I was a scout, not a front-line combatant! This battle was not what I am suited for. But my team was dead; everything I had ever cared about was taken from me in the blink of an eye. I am a quester in name only, because what is a quester without a team? With no comrades at my side and a horde of monsters to my front. Well, they weren't monsters; they were people, just like me. Half-breed creatures just trying to make it in this unfair world. Still being alone sucked.

  "Brace yourself, Xyn, they are coming." A familiar gruff voice spoke from my side.

  I glanced away from the army and found Rakshur standing beside me, weapons raised and ready. Surprised, I barely squeaked out a reply.

  "Why are you here? What about your friend?"

  "Calraz is healed up, he will snap Doctore out of his stupor. It's up to us to keep the enemy at bay."

  With the giant stone man saddling up beside me, weapons drawn, it felt, just for a moment, like I was back with my team. James the archer, he was nothing like this stalwart brute, yet the two shared their deadly accuracy. How life changes so quickly. One day you're an average quester entering a ruin with your teammates. Next thing you know, they are all dead, and you are working with a Garathi who once called you a half-breed.

  "Give me your daggers." He requested, withdrawing a small vial of green liquid.

  "Why?!" I withdrew my weapons protectively, like a child clutched to the breast.

  "So I can poison the blades!"

  "Oh... okay."

  Reluctantly, I handed over the weapons. He expertly applied the foul poison to each of them and swiftly returned them just as the enemies arrived. It was uncanny how quick he was at that. All I saw was a blur followed by a splash of green. My new daggers had a sickly colour, and they lacked any stench. Sadly, I wasn't able to inspect them closer as Volkaran came at me with an axe.

  Letting my reflexes take hold, I turned ethereal and allowed the weapon to pass harmlessly through me. To avoid materialising with some guy's arm in me, I shifted to the side, turned my arms solid and stabbed him in the throat. The speed enchantment was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I did not know where those abominations had found such a treasure. My old team would have been ecstatic to see it. Feeding the blades more mana, I felt the enchantments pour energy into my limbs like white-hot fire. It was pretty close to the feeling of a haste spell. Damien used to cast that buff on us all the time. However, my interface called it the Quick Hands buff. And it worked as advertised.

  With the speed of lightning, I pulled the blade from his neck and sliced an approaching swordsman. He didn't even realise his sword hand was gone until his throat was gushing blood. An arrow came my way. I turned ethereal and watched the fletching pass through my skull, right between my eyes. I never got used to that. Sighting the archer, I flipped over one of my daggers and threw the blade with immeasurable speed, plunging deep into his forehead. And with a thought, the blade pulled itself from his corpse and flew back into my hands.

  "I love these blades!"

  The two had different enchantments that complemented each other. One increased the speed of your limbs, and the other added a return enchantment. They would leap from an enemy's chest cavity with a thought and return to where they belong.

  "They are formidable but nothing compared to my armour!" Rak declared proudly as another blade skittered across his pristine curaiss.

  The poor Volkaran tried to slash towards Rak's exposed head with his dull machete, only to meet stone flesh. He received a bolt to the head for his trouble just as the soldier behind him took his place. Rak quickly loosed a flurry of bolts, hitting the next line of men in the chest, head, and a few in the shoulder. Sweeping his crossbow of death across the assembled formation. Unfettered, another row leapt over their fallen comrades, this time with shields and bucklers. The enemies loosed the bolts in quick succession, and they tanked them. The giant gargoyle man just laughed, pulling his arm back for a punch.

  "Power Strike!" he roared just as a blue aura seeped over his body.

  What happened to that brave Volkaran was messy, brutal and a horrible thing to do. Empowered by the armour's enchantment, Rak punched through the man's shield, sending splinters in all directions, obliterated his defence and splattered his head onto the guy behind him. Yeah, Rak was an absolute beast, and he was the archer of the group.

  "Gross." I said completely hypocritical as my blade went through someone's eye.

  "Battle is messy; I wouldn't expect such a dainty little girl to understand war." He punched through someone's furry chest.

  "I just cut off a dog's head. I'm not dainty, you overgrown statue!"

  The stone man harrumphed before screaming Power Strike and punching the ground, sending a shockwave, toppling their front line before shooting the survivors. Not exactly a fair fight, but then again, they outnumbered us ten to one. However, my battle took precedence as an ice spike narrowly missed my head.

  "We've got a mage!" I alerted the entire world.

  "I'll take them out!" Rak let loose a volley of bolts, only to be blocked by a barrier.

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  "It's a mage, moron! Don't you know about defensive magic?!"

  "Shut up and kill the mage if you're so smart."

  He made a valid point; a long-distance fight was not the best situation to deal with a mage. Eyeing him just over the few remaining soldiers, I was about to sprint through them when a strange sound assaulted my ears. With an energetic voice, it felt bright and bouncy. Incredibly upbeat considering the blood and gore. It was music, but one I hadn't heard before. I immediately knew the culprit and glanced around the battlefield, noticing an approaching blur.

  The Volkarans appeared frazzled, their ears twitching, frantically looking around for the source of the noise. That's when the blur arrived; it solidified into the familiar form of Joey. Only instead of the cheerful expression of a truly odd man. He looked manic, with bloodshot eyes and a wild look on his face. He grinned creepily before raising his hands.

  "I'm the Flash!" he yelled before becoming a blur and fleeing, another blur chasing after him.

  Everybody was visibly stunned, but I took advantage and dispatched a confused-looking Volkaran with a mace before making my way to the mage. The spellslinger wasted no time and started throwing everything he had, from ice spikes to lightning bolts. I dodged them nimbly, as mages were a bad match-up. Their magic could affect me, even in my ethereal state. So good old speed and agility was the answer.

