by Daniel, Jake
A small part of me felt a little better knowing that the vampire's game wasn't going exactly as he'd expected. "Is there anything other than perhaps the fear of him doing something to you that is forcing you to stay here?"
"No, I don't really think so. He always said if I left that I'd die alone."
"And you’re happy here with him?"
She let out a small laugh. "Well, yes." She shifted her gaze to the ground and shook her head. "No. I suppose I would like to leave one day."
"I have an idea," I said and stepped toward her. "I know you've only just met me, but do you trust me?"
She remained silent for several seconds before nodding. "Yes, and I don’t know why, but I trust you."
"Then come with us. Help us get through this tower and I will see to it that you are free to go wherever you want, whenever you want. Including back to the Mystic Vale to live with us."
"So I could be free to explore, more than just a room with a river?"
I gave her a small smile. "Yes, of course."
"Wouldn't you want to be my new master?" She cocked her head in anticipation of my response.
"No.” I motioned toward my bonded behind me. “We have a mutual respect. We are bonded, and bonded devote their lives to each other. Also, these women are now your sisters.” I could sense the girls nodding behind me as I refocused on Mitsi. She looked torn, and a little sad. “You will forever be free to do or go where you please. But we will always be bonded, and you will always be our family."
"Could we do some more of what we did earlier?" She blushed and let her hair fall forward across her face to cover her embarrassment.
"Of course." I let out a small laugh. "What good would freedom be if that was the one and only time?"
"Okay, you have yourself a deal. I'm warning you, though, Cyprian is not going to be happy."
"Don't worry, I won't let him touch you."
“And neither will we,” Isobel said and nodded toward the others. The other women all stepped forward and gave Mitsi a reassuring smile.
Her face softened and she nodded. "Okay, I will go with you then. I would like to bring some things if that’s okay."
"Absolutely, just hurry, we need to continue up through the tower before Cyprian takes out his anger on my brother."
Mitsi straightened and nodded. "I will hurry." She turned and hurried back behind a large boulder, reappearing a minute later with a large bag tossed over her shoulder and a massive great sword held in one hand. She set the bag down on the ground and pulled out a large white cloth shirt, a pair of hide pants, a pair of socks, and a couple worn boots. "These are from a… not so lucky man long ago. Are you able to use them?"
I accepted the clothes and held them up. They were a bit large, but it was better than running around flapping in the wind. "Thank you, Mitsi. These will work just fine."
Gwen grabbed the shirt and held it up to my chest. “Yep, that will work. Any luck it will fall off and you can just finish this tower shirtless.” She gave me a sly smile and tossed me the shirt.
I quickly threw the clothes on and grabbed my weapons.
Dahlia used a few vines to create a few crude hems and a twisted belt, which helped to keep the clothes from falling off. She exchanged an amused smile with Alysain and stifled a small giggle as she tied the belt tight around my waist. “Well, it’s not perfect, but it will do.”
Mitsi adjusted a shirt around her large breasts, her nipples poked out through the thin fabric but otherwise kept both of them held securely in place.
She walked to the edge of the water and stopped. "Nobody knows this, but there’s a hidden bridge right here, undetectable by almost everyone.” I closed my eyes and used my Sight skill, but she was right, even though I was nearly at Honored rank in Sight, I barely saw the faint outline of what could’ve been a hidden bridge. "Okay, follow me."
The cyclops walked slowly up the shore and stopped. She reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of glittering sand. She tossed it in a wide arc in front of her body. The sand scattered and most of it fell unceremoniously into the water. But the rest landed as if it were hovering in midair. She pointed at the levitating sand. "There it is."
"Perfect, let's get the hell out of here," I said as I stepped to the edge of the rapidly flowing river. I leaned over and tried to touch the bridge but couldn't find anything, but the sand told me it was there.
Alysain joined my side and shook her head. “I really hate water.”
Dahlia laughed and nodded. “I’m with you. I’m not sure I can cross this thing.”
Mitsi stepped to the edge and pointed out at the water. "You have to trust that it is there. Open your mind, it is meant to trip up those who do not believe."
"That is some Indiana Jones shit."
"Who is Indiana Jones?"
"Never mind, I'll explain one day if we happen to get out of this tower."
Mitsi shrugged. "You do not want to fall into that water, I know that much."
"Why is that?"
"Well, I used to have a sister, until she fell into that water." She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. “Cyclops are not strong swimmers.”
"I'm sorry to hear about your sister. We’ll try to avoid the water at all costs.” I shook my head and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." I looked straight ahead and took several steps forward. I soon realized that I was directly over the raging river, complete with jagged spiky rocks below.
I looked across to the other bank and Isobel was watching me intently as if she were about to jump in the water at any sign of danger. Dahlia was on her opposite side and had a vine lasso held at the ready.
I took another step and heard Mitsi call out behind me. "Good, keep going that way, like..." I heard a splash followed by a scream. I spun and saw Mitsi floating down the river. I rushed to the opposite side and neared the water’s edge. My bonded followed me on the opposite side of the river, as we rushed along the bank to keep the cyclops from getting too far away.
