What in the goddess’ name happened to you, lad? Did a giant swing a tree at you?”

  Nikolai chuckled. “Close enough…”

  He coughed, it hurt to laugh.

  “Hmm. I can do some here, but you’ve already had a lot of healing done. Your body needs time to recover from the overload of rapid recovery before we can do more,” Lazgrim explained as the soothing flow of healing rushed through Nikolai’s body.

  “You’ve used that ability again, haven’t you? Your lifeforce is weaker than it should be.’’ Lazgrim said, his voice disapproving. ‘’Can’t do anything about that for now…” Lazgrim mumbled, his hands continuing to glow brighter.

  Finally, the light winked out, and the discoloration on Nikolai’s chest was lessened but not gone. Lazgrim huffed in frustration. “That is all I can do for now. You will rest, lad. That is a bloody order, you hear me!?”

  Nikolai smiled. “Oh, I am very ready to take an extremely long nap… Lazgrim, could you take a look at Kaelith? Her leg was torn off. I tried to fix it, but—”

  “What!? Why in the bloody hells did you say so earlier!?” Lazgrim spun toward the small masked woman in outrage. “Undress, girl, now!”

  Kaelith looked taken aback, then began backing away from the angry dwarf. “I… I am quite alright, Master Lazgrim. No need to—”

  Lazgrim moved much faster than Nikolai had thought possible and grabbed Kaelith’s wrist. “I said, undress, now!”

  Nikolai got up and put a hand on Lazgrim’s shoulder. “Lazgrim, there is a reason she hides her face. She isn’t comfortable with—”

  Lazgrim shot him a glare. “I don’t care about her being a woman, nor a half-demon! Having a limb torn off and reattached is beyond traumatic to the body. It needs to be treated!”

  Kaelith froze, then seemed to slump slightly. “No hiding anything from you, is there?” she said defeatedly.

  Lazgrim turned back to her, took a deep, calming breath, and then spoke in a gentler tone. “I carry no prejudice against other races, lass, and as a healer I am more than used to the female form. I can have Nikolai leave the room, however.”

  Nikolai nodded in agreement, but Kaelith shook her head, then removed her mask. Now that he saw her face, he saw the strain on it—the pain she must have been suppressing—and cursed himself for not noticing.

  “Nikolai can stay. I have nothing to hide from him,” she said, managing a small smirk.

  Lazgrim rolled his eyes and gave Nikolai a baleful look. “You managed to charm a half-demon girl in a dungeon filled with undead horrors? It’s those ears, isn’t it? Actually, now that I look closer… did you become prettier, lad? Were your ears always pointy like that?”

  He shook his head as if to push the thought away. “No, we will talk about that later. Kaelith, was it? Please, let me have a look at you.”

  Nikolai helped Kaelith out of her leather armor, then carefully pulled away the layered robes she wore beneath—first the dark grey one, then the shorter black robe that crossed over it.

  When her true form was revealed, he realized she was much more slender than he had expected, almost delicate. Despite her earlier bravado, a faint blush colored her cheeks under his gaze.

  Nikolai caught himself staring. He didn’t mean to—but he was young man damn it, and Kaelith… Kaelith was beautiful. Unavoidably, undeniably so.

  She had a kind of lithe, effortless grace he hadn’t noticed beneath the layers of cloth until now—sleek lines, quiet strength, and a presence that made it hard to look away.

  But then his eyes fell to her leg, and the moment shattered.

  “Shit, Kaelith—your leg…”

  She tried to hide it with one hand, but the injury was too severe. A deep, dark scar wrapped all the way around her upper thigh, right where the leg met the hip. The skin looked torn, ragged, a clear reminder that it had been ripped off by force and reattached in his rush to save her.

  Kaelith noticed his expression and reached for his hand, holding it firmly. Forgetting her own embarrassment, and instead worrying about him. “You did what you could, Nikolai. This isn’t your fault.”

  Lazgrim didn’t miss a beat and ordered her to lie down. Then his hands landed on her leg without hesitation, and Nikolai watched as the old dwarf inspected her.

  Lazgrim nodded slowly. “You did this, then, Nikolai?”

  “I did,” Nikolai answered promptly. He was deathly afraid he had made some huge mistake, but he wouldn’t run from it.

  “You did well, lad, although this injury was clearly beyond you. The bone is mended well enough, but needs some work. The problem is the muscles—they haven’t quite attached properly, not to mention the nerves,” Lazgrim said, his tone professional.

  “Hm. It can be fixed, but what I need to do to fix it…” Lazgrim mumbled, seemingly to himself. Kaelith looked him in the eye.

  “You can mend me?” she asked hopefully.

  Lazgrim nodded. “I can, but…” He took a deep breath. “You’re a big girl, so I’ll tell you straight. I will need to cut your leg open, well almost off really, or else I cannot reattach the nerves. It will be a difficult task—but it can be done.”

  Kaelith paled slightly but nodded firmly. “Do it! If it isn’t fixed, I won’t be useful to—” She cut herself off, realizing she was about to reveal something she shouldn’t, and glanced at Nikolai apologetically.

  Lazgrim followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing. “Lad… what did you do…?”