  As a lightning bolt flew over my head, I collided with a machete-wielding Volkaran and pulled him onto the path of an ice spike. It lodged in his chest with a pained yelp. Using the distraction, I tore away his weapon and flung it at a nearby enemy. I heard a scream but had to dodge another ice spike, so not sure who I got.

  "Get her away from me!" The mage frantically retreated.

  He wasn't fast enough. I leapt over a downed soldier and flung a dagger. It landed on the mage's thigh. He released a pained yelp as arcs of lightning spilled from his palm, interrupting his spell. A flash of light, and by the time I reached the mage, he was on the ground smoking from his forehead, as dead as everyone else.

  "Idiot, he should have cancelled the spell." I muttered.

  "Another force is coming from the rear!" Rak called out.

  I glanced over, noticing the Garathi ghosts were tangling with the second little army. Calraz was wading into battle, fully healed and fighting beside his dead comrades. Must be incredibly surreal. I felt for the man, knowing they would return to Hades, eventually.

  "We got them on the run!" Rak yelled again.

  Turning back to the battered forces, I assessed their survivors. The stink of blood and feces assaulted my nose. The gods were truly cruel for making the recently dead void their bowels. It made the aftermath of battles a literal shit fight. I could see a few Volkaran fleeing, but a few others were emerging from the entrance, a chained human at their side.

  "What in Hades is that?" I couldn't help but ask.

  Someone immediately answered me as they unchained the figure from the neck, and the person who freed him pointed in our direction. Stock still and shivering, the unchained figure didn't move. The frustrated Volkaran drew a sword and threatened the man. As soon as the Volkaran unsheathed steel, the figure came alive, leaping atop them and tearing their throats out. The beast soon devoured a few others who came to his defence. It was certainly a beast in human skin. Perhaps a vampire or abomination.

  Now covered in Volkaran blood, its crimson eyes locked onto us. Snarling like an animal, it beat feet and sprinted faster than any human being. Traversing the distance in moments. I quickly retrieved my dagger, turning ethereal just as the beast phased through me. Probably confused over the fact it wasn't sinking its teeth into me. It frantically sniffed the air before turning around. Just for my ethereal body to turn solid.

  "Damn cooldown." I cursed as the creature turned around and leapt upon me.

  I was ready, daggers raised to intercept the insane beast. I had already pinpointed the precise locations on its body to produce the most damage. And just as I was about to slice and dice, I recognised it. He was so familiar, look past the fangs, the blood-soaked face and the murder in his eyes. They were blue like the ocean, flecked with slight tinges of brown. And those ears — I always made fun of his big ears.

  "Elias?" I gasped as he fell upon me.

  Biting and clawing, my comrade-in-arms tried desperately to kill me, not like a man but like an animal. Horror filled me to the core as I pushed away against his ferocity, trying to keep my daggers away from his face.

  "What are you doing?!" I heard Rak yell from the side.

  "Elias, stop!" My pleading fell on deaf ears.

  Elias, my once friend, teammate and childhood friend, was now a screaming monster with fangs, trying desperately to make me his next meal. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened as I held him back with all my strength, which was nothing against whatever enhancements he had.

  "Die, vampire!" Rak screamed in rage as the whistling sounds of flying arrows preceded a thud.

  Elias got hurt. I could see the bolts sticking out of his side. His bloodshot eyes turned away from me, towards that which provoked his ire. Hissing and screeching, Elias was ready to leap off me and charge with reckless abandon. I couldn't let that happen. I lost everyone I cared about, and I won't lose him!

  "Don't shoot him!" I pleaded with the enraged Garathi, but my voice fell on deaf ears.

  He had already smashed the head of an attacking soldier and was now bounding towards us, the glow of his armour's enchantment bright and clear. No doubt his next act would be to power strike Elias, splattering my only friend to death without a second thought. The roar and the consistent thud of his feet told me it wouldn't be long. Unable to think, I just acted, grabbing my old friend by the neck and turning him over. My back was facing the incoming enemy. Elias' fangs sank deeply into my neck, but I ignored the pain, focused only on protecting my last friend on Grimgard, no matter what he was now. Rak stopped running, and I felt the sand hit my back.

  "What are you doing?!" he screamed.

  "Protecting my friend!"

  "He is not your friend anymore; he is a monster!" Rak protested.

  I ignored his protests, pushing away the gnawing vampire, placing my foot on his chest and kicking him off. The fangs tore flesh painfully, but I remained composed as Elias flew back, and my blood caked his mouth. Fangs bared and ready to charge again.

  "Kill it!" Rak demanded.

  "No!" I screamed in return, leaping into action.

  Thankfully, a foolish Volkaran tried to stab Rakshur in the back, keeping him occupied. I leapt into action, running towards Elias. Turning ethereal just as we met, passing through him. Turning in place, I solidified and grabbed the vampire's shoulders and pulled him to the ground. That was a dangerous move as he immediately snapped at me, nearly biting my hand off. I jumped back, brandishing my daggers. Instinct told me to sever this monster's head.

  "Don't make me do this!" I pleaded. "Elias, stop!"

  But no matter how I begged, he just snarled and clawed. Was he really dead, and I was just fooling myself? I didn't know but what I knew is that I will not kill my friend. But would that mean my death? Just as I came to that conclusion, his snarling ceased, mere moments from clawing my eyes out. Elias fell back, standing in silence, eyes glazed over.

  "That will be quite enough, little one." A sultry feminine voice said to the side.

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