Dahlia swung her vine lasso above her head like a cowgirl as she ran along the bank. She called out as she got closer. “Hold on, we’re coming!” She tossed her vine into the water but missed the cyclops by several feet.
I rushed forward and before I dove in, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I craned my neck in time to see the back half of a large snake tail disappear behind the boulders where Mitsi had been earlier. That fucking Lamia pushed her in.
The river disappeared under the cover of trees in the distance. I wasn't sure how far it went or when it stopped, if it ever did. Hell, I wasn't even sure I was in the tower any longer. I stashed my bag between a pair of boulders and readied a vine at my wrist with my Nature Manipulation skill. I’d have to get closer. I knew my vines didn’t have the necessary range to reach her.
Jun shot up out of my armor and hovered in front of me. “I will keep an eye on you. Go, go!”
Mitsi was struggling to keep her head above water, and as soon as I dove in I lost all sight of her. I pumped my legs as fast as I could. I closed my eyes, and I was able to see the outlines of everything inside the water clearly, unlike the bridge I was unable to see just moments earlier. I activated my charge underwater and cut through the water like a shark, moving faster than I ever had and dodging obstacles in my path as if I were not even trying.
After a few seconds I spotted the outline of Mitsi’s body floating deep under the water, she was still kicking and I could tell that she was panicking. I reached her and wrapped my arm around her arm. To my surprise I was able to pull her effortlessly upstream, without even activating my Charge skill. I felt stronger than I ever had in my life as I pumped my legs, bringing both of us to the side of the river where I was able to grab ahold of the bank. With a giant heave I was able to lift the immense woman onto the shore and pull myself up a few seconds later.
Gwen rushed over and helped me out of the water and Jun circled above sending her dust down over us. The fairy’s dust immediately retu
rned my breath and I felt as if I hadn’t even entered the water after several seconds.
Mitsi laid motionless on the ground and wasn't breathing. I rolled her over on her back and began to perform CPR. I compressed her chest, remembering the training I'd received back home from the Leadville volunteer EMS. Fortunately, there was never a reason to use it while I was back home, even though the majority of the people I took out on guided hikes were prime candidates for heart attacks while tracking down elk in the Rocky Mountains.
Isobel moved to Mitsi’s side and moved the cyclops’ hair out of her face. She glanced up and gave me a worried look.
I focused on my task and continued compressions for several minutes. "Mitsi, don't you fucking die on me. Come on, wake up." I brought my mouth down to meet hers and gave her two long breaths before I started compressions again. My bonded made their way across the bridge and after a couple of minutes they joined our side. Jun climbed back up my once again naked body, but this time watched with concern as the cyclops still wasn’t breathing. I refused to give up. After nearly a minute of compressions she coughed and sputtered followed by a stream of water that she had swallowed.
She took several deep breaths and her eye went wide. "You… you saved me," she said breathlessly. "I have not earned this."
"There was nothing to earn. You are my bonded. I would save you a hundred times over."
Mitsi stared at me for a moment and pushed herself to a seated position. "I swear to you right now, my life is yours. I will protect you with all that I am, you have my word."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I stood and reached out my hand to help Mitsi up off the ground. "Did one of Cyprian's dhampir push you off the bridge?"
She accepted my hand and rose to her feet, towering over me by several feet. "Yes, that was Luna. She used to bring me presents when we were younger, but Cyprian forced us to stay apart a few years ago."
"Why is that?"
"He said it was because he needed to give her special training. He never told me what that was, though. Just that I couldn’t see her anymore."
I scanned the side of the river where I'd entered earlier, but didn't see any other signs that anyone was there. I grabbed my gear and slipped the ragged clothes that Mitsi gave me earlier, back on. "Let's get out of here before they decide to come back. It's obvious Cyprian isn't going to be playing by any rules any time soon." I paused and looked at the cyclops with a small smile. "I guess I haven’t really played by the rules myself. You said you wanted an adventure, right?"
She nodded and smiled, her hair falling around her face in wet strands. "I'm ready."
"That's what I wanted to hear. Let's see what the next level has in store for us."
She nodded and searched the ground. "I lost my bag." She let out a long sigh and shook her head. "I guess I will be okay."
"Was there anything inside it that you won't be able to live without?"
She shook her head. "No, one of two of the most important things I have is right here." She lifted a locket at the end of a silver chain. It had several flowers engraved on its face. "It was my sister's. She gave it to me before she died."
"What is the second thing?" I asked.
She walked over to me and grabbed each side of my head, almost enveloping my entire head in her grasp. Her large Angelina Jolie-esque lips covered mine as she kissed me. She pulled back and blushed. "You are."
We hurried back up to the invisible bridge and rushed through the door. After we left the wilderness level we scaled the stairs and reached another translucent door.
Mitsi froze as we stepped through the door. "In twenty years, that place we just left was all I've ever known for a home. I'm not sure what to expect when we walk through this next doorway."
I smiled. "That makes two of us. I wasn't expecting there to be a forest and raging river on the last floor, it wouldn't surprise me if we have to walk on the walls in this next room or something crazy like that."
