Ash fell. The floor had suddenly opened up beneath her feet, plunging her straight into darkness.

  The single moment stretched out into eternity, her hammer tumbling below her as her fingers swung out, hoping to find a grip on the rough stone, her back scraped across wall and then the edge of the opening, bouncing off and in. Her hands slid over the lip, never even having a chance of establishing a grip. Then she was inside, the feint stone opening above lit up from the glow of her falling club beneath her. She heard Scholar cry out in alarm, then a thud from her maul below. Ash had a brief moment to realise her body would soon follow. Then she slammed into the bottom.

  Three points erupted through her body. Her left arm, right thigh and back all blooming with fresh pain. Ash’s legs and head scraped roughly against stone before she came to a stop, but she barely noticed compared to the three main injuries. The sudden rush of sensation from her breaking nerves was so overwhelming she could feel as her vision closed in, attempting to save her from experiencing the breaking of her body.

  No, not like this! She protested, forcibly preventing herself from blacking out. Instead, she focused on the pain points, one by bitter one.

  Looking to her left arm, she instantly saw it had been impaled upon a spear of stone, blood seeping out and down the grey pillar. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she registered the rest of the room. A spike pit. I’ve fallen into a bloody spike pit! While her mind reeled, her body instinctively pulled away, her arm lifting and the tip of the stone spike breaking off inside with another burst of pain. Spikes. Looks like I hit three of them. Her eyes flicked down, moaning in despair as she saw the next bloody point of stone protruding straight through her right thigh.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. My back! There’s another in my back too! She scrabbled beneath her with her right arm, feeling the stone pillar beneath her, holding her aloft. She also felt her hammer, wedged between the spikes and just below her lower back, somewhat helping her from being impaled further. At least there’s not one protruding all the way through my chest. And I’m still alive, for now.

  “Ash! Are you okay?” the dim silhouette of Scholar was just visible above her, illuminated by his glowing finger.

  “No!” She coughed. “I’m stabbed in three places!”

  He hissed out a curse “Hang on, Spear has a rope!” He called hurriedly. “We’ll get-” And then his voice was abruptly cut off as the trap door swiftly slammed shut above her, sealing her inside.

  “Fuck.” She cursed, trying not to panic instantly.

  You’re on your own. Maybe they’ll find a way to help, maybe they won’t. For now, I’ll just need to help myself. She took a rasping breath, as deep as she could manage. Calm, Assess the damage.

  You have impacted stone wall for 1 damage

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  You have been impaled on stone spike for 8 damage

  You have been impaled on stone spike for 12 damage

  You have impacted stone pillar for 5 damage

  You have impacted stone pillar for 1 damage

  You are bleeding

  Fucking ouch! She winced. After all that, she had 6 hit points left and she was definitely still bleeding out. She watched as her health ticked down by another one. I need to get off of these spikes and stop the bleeding, else… I’m dead.

  She checked the notification again. Impaled twice… does that mean I’m not… She felt at her back once more, noticing that there was no telltale wetness of blood. Just heavy bruising. In fact, she could feel the rugged stone surface still poking painfully into her back. It seemed like she had gotten lucky and the point of this spike had been broken off, perhaps even before she fell. Thank goodness for this crumbling old stone, it likely saved my life. Now, let’s not waste it. I just need to focus on extracting my leg… and both quickly and without making it worse or I’m definitely bleeding out.

  She looked around, her maul still fortunately letting out light. The room was full of spikes. Twelve of them it seemed. Her hammer and small frame was wedged between several of them, but just behind her, between the two spikes on either side of her head. she noticed an opening in the wall. A small passageway. A way out! That’s it, focus. I just need to get there.

  She twisted the leg, hoping to break off this point as well, but it seemed more stubborn than the one through her arm, having sunk deeper to a thicker section than that one had.

  Shit, this is going to hurt. Ash grimaced, then began to lift her leg. She managed to brace against the spikes around her, pushing against them, her hammer and the broken spike beneath her just enough to lift her thigh. The pain in her bruised back flared against the stone, but that was nothing compared to the sensation of rough stone sliding out of her mutilated leg. Part way out, she struggled to find any further leverage to lift higher, the stone was still embedded halfway through her leg. Ash was desperate to not fall back on the spike, knowing that would only make things worse. She instead found herself twisting, screaming out in pain as the stone gave way, breaking off still partially imbedded inside her.

  She was delirious from the pain now, and down to a mere three hit-points, but she was free. Whimpering and desperate, Ash crawled through the spikes. Every inch was a struggle but she was grateful for the platform of her hammer, giving her good leg something to push against. She let out a triumphant sob as she finally tumbled out into the narrow passage. She was free from the pit of spikes, but she was not yet safe from her injuries.

  Blood dripped from her thigh, and she pulled out a scrap of fabric from her pocket, grateful for the bandages she had been given before. First, she extracted the spike from her leg. Her fingers fumbled and tears leaked down her cheeks but she eventually got the bandage tied tightly around it. Next was her arm, her last bandage frantically wrapped around it as the final bloody spike clattered to the floor.

  The bleeding symbol vanished from her status and Ash let out a sigh of relief. I survived. I survived a bloody pit trap.

  Ash had experienced the trope in many games before. Often finding the concept funny. Perhaps even thinking of a depiction of a character walking comically on air before dropping. However, after falling into one for real, she would have to say she did not recommend the experience.

  It had been so close to killing her in so many horrifically different ways. The broken spike, her hammer partly stopping her fall. How close she had been to bleeding out.

  How low am I, anyway? Ash wondered. Wincing, she blearily checked her health bar but already knew what she would see.

  2 hit-points remained. Just 2. Always 2.

  Typical.