The hall opened to a dead end. Three of the goblin creatures had a young woman cornered, blades and cudgels drawn and waving. The center goblin was taller than those flanking it and wore a helmet far too large. It slid down to cover his eyes, and he pushed it up.

The woman met my eyes and reached out towards me. A goblin brought his cudgel down, breaking her arm with a sharp crack and scream. The other two turned, following her gaze, and spotted me.

"Mage." The taller one snarled, and shoved one of the smaller ones forward. "Kill him."

It rushed forward, club held high, and I cut it down with another splash of flame. This time, my spell killed it outright, rather than injuring it. I was getting stronger. These goblins were horrible, but they fell to fire like any man.

[Goblin Killed. Exp gained.]

The distraction gave the leader time to grab the woman, and now it held her between us as a shield. Its blade was at her throat, and it was careful to keep most of its body behind her. Unlike the other goblins I had killed, this one's eyes gleamed with malicious intelligence.

"Drop staff, or she dies."

I hesitated, my eyes darting between the hostage and the creature. I'd never met the woman before, but she was the first person I'd seen so far. What would happen if I dropped the staff? It wouldn't just let her go. But casting a spell would kill her. If not the spell itself, the creature would while I cast it. I was so focused I almost didn't hear the shuffle of feet, or notice the leader look over my shoulder.

Or that the other goblin had disappeared.

I spun, already casting a spell, but I was too late. The cudgel smashed into my leg, shattering bone and dropping me to the ground. I lashed out with my staff and tripped the creature, but couldn't focus enough through the pain to cast a spell to finish it. Another scream, cut off by a wet gurgle, came from behind me.

The goblin leader stabbed through the woman, its blade red and glistening through her stomach. A blow to the head drove everything away.

[You have died.]

This time, I awoke to the mangled corpse of the goblin I had killed and mutilated. I'd been expecting the slab again, and I jerked away, but didn't move. I sat up gently, rubbing my head and feeling for any injury. Sure enough, I was fine.

"What is going on…"

Something had changed. Had passing out after the fight been enough to save my progress? I was happy with the change, I just wish I understood. My mind felt sluggish, as it had before I had taken up the dead mage's staff and spell book.

The dead man's belongings sat in two piles as the goblins had left them. Before I had taken them for myself. I still had the increased Body, however…

Was I trapped here, unable to escape even through death? The panic returned, subdued and patient. It sat deep in my chest, willing to wait for as long as it needed to be freed. I distracted myself by taking the dead man's belongings, rinsing my mouth out and taking up the staff and spell book.

The two goblins came to investigate the fighting again, and I cut them down. The same spells, the same experience. I spent my points and consumed the spell book in the same way. The panic clawed at my throat the whole time.

This time, I considered my options a bit more carefully when leaving the room. Left had led to my death, but the goblins had come from my right. I wasn't responsible for the woman's life… but she needed my help. I rolled the staff in my palms, the wood cool and soothing. The woman screamed again, distant and panicked.

"Damn it."

I ran faster this time, knowing how far the room was. This time, I took more precautions. I had forgotten the magic at my disposal in my haste. Not again. Never again.

"[Mage Armor]. [Shield]."

Energy coated me, sticking to my skin under my clothes, and the air in front of me wavered in a rough disc shape. It would protect me to an extent. I knew that, but would it be enough? Shadow pains wracked my knee from the memory, and I gripped my staff with white knuckles.

Did I have a choice?

I didn't slow as I charged into the room. The element of surprise was the only thing keeping the woman alive, and I used it to my full advantage. The woman hadn't registered my arrival when my [Firebolt] took the leader in the back.

She cringed back in fear as the creature howled in pain, dropping its sword, and the weaker goblins glanced between her and me, uncertain.

"Come on, you bastards! [Firebolt]!"

The spell missed, splattering against stone, which hissed and cracked under the sudden heat. It was enough to spurn the two goblins into action, and they charged me. Wonderful. At least she was safe for the moment.

Now I just needed to survive.