"Walk on walls? Is that even possible?" She furrowed her brow and looked confused.
"Let's find out." I grabbed her arm and pulled her through to the next floor. My bonded followed closely behind, while Jun made herself comfortable near my navel, using my shirt as a makeshift hammock, where she went back to pleasuring herself… loudly.
I took another step inside and immediately felt as if I were plunging to my death below. Mitsi’s screams echoed off the walls around us as we fell. I braced myself for impact which never came. Instead, as if I’d crashed into a silky airbag, I came to a halt and a clear sticky substance wrapped around me. I kept a firm grip onto my rifle as well as Mitsi as we were enveloped together. At first I thought we had landed on top of the gelatinous cube from the first level. I struggled against the pressure but it was useless.
We remained suspended in the air for several seconds. Mitsi kicked and struggled against the thin plastic-like coating as it covered her head and soon consumed her entire body as if she were wearing a layer of clear latex. She sucked the plastic material into her mouth and sent it back out with each strained breath. The material continued on toward me, encasing my body soon after Mitsi, and I could no longer breathe.
The strange plastic wrapped tighter the more I fought, so I finally stopped struggling against it, pushing the feeling of suffocating from my mind, and concentrated only on my core. A second later the wrap loosened and ballooned around me. It continued past my grip on Mitsi's arm and her side inflated with air as well.
Soon we were combined in one giant bubble floating suspended in midair. Across from us, each of my bonded had their own bubble and were floating lazily next to us.
Isobel pushed her sword into the side of her balloon, but it only stretched around the blade instead of popping. She looked at me and shrugged.
Mitsi attempted to catch her breath as we floated in place. "What was that? I couldn't breathe."
"Whatever it was, stopped our fall and..." I trailed off as I looked through the milky translucent wall of the large bubble we found ourselves in. "It appears to be taking us back up toward the top."
"How strange." The cyclops pressed on the wall of the bubble, although unlike Isobel's blade, she popped it, sending us crashing back down to the unknown below.
I was unable to form a vine and lost my grasp on Mitsi's arm as we fell. All I could do was watch as fear took over her face and we continued dropping. I turned my body and spotted several globs of the sticky plastic substance rising from below. I yelled out to Mitsi in hopes she would hear me. "Touch one of those blobs!"
She twisted her large body and as she reached the closest glob, she stuck her arm through it. Her body came to a screeching halt as the substance immediately began to surround her.
I reached one a second later and barely caught it with the tips of my fingers. It acted like one of those sticky mouse traps, except a thousand times more effective. For a second I thought my fingers were going to rip free from my body until the milky substance grabbed ahold of my wrist and continued up along my arm, devouring my body within a matter of seconds. I held my breath for just long enough to allow the substance to balloon out around me and form a new ride to the top.
My balloon rose much faster than Mitsi's and I caught up with her in a matter of a few seconds. I called out from inside the balloon. "Can you hear me?"
Mitsi turned slowly and carefully avoided touching the walls of her bubble. "Yes, I can hear you. How am I going to get back to you?"
My balloon rose faster than hers and I knew it wouldn't be long before I was out of reach. I took a deep breath and activated my charge. I burst through the side of my bubble and almost overshot Mitsi's but stopped about ten feet above her. As my momentum stopped I plummeted toward the ground once more. This time I broke through the top of her bubble and landed directly on top of her. She caught me and held me in her arms.
We fell together and when we reached the next floating glob we were back together inside. I gave her a smile as she sat me down. “That was a
close one. Hopefully, we can ride this one to the top.” Unfortunately, each bubble we rode weakened after about thirty seconds and would pop. We spent the next several minutes floating up until the bubble became too weak and then falling back down. I maintained my grip on Mitsi’s arm each time we fell. Using my new and improved eyesight from Alysain allowed me to calculate our fall each time. Eventually, my bonded were able to come together and worked their way to the top as a group.
Meanwhile, Jun hung out completely naked in my shirt. The effects of the tainted spirit seemed to completely wipe her out. I tucked her legs into the waistband of my pants to ensure she wouldn’t accidentally fall out.
I figured out after a couple falls that if I could land on two globs at the same time it would last longer and we would rise higher. It wasn't until Mitsi landed on two and I managed to fall on three that we were able to make it all the way to the top. A doorway was nearby, but it was going to be interesting making our way over to it.
I shouted instructions down to my bonded as they floated up from below. They were finally starting to get a good rhythm going after struggling to get very far.
Several empty globs floated to the doorway and disappeared. Our balloon reached the top near the door and stalled out. I exchanged a glance with Mitsi and I could tell she was trying to be as cautious as I was to not break the bubble. She ducked her head and stared out toward the doorway. She whispered as if thinking using her normal voice would pop the bubble and send us plummeting back down. "What now?"
I glanced around, careful not to move and possibly hit one of the walls or dig my feet into the bottom. Above us the ceiling was covered in knife-like spikes, which were now only a couple feet from the top of our bubble. We hovered for several more seconds and then the bubble rose again, inching closer to the spikes above us. I walked carefully over to Mitsi and pulled one of her arms around my chest. "Hold on."