CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A Scene of Rescues and Escapes
Acloaked figure swung into the dungeon from an overhead rope. In a whirl of flowers and black satin, bearing curved knives and a tiara, with high boots and a majestic cape, a girl landed between Kriqir and Em. Only her amber eyes and arched eyebrows were visible beneath her mask.
It can’t be…
The Nobody Girl from the guild job board.
Her soft, dark complexion glimmered like her pristine eyeliner. Sasha looked like a mix of princess, ninja, bounty hunter, and a makeup model all at once.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Em exclaimed.
“Rescuing you, sweetheart,” Sasha grinned beneath her mask.
“You’re going to regret trespassing into my tower again, Sasha,” Kriqir the Living sneered, twisting threads of green, glowing power from his manicured hands. “I know all of your usual exits, and I placed extra surveillance and guards all about in case you ever returned.”
“Good.” Sasha flicked out a pair of karambit knives, twirling them. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Em squinted in the vibrant sunlight overhead to check if the rest of her party was up there, but the outcast girl from Mercer Village had come alone.
Is this plot taking an original turn for once?
“Do you think you can kill me?” The necromancer laughed. “Are you not aware of who I am?”
“While I’m aware you can’t die without the dragon’s relic, but I do know from experience you can bleed.” Sasha took a challenging step toward Kriqir, chin high with an air of confidence Em could only dream of one day achieving.
“Foolish girl.” Kriqir hissed between gnashed fangs. “I have armies of Orcs who’ll crush you before you can escape my tower.”
“You mean, these Orcs?” Sasha flashed her knives in the sunlight, the smeared black orc blood glistening back.
Em couldn’t stop gawking; this girl was fucking sensational.
In a rush, Kriqir grabbed a handful of his velvet robes, and fled. The necromancer threw open the dungeon door and slammed it behind him with a crash, his echoed, panicked shouts disappearing with him.
“Well, that’s that.” Sasha rammed her knives back into their sheaths.
“How the hell did you get in here?” Em asked.
“Kriqir has a habit of leaving the roof-top door open, which has direct access to the ventilation systems throughout the tower,” Sasha said. “Stereotypical beginner-level mistake.”
“You sure you aren’t a Main Character?”
The other girl helped pick at Em’s shackles, humming to herself as she worked. This close, she smelled of vanilla. “Positive. I left that lifestyle ages ago.”
“Why?”
“My lover turned into a villain, and like most antagonists in Novella, they were defeated by a Main Character and died before getting a fair chance at developing themselves,” Sasha said between frustrated grunts as she tinkered with the stubborn locks.
“I decided people deserve to live the life they want without the strings of an Author’s whimsical, heartless wishes attached. ”
“You sound an awful lot like Kriqir did in his monologue moments ago,” Em noted.
“Never said I was a hero, sweetheart.”
Normally, Em wouldn’t be too thrilled with being called sweetheart, but when it was coming from someone who rescued her and had the coolest costume ever, she didn’t care.
“Darn it. Kriqir sure knows how to make these things frustrating,” Sasha groaned as she continued to fight the cuffs.
“Why are you rescuing me?” Em asked.
Sasha paused her lockpicking, a perfectly arched eyebrow raised. “Want me to stop?”
“No, I’m just curious.”
“Because I felt like it.” The girl shrugged.
“Because I want to see if it’s actually possible for a Main Character to take their story into their own hands, or if we really are at the mercy of the Great Authors.
It’s unfair. They want us to be unique and original so they can sell our stories, but at the same time, they dictate everything that happens to us.
We have no say in what they do to the plotline. ”
With a click, the cuffs popped open.
Tingling relief swelled up Em’s sore arms. She stumbled out of the restraints, and Sasha caught her. The floor swayed under her. Her legs might as well have been noodles, but after a few deep breaths while leaning on Sasha for support, Em regained her balance.
“Good?” Sasha asked.
Em flashed her a thumbs-up. “Besides the desperate need to pee, I’m fine.”
“Let’s get you back to your party,” the other girl said, stuffing her lock-pick into her pockets. “But first, let’s get out of here before the Orcs show up.”
As if on cue, a roar echoed through the distant passages of the tower from where Kriqir had disappeared. Em’s stomach curdled in response, already anticipating the reek of the gruesome creatures.
Sasha tested the security of her rope with a yank, surveying the skylight overhead past a squint.
“Where are the others?” Em asked.
“Waiting outside for us,” she responded. “I prefer to work alone. They’d just get in the way.”
