Nyssa jumped and tumbled toward the cave’s exit in what I could only describe as unencumbered frivolity. I could feel a great excitement from her through our bond. I found the connection a strange experience. It was clear that Nyssa’s feelings were incredibly intense, but what I felt was extremely faint, like the rumbling of a massive waterfall miles away.

  Nyssa reached the cave’s entrance and paused, standing just inside the cave’s shadow, her paw inches from the ray of light piercing through the cave’s narrow entrance. Excitement, fear, then determination. Without a moment more of hesitation, Nyssa darted forward, exploding out of the cave’s opening like a black bullet. I followed after, slowly squeezing through the crack.

  I blinked at the glaring light of the sun, taking a moment for my eyes to adjust. I looked around, finding Nyssa just to my left. Her eyes were slits and blinking rapidly.

  “Have you ever been outside?” I asked.

  Nyssa continued to blink rapidly, her black eyes watering so much so, tears darkened the fine black feathers under her large eyes.

  “Here,” I said, moving to scoop her up.

  Just as I cupped her underbelly, she twisted and nipped at my hand, making a small squeak.

  I pulled back and stuck my thumb in my mouth, sucking at the beading blood.

  Nyssa glared up at me, a mixture of fierceness and guilt warring inside her. Fierceness won out and her glare continued.

  “Alright, alright,” I said, examining my wound. It was small. “I won’t pick you up. I only wanted to give you some shade.”

  I walked around her, careful not to bend down or move as if I was going to pick her up, until I was between her and the sun, my large body shadowing her completely. She blinked a few more times, her eyes opening just a bit wider with each.

  “That better?” I asked with a bit of indignation.

  Nyssa stared at me, continuing to blink, but then she huffed and bumped her head against my shin.

  “You’re welcome,” I said with a chuckle.

  Nyssa took a moment longer before fully opening her eyes. She turned about and stared at the vastness before us. I followed her gaze. Uncountable miles of dense foliage thousands of feet below spread out in every direction, red peaks, daggers of stone, the only topography breaking the sea of green.

  Emotion bubbled up in me, both my own and that of the little creature beside me. I stared at the fantastical panorama, a world as real as any I could have imagined with countless wonders to explore, a dream come true in so many ways, but still, fear was the emotion that dominated me. The demon, the skeletons, Cynthia’s bloody and torn body… The barrier between game and life was too thin, and the immense unknown represented by the vast jungle was a weight too heavy. I couldn’t be the adventurer I’d always fantasized of being. I wasn’t brave or strong or—

  Nyssa’s emotion shone beside my growing fear, a pinprick of light shining beside a growing black hole. I focused on it. Her anticipation. Eagerness mixed with both apprehension and a large dose of determination.

  I shook my head.

  Literal minutes before, I’d felt such hope, but now, when faced with the daunting unknown of this game, I’d immediately fallen to despair. I focused on Nyssa’s determination, grasping it against the pull of my despair. I turned away from the massive world and looked at my companion.

  In this moment, all I needed to do was walk.

  “Let’s get moving,” I said.

  Nyssa looked up at me and then took off down the mountain, her taloned forefeet scraping and sparking against stone as she shot down the steep incline. Her wings remained tucked close to her body. Could she fly? I started to follow, my long, heavy strides, taking me down the mountain much faster than I would have guessed possible.

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  The two of us made it down to the fortress in what felt like minutes. The narrow mountain path led to a large crack in the wall. I must have gone through it the night before, but I had no recollection of pushing myself between the broken wall. For the third time since I’d come to that morning, I squeezed myself between jagged stone.

  I popped out of the crevice to Nyssa’s impatient stalking.

  “What is it you are wanting to do?” I asked. She seemed so ready and wanting, but I realized I wasn’t sure for what.

  She chirped in way that was clearly supposed to be menacing but was just a little too cute to get there and swiped her talon at some long grass, cutting it down.

  “You want to fight?”

  She jumped three times, hovering in the air by the flapping of her wings.

  “You are kind of… small.”