I channeled another bolt of flame and dropped one of the two, charred and smoldering. A wave of fatigue rushed through me and my breath came in pants. I'd overexerted myself, and the mental pressure was building. The second goblin closed the distance and swung at my knee with his cudgel. I cringed away, expecting the pain, but the club slid across the wavering disc, almost invisible in the light of my staff.

The goblin squawked in surprise, and I struck a blow across its skull, knocking it to the ground. I struck it down with another bolt of flame, and the exhaustion intensified. My vision wavered, and I leaned against my staff.

[Goblin Killed. Exp gained.]

[Goblin Killed. Exp gained.]

"Watch out!" The woman cried.

I spun, almost losing my balance, to see the leader charging at me. It had drawn a cruel, jagged dagger from a filthy loincloth, and I could see bloody stains across the blade.

"Stupid human!"

I raised my staff to cast a spell, but was too slow in my fatigue. It leapt at me and brought us both to the ground. We grappled, and I grabbed the wrist holding the blade, pushing against it. The short sword had fallen just a few feet of the young woman, easily within grasp.

"Help me!" I called to her, pushing hard against the goblin. "The sword!"

I don't think she heard me, just cowered in the corner and screamed. The goblin clawed my face, frantic. Each swipe weakened the magic protecting me, and the third swing shattered the spell, leaving me unprotected. The goblin's sharp claws gouged deep into the skin below my cheek, narrowly missing my eye.

"Help me! Please!"

My grasp was getting weaker, and the goblin noticed. The creature wasn't very heavy, only the size of a child of ten or twelve, but my strength was fading and it was straddling me, strengthened by pain and bloodlust. At this distance, I could make out that its helmet was a large cooking pot, deep and dinged. The goblin pushed harder against my arms, inching the dagger closer to my chest. The point dug into my flesh, right over my heart, and I screamed.

She watched and screamed, not even trying to grab the sword. So lost in her fear, she would watch me die without lifting a finger. I hated her more than the thing attacking me. That hate gave me strength, and I bucked my hips. The dagger dug into my chest, but the movement also threw the goblin off balance. I twisted with all my strength, pushing the creature to the side. I rolled on top of it, pinning its forearm under my knee and wrapping my hands around its throat.

It clawed at my arm, my leg, my face, anything it could reach. Every swipe left burning streaks of blood and pain in my flesh, but I squeezed tighter and tighter, choking the life from the monster. Its eyes, already bulbous, bulged out of their sockets. Its mottled red skin grew darker, to a sickening purple as its thrashing became weaker and spasmodic.

Still, the woman screamed.

[Goblin killed. Exp gained.]

I squeezed the creature's throat until it was limp and the kill message faded away, then rolled off of it and onto my side, panting. My face, my arms, hell, my whole body ached. I dry heaved, my stomach trying to purge contents it didn't have. The only thing that came up was the little water I had drank from the dead man's waterskin, followed by a thin trail of bile.

The wracking stopped in time, and I pushed myself to my feet. I ached and my wounds bled. The goblin had torn me up in its death throes, but there was little I could do about that now. I knew, somewhere deep down, that those two points of Body had saved my life. This time, at least.

The woman had stopped screaming now, but was still cowering in the corner. Anger flashed within me, but I fought it down. Could I blame her? I must look terrible, covered in blood and having just strangled a goblin to death with my bare hands in front of her. Besides, she had almost died.

But so did I.

"Are you okay?" I asked, forcing cheer that I didn't feel. "Are you hurt?"

I raised my hand to offer her help, but she recoiled further. I stopped and let myself collapse against the wall a polite distance from her. Blood trickled down my cheek and arm, and my vision faded. That probably wasn't good. Still, the woman seemed unharmed. I had distracted the goblins before they broke her arm this time.

"Good. That's… that's good…"

The words slurred, and I felt dizzy. The room span around me, and I slumped to my side onto the stone floor. It was filthy. I hoped my scratches didn't get infected. That would… would be…

My vision faded to black.