Em’s heart sank as she watched Sasha scale the rope without breaking a sweat. She balled her fists at the thought of how much this escape was going to hurt. She’d never climbed up a rope before in her life.
“Isn’t escaping through the air ducts cliché?” she called up after Sasha’s shrinking form. The other girl was already halfway up the ladder.
“Who cares?”
“I do.” Em wrinkled her nose. “I’m trying to be original after all.”
“Still wanting to ruin your story?” Sasha paused and peered down over her shoulder.
“Not ruin,” Em said. “Change. For the better.”
You wish.
Sasha hung there on the rope for a moment more before letting out a sigh. She slid back down toward Em, muttering something under her breath. With a smack, her heels hit the stony floor.
“Alright, we will do this your way, sweetheart.”
“Good.” Em tried to muster as much confidence as her new counterpart had. “We’re going to do this the unexpected way by escaping out the front door. Kriqir said he had his orcs guarding and surveying all your usual exits, so who’s watching the entrance?”
“Huh.” Sasha’s eyes flickered with a wicked glint beneath her mask. “I like it.”
The dungeon door rattled, howling Orcs threatening to break through.
“Do you have an extra weapon?” Em asked, the words thick on her lips at the thought of having to use it.
Sasha flicked a spare knife her way without a thought. “You ever fought before, sweetheart? You’re green as Kriqir’s magic.”
Em swallowed and shook her head. Her aching arms stiffened under the weight of the curved karambit.
“Well, no time to learn like the present,” the other girl said cheerfully. “Just follow my lead and swing at everything. You’ll be fine. You’re a Main Character, so you’ve got some plot armor under your belt.”
I can do this, Em told herself.
The orcs burst through the room, snarling and clad in coarse armor. They swung thick clubs and blades as they charged. Their yellowed fangs spit saliva as they let out moist roars.
With a scream, both girls lunged at the orcs.
Em tried to copy the various moves Roden used on her during the Heir Trials, blocking an orc’s cleaver with her small knife.
With a whirl, she jabbed her blade into the creature’s side.
In a burst, black gunk oozed free of its shredded flesh, and her hilt was drenched in the stickiness.
She pulled free, gagging as the creature toppled beside her, with a clatter.
Warmth from the orc’s blood engulfed her sticky hands. Splatters of it now stained her dress.
Fuck.
“See? You got this!” Sasha cheered her on.
Em dry-heaved past the bile rising in the throat, struggling to fend off the orcs’ attacks. She wiped sweat off her grimy forehead, gasping.
A dank, rotten smell filled the air, so she forced herself to breathe through her mouth. She checked over to see a pile of orc corpses sprawled around Sasha as the other girl practically danced against her opponents.
Dodging and stabbing at enemies, they raced out of the dungeon and through a passageway of pillars and crumpling statues.
Howls of angry orcs deafened Em from all sides, making her head spin. She nearly tripped down a spiral staircase as she followed Sasha through the heart of the dark tower. At the bottom, the other girl barricaded the stairway door behind them.
“Hurry,” was all Sasha wheezed. A trickle of orc blood ran down the side of her pristine face, and a smatter of guts clung to the front of her Gi.
Em managed to nod, choking on another gag.
“Quit worrying so much,” Sasha said, nudging her forward into the dark, cobweb-infested corridors. “It’s stereotypical for a Main Character to fret or panic over everything. Overthinking is a trope.”
Noted.
Skeletons of random species rotted along the floors, shelves of strange potions hung on the walls, and just about every other cliché thing one would find in a necromancer’s tower blurred by as they ran.
Kriqir’s shouts echoed throughout the tower. “Don’t let them get away! Sasha’s stolen the Chosen One! Kill them!”
Any orcs they crossed were felled with a flick of Sasha’s nimble blades.
Em swallowed the acid in her mouth, gulping for air to prevent herself from vomiting everywhere.
With a jerk and a twirl, Sasha sent another pair of orcs flying across the ground.
The necromancer’s minions were mere fodder for unoriginal tension.
Despite the gore drenching her, the other girl visibly smiled beneath her mask at the thrill of killing things.
Each ambush resulted in more dead orcs and a rising flame in her animated eyes.
None of the orcs stood a chance against the furious flurry of Sasha.
Her reaction and timing were impeccable.
If Em wasn’t so disgusted by everything, she might’ve been jealous.
Her whole life, she spent trying to be original and confident enough to become a Main Character, and now she could barely fumble with a small knife to kill an orc without gagging or run more than a few meters without wanting to pass out from lack of oxygen.