Isran the Great

As soon as they ran out of the inky blackness they knew as the gate they stopped, panting to catch their breaths. When the bandits figured out that their friends weren’t returning, they were sure to follow.

“We have to get out of the open.” Isran lifted her head and spotted three people a few meters away from them. Their forms were unclear but the way they stood did not indicate safety. Plus, Red was straining away from them.

Isran turned to Elysi and Phaedra, the sheepgirl was less tired than her and Phaedra looked like she needed to lie down.

“Do.. do you think… fuck… do you think they’re bandits?”

Elysi frowned at the figures, they were moving closer. “We don’t have the option of trying to figure that out.” She turned and started walking away from the dungeon gate, towards two gates about a mile away.

“Can you walk?” Isran whispered, leaning down next to Phaedra.

“Yeah.” She breathed. “I… I just…. Fuck.”

Isran lifted the woman up and followed after Elysi, the sheepwoman had started running, slower than when they were in the dungeon. Phaedra leaned her head against Isran’s armored shoulder as she ran, she felt her speed reduce and Phaedra become lighter in her arms. When they were safe she was going to figure out how to communicate with the cape about her stat boosts. Red was an addition she didn’t think she would be able to continue without.

When they got to the dungeon gate Isran turned back to see the three forms running towards them. “Definitely bandits.” Phaedra mumbled as they stepped through the gate they were running towards.

Isran lowered her to the ground and drew her sword.

Elysi was standing with her head thrown back, a scowl on her pale beautiful face. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“This entire place is filled with un mapped dungeons.” She mumbled looking up at Phaedra. “We have to stick close and lay low till the bandits move.”

“How long do you think we’ll be here?” Phaedra frowned, rubbing her arm.

Elysi looked up at Isran. “Five days should be enough time.”

Isran pulled her helmet off her head and sighed. Her head was getting a little fuzzy and her heart was beating faster than usual. She had killed a man. She had smashed his head with her foot.

“Isran?”

Isran pushed some of her hair out of her face, it had grown in the few weeks she had been in Neos, the longest strands brushing her chin.

“We should find cover.” She said, turning to the blue haired healer. The woman was dark, her skin not obsidian like elves in Neos but dark enough that Isran felt she might have elven decent. Her cotton blue hair was more of a sign, but that could very well be hair dye. Isran thought the best part of her was her eyes. Pale grey irises that she thought were absolutely beautiful.

The first floor of the dungeon was filled with ruins of Greek buildings. They could’ve been roman, Isran thought the difference was in their pillars but she wasn’t sure what the difference was. Even if she was though, her mind was on other things.

They didn’t encounter any monsters as they scouted for a place to rest. They were tired from their running, and Isran was less alert than she would like.

A few hours of slow walking later they found an intact building. It was barely intact but big enough for the three of them, the roof made of wood.

They set up their tent and made a small fire.

“You… you should stay in the tent with us.” Isran glanced at Elysi and Phaedra. She had taken off her armor but held her sword tightly. The heat of the fire gave her some clarity of mind and she used most of it to listen for the sounds of monsters.

“Oh.. I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You’re not, your supplies were left behind and you can’t sleep out here. You don’t even have a sleeping bag with you.”

Phaedra nodded. “Yes but—”

“It’s to keep you safe. It's not an inconvenience.” Isran cut her off.

Phaedra sighed and nodded before following Elysi into the tent.

They had packed only one large sleeping bag and the tent was a tight fit for three people but they had to make it work.

After a few hours, maybe four from her internal clock Elysi crawled out of the tent and sat beside her leaning her head against Isran’s arm.

“What’s wrong?”

Isran sighed. “I… killed... I--.”

Elysi was quiet for a while. “Do you feel bad that you did?”

Isran swallowed. “No.”

“Is that what you’re upset about?”

“Yeah… is it normal, to not be upset that I took a life?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Isran looked down at her girlfriend. “You’ve never killed someone?”

“I haven’t. I’m a whore Isran, adventuring is something I started recently. If I never met you, I’d have probably never continued adventuring. My first dungeon delve wasn’t a very good experience.”

Isran looked at the fire. “Maybe we should stop adventuring.”

“Don’t you enjoy it?”

“Yeah but—”

“Isran if it’s for me then no, we shouldn’t. I don’t hate the dungeon. But if you want to stop then we can. But only if you want to stop.”

“I—I don’t.”

“You’re not a bad person. He was going to kill you, you defended yourself. He is less than you for what he was going to do.”

“But isn’t that… how can I say I’m better than him when I killed him. I’m a…”

Elysi gently touched Isran’s chin. “You’re nothing but a kind wonderful person. My beautiful kind wonderful girlfriend. Listen to me Isran. Never think of yourself as anything but that, you defended yourself from the attack of a criminal, he was no better than a monster.”

Isran swallowed. “No better than a monster?”

Elysi nodded. “Only monsters kill innocent people, at least the dungeon monsters don’t desecrate your body, or take everything you own.”

“Worse than monsters?”

“Worse than monsters.”

Isran looked at the tent. “What would they have done if they caught Phaedra.”

“Things worse than what a monster would do.”

Isran sighed and rubbed her eyes.

“Go to bed Isran, I’ll watch the rest of the night.”

“Are you sure—”

“Yes. Rest. You really need it.”

Isran kissed Elysi softly, rubbing her cheek. “Thank you, I needed this.”

“Always, I’m always here, whenever you need me.”