There was no message declaring my death this time. Instead, I woke to a pleasant warmth at my side and something soft beneath me. A fire crackled, and I could smell something cooking. The pain was gone and my face felt clean again. I tried to sit up, but the nausea came back again and I reconsidered.

"Please, don't try to get up."

It was the woman's voice. Gentle and shaky. It was nice, now that it wasn't screaming. She sat next to the fire, stirring something in a large cooking pot. The large goblin's helmet. The woman must have noticed my revulsion, because she eyed it herself with faint disgust.

"I know. I boiled some water and cleaned it out as best I could. Just… try not to think about it. Are you feeling any better? I treated your injuries as best I could, but I barely have any poultices left. Nothing for those types of wounds, certainly. I cleaned them as best I could and improvised with what I had. Now we can only wait and see."

She spoke with false cheer, babbling to fill the silence. Her hands trembled, and she stirred the pot a bit more forcefully than it needed. I could just make out the tip of the goblin leader's short sword poking out from her side, where she had hidden it.

She wouldn't meet my eyes.

I knew I should thank her, but I couldn't get the image of the goblin straddling me, clawing and stabbing, while she sat nearby next to a fallen sword. Screaming uselessly. Watching me die.

"The soup should be done now, if you're hungry?"

She pulled out two wooden bowls, hesitating as she held the second one. Her thumb stroked the rim, and her eyes focused on something beyond the stone floor.

"Just cabbage and some jerky, I'm afraid. I haven't found a grocer in this… this place, yet."

I sat up slowly, giving the room time to stop spinning.

"Thank you. For healing me and the food."

She glanced up at me with a weak smile, but couldn't hold my gaze for more than a moment. Was there fear in her expression? Shame? She ladled some soup, more hot water than anything, into the first bowl and slid it towards me along the floor. When I reached for it, she jerked her hand away as though I were venomous. I moved more slowly after that.

Sure enough, the soup was cabbage flavored water, and my portion had a single piece of tough meat bobbing along the surface. Still, hungry as I was, it was delicious, and I scalded my tongue in my haste. My host must have noticed, because she smiled.

"If you could call it that. Still, you look like you're starving, so have as much as you like. I'm Teija, by the way."

"I'm…"

What could I tell her? My name was still an empty void in my memory. Even the words didn't know what it was. The woman didn't seem surprised by my hesitation, and nodded in understanding.

"You just woke up, right? So you probably don't remember anything from before. None of us do, for the first few… well. For a while after we wake up. It'll come to you, in time. If you let it."

I held the bowl in my hands, letting the warmth seep into my bones. The piece of jerky bobbed along on its journey around the rim of the bowl. I didn't know what I was saving it for, just that it would be a shame to finish it already. It was something to look forward to, in a way.

"Were you a doctor then, Teija? Before you came to this place?"

She took a sip from her bowl and grimaced. Maybe she didn't like cabbage.

"I think so? Or something similar. An alchemist, maybe? I'm good with plants, I think. Not that there are many here except mushrooms." She glanced at a pack beside her, and I could see a single cabbage poking out. "And the occasional cabbage."

She didn't elaborate. What was there for me to say? That I couldn't remember anything before I got here? That I had already died twice? Even I had trouble believing it. We sat in silence as we finished the soup.

I helped myself to another bowl of the soup, grabbing one of the last remaining pieces of jerky. Teija didn't protest, but I saw her concern as I filled my bowl and resolved to make it my last. She was low enough on supplies for herself, and didn't need a stranger taking it all. Not after saving my life.

"Are you alone, then?" She busied herself ladling the leftovers into small vials, then wrapped them with bits of cloth and packed them away into her bag. Not once did she stray out of arm's reach of the sword.

"I am, yes. You're the first living person I've seen since I woke up. You?"

She glanced at my staff, then down at her hands. Her eyes became misty.

Ah.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I would have helped him if I could, but…"

Her hands moved casually, but I saw her fingers brush the length of jagged metal she'd hidden beside her.

"Did you kill him?" Her tone was neutral, unreadable.

