She awoke with a start, expecting her hospital bed, but was greeted with the cold dark tunnel. It looked like sleep worked differently in this game than the previous. She had been expected to be logged out, but instead there was a time skip. That was cool, she thought A bit more like actual sleep.

  Morning light was filtering down from the opening so she must have been asleep a while. But, hadn’t she just heard something? Some sound had jerked her awake. Was it a dream or… No, there it was again. Was that… voices?

  “Hello? She instinctively called out, her voice rasping out of her throat. “Is someone there?”

  She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to get the attention of whoever that was, but she had spent so much of her recent life needing help with just about everything. And so, the plea had just… slipped out. It was too late to take it back now.

  “What was that?” Came a faint voice “Who’s there?”

  “Hi, I’m stuck in this hole.” Ash explained “Can you help me out?”

  “The hell?” Came another voice “There’s a girl in that old well thing!”

  “Careful, it could be imitating one!”

  A shadow passed over the opening and Ash stumbled to her feet, looking up at the stern, square face that appeared above her.

  “Oh gods its- Ah…” The man flinched back, but then looked confused. A dark haired woman’s face joined his looking down at Ash below.

  “Oh, gods! How long have you been stuck down there!” She gasped. “You look half starved to death! Poor thing! Eric, reach those long arms down there.”

  The man grimaced and lowed his hand into the hole. Ash quickly picked up her spent torch and tucked it into her belt before standing on a brick and placing her thin fingers into his strong grip. He lifted her up easily.

  “Wow, she’s light.” He commented as he hoisted her up and out of the stone opening. She emerged, mouth opening wide as she was met with an ocean of green plants and warm sunlight.

  Ash collapsed onto the floor, gasping with relief. She felt like she was about to cry. The greenery around her was just too warm and beautiful compared to the dark hole she had been trapped in.

  “Of course she’s light, she looks like she hasn’t eaten in a month.” The woman said. “Here, let me get something for her.

  Ash found herself pried with dry bread and a flask of slightly alcoholic tasting water. She consumed what she could, though the willowy looking woman warned her about eating too quickly. Ash had been living on an IV for too long, so even the plain, subtle flavours were a joy on her tongue. She paused. Wow, they were even simulating that sense now too. Taste-sense had only been a feature in specialty cooking games with extra hardware before. This game was definitely looking to blow the competition away.

  “So, I’m Hestia and this oaf is Eric.” The woman said kindly. “We’re exploring around a new settlement that’s being set up near here. What’s your name hun?” Ash had thought it was a reflection of the foliage around them, but she finally recognised that Hestia’s skin actually had a faintly green tinge to it. Is she not… human. Or can humans be like that in this game?

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  Ash realised she was staring and finally responded, saying simply “Ash.”

  “Ash? Okay. And… how did you get here? Are you one of the settler’s kids?”

  “No… I don’t know how I got here. I woke up down in those tunnels yesterday.”

  “What?” Eric grunted “How can you just… not know? Who are your parents?”

  “I’m twenty two!” Ash retorted “And I just… Don’t. Maybe I have amnesia.”

  “Oh, I think I’ve heard of that happening before. Usually from a nasty head injury or something.” Hestia commented, starting to examine Ash’s head. “She probably fell in there or something.”

  “That sounds like some crazy psychomancer shit to me.” Eric retorted. “And sorry, you just look so small and frail… You know what I’m just going to stop talking.”

  “Anyway,” Hestia interjected “I wouldn’t discount some mind altering, but I think we should focus on getting her back to the settlers for now, see if anyone recognises her. Does that sound good, Ash?”

  Ash nodded and followed them through the jungle, clearly retracing a path they’d forged through the foliage before. The pair seemed like a typical pair of adventurers, a broad frontline fighter in scale armour and a slender backline mage in lighter travel wear. Ash was having trouble keeping up with their pace, breathing heavily as her weak legs trembled from the exertion.

  “So, Ash…” Eric said “I’m a heavy armour fighter, and she is a movement mage-

  “Kinesthetist!” Hestia interjected

  “Sure, whatever. But what about you, have you got or a trade yet, or your own specialty?”

  “Yeah. I took offensive magic too.”

  “Oh, did you now!” Hestia beamed. “What’s your secondary specialty?”

  Ash winced, she’d been hoping to avoid that question.

  “You, ah, don’t have to say if you don’t want to.” Hestia said, her face falling with concern.

  “You’re not some kind of necromancer are you?” Eric scowled.

  “And what would be the problem if she was?” Hestia chided “One of my training friends was a necromancer and he”

  “He’s kind of creepy. I’ve met him, remember!”

  “Ah… Art is a little… quirky I guess, but-”

  “it’s okay, I’m not a necromancer.” Ash said before the conversation got too out of hand “I… I kind of got forced into making a strange choice. My secondary is Great-hammers.”

  Eric stopped “Great-hammers. What? With those arms? Can you even lift one?”

  “I think she’s… Joking…” Hestia trailed off, catching Ash’s pained expression.

  “Apparently… This counts.” Ash gestured at her torch, basically just a charred club now that the oiled rag had burned away.

  “Ah, well… Every combination can work together!” Hestia said consolingly, then followed with a more uncertain “I think…”

  Ash shrugged and they continued on in silence for a few moments.

  “You know…” Eric started hesitantly, “I suppose starving down that hole wasn’t good for your strength. If you want some help with building back up, I’ve got a set of weights you can use.”

  “Aww, Eric!” Hestia gasped “I didn’t know you could be so-”

  “Hestia, that’s a lot of smoke on the horizon.” Eric said suddenly

  Ash looked up and could see it too, half obscured between the massed leaves.

  “We should hurry.” Hestia nodded.

  They increased the pace, Ash panting as she struggled to follow them, starting to quickly lag behind. Within a minute, the faint sounds of commotion could be heard from ahead. Suddenly, the jungle opened out, exposing a cluster of half-finished timber constructions nestled next to what looked to be some overgrown stone ruins. The largest wooden building looked to have been finished but was currently ablaze and people screamed in the distance. Meanwhile a middle-aged woman cowering behind a wall noticed them and rushed in their direction. She was accompanied by a gaggle of small children.

  “There’s been an attack!” The woman gasped “Big, scaly things from the jungle!” They set fire to the hall and, gods help I saw Boris get his head…” The woman sobbed.

  “We’re on it, Hestia, with me.”

  “Ash, stay with Livey here,” Hestia instructed “make sure you get them all somewhere safe. We’ll sort this out.”

  And, with that, they ran straight towards the blaze.