Would she attack me if the answer had been yes? Or did she wish she'd killed him herself? Was he her father? Lover? A tormentor? It was impossible to say, and all I had was the truth.

"No. He was dead when I found him. Two goblins had… I killed them. If it hadn't been for his staff and his magic, I would have died too."

"And been unable to save me, as well." I nodded. "Good."

That took me off guard. I cocked an eyebrow, and she corrected herself quickly, horrified.

"Good that his things were useful, I mean. Not that he is… He wasn't…" She cut herself off and took a deep breath, starting over.

"He called himself Torrel. I don't know if it was his real name or not. Or if that staff was even his to belong with. He didn't seem very good with it. Was always banging it against things, and I don't think I ever saw him cast a spell. I had suspected he'd taken it off of someone else, honestly, but I was too afraid to ask him."

"Were you close?" It seemed the polite thing to ask.

"No. Not at all. We'd just met a few… nights ago? I suppose? We slept twice since we met, at least. Time is odd when there's no sun. He wasn't kind, but he was good enough at hitting goblins with that staff that we got by. It was worth travelling with him, for that."

She trailed off. I waited for her to continue, but she remained silent, staring at the fire and lost in her memories.

I examined the room we were in for the first time. It was a fair size, two dozen paces to a side, and a rough square. Teija had placed the campfire in a corner farthest from the entry I had come in from. The only way in or out. Plenty of warning if something were to come through.

The trailing smoke from the fire caught my eye, and I followed it as it danced in the small currents caused by our movements.

"The smoke never builds here, you know." Teija said. "It floats up, but never gathers. No matter what we burn, I've never seen a room fill with smoke in this place. Just another thing about this place that feels… wrong."

She shivered, a chill that had nothing to do with the cool air, and inched closer to the fire.

"What is this place?"

"I don't know. You know about as much as I do. We're underground, judging by the water and walls. Some kind of dungeon, maybe? A prison perhaps, where the prisoners are free to run wild? Or some hell? It would explain the monsters."

She shivered again, despite the fire, and wrapped her arms around herself.

"And why none of us remember how we got here. Or who we were before."

"How many people have you met? Other than Torrel?"

"And you? Only a few. We were travelling with a tall woman with a little boy in the beginning, Torrel and me. The two of them got into an argument about something, though, and we split up shortly after. Torrel mentioned trying to find a way out, but the smith refused to go. Not with… with the likes of Torrel. I should have gone with them, but… I had already seen Torrel kill goblins on his own. I thought my chances were better with him."

"Torrel, he thought there was a way out?"

Teija looked at me blankly.

"If there's a way in, there's got to be a way out, right? He thought so, at least."

Just the thought of a way out of this place was enough to give me some hope. I wanted to see the sun again. To feel the wind. I stood, taking my staff with me. Teija tensed, her hand straying towards her sword as I did so, but that was all.

"I don't… I can't go out there anymore. Those things…" She took another steadying breath. "I'll be no good to you out there, with those things. But if you bring me supplies, medicine and food, I'll be happy to help you as best I can from here."

If you come back, her eyes said. If you don't leave me here alone.

Again, I saw her cowering in a corner as a jagged blade dug into my shoulder, watching helplessly with a sword within arm's reach.

"Deal. I'll be back soon, so keep the fire burning for me." My voice was steady, free of the simmering resent that refused to fade.

She nodded, relieved.

[New Camp available]

[New Camp Follower: Teija the Alchemist]

[Find medicinal supplies]

[Find food supplies]

[Find the Smith]

[Leadership Skill unlocked: Recruit camp follower]

[Level Up. 2 Ability Points Available. 1 Skill Point Available.]

The thoughts were a comfort now. They gave me purpose, direction. I spent my points on improving my spells more, but saved the skill point for later. I didn't have enough information on which skills would be most useful to spend it yet. For now, I squared my shoulders. I had a somewhat safe place to rest, another living human to talk to, a full stomach, and a direction to follow. I replenished my [Light] and [Mage Armor], and set off to explore the rest of this new world I had found myself in. Maybe I would recall more details about myself along the way?