  Nyssa stopped moving and stared at me. Her starry eyes focused and narrow. A sense of foreboding accompanied her glare, and without warning, she launched directly at my chest.

  Her size belied her power. It felt like a cannonball slammed into my chest, and somehow, a griffin the size of a large cat, knocked my three-hundred and sixty-pound body to my ass. I landed hard, Nyssa’s talons piercing through my shirt and into my skin.

  “Fine,” I said quickly.

  She held me with her glare for a second longer before leaping back to the ground.

  “Ow,” I said, rubbing my chest as I stood up.

  Nyssa seemed to roll her eyes as she turned and looked at the many paths and sections of the fortress. I sighed. I wanted to return to Clark’s inn, but I couldn’t bare to face Elaine or Cynthia… or Jeff. I sat down.

  Nyssa looked at me, her eyes widening in impatience.

  “Just give me a second.” I opened my inventory and focused on one of the bags of travel food Clark had given me. It popped into my hand. The food was dry but I was hungry enough not to care. I scarfed it down, giving some of the dried meat to Nyssa. She ate it surprisingly daintily, reminding me of some prized show cat eating fancy feast one proper nibble at a time.

  “Break me off a piece of that Fancy Feast,” I sang quietly as I finished my last bite. I chuckled and stood. “Are you ready?”

  Nyssa chirped in the affirmative, her body vibrating with excitement.

  I thought of heading to the part of the fortress with the skeletons, but the thought of green, glowing threads reaching into my skin made me feel ill. The same was true of my starting location with my demon. I couldn’t stomach the idea of accidentally stumbling upon the bosses. I doubted it likely that we could accidentally stumble into the boss arena. It had been clear both times what I was heading into before I actually found the boss. Still, I didn’t want to take that chance.

  The arc of the semicircular fortress, had seven clear distinct sections. Mine had been at the apex. The crack in the wall was near this, between the keep with my demon and the keep to the east.

  “We’re already here,” I said. “Let’s go this way.” I gestured to our right, and we headed down a gentle slope, winding down a rarely-used path.

  Nyssa darted ahead until she got to a large closed door at the path’s end. She dug her talons into the wood and pecked at it with squeaks of frustration.

  “I’m coming. I’m coming.” I ran the last few steps and gripped the door handle. My heart quickened and my palm became instantly sweaty against the cold, worn metal of the handle. Why was I doing this? My exploration had led to nothing but horror. All of this was nothing but the twisted game of a Super AI. I could go back to my room in the inn, eat, and sleep. I could wait all of this out. No matter how compressed time was in here, Dev couldn’t keep us locked in forever. Eventually, something on the outside would change, and we’d be let out.

  An urging from Nyssa pulled me from my thoughts. Through our bond, I could feel her anticipation. This was something she’d been waiting for since her first memory. I shook my head, my hand squeezing the handle.

  “Fine,” I said. “We’ll look inside, but if it doesn’t seem…” Safe didn’t seem like a word Nyssa would care about, but that’s the only word that came to mind, “Prudent, we’ll find somewhere else.”

  I wasn’t sure what prudent would look like, but now that I’d opened the option for backing out, I felt a bit better. I could peek inside and then decide. There was nothing forcing me to enter.

  It took a minute longer and the nipping of Nyssa’s beak on my leg before I finally pulled the handle. A long, black corridor lay on the door’s other side, the day’s light failing to reach its end. Bits of rubble littered the floor as if an earthquake had brutally shaken years before. Inside was still, cold, quiet, and worst of all dark. I stared into that darkness, images of grotesque horrors staring back at us from within the shadows filled my mind.

  “This doesn’t seem… prudent,” I said, taking a step back.

  I felt something akin to disgust come through my bond with Nyssa. I looked down at her, and she met my eyes, defiant.

  “No!” I tried to grab her, but she zipped through the doorway, streaking into the corridor’s depths.

  “No,” I said again, staring after her.

  I looked around, hoping by some miracle that everything would suddenly be completely fine.

  I couldn’t follow Nyssa into that darkness. She didn’t have to run in. It would be her fault if something happened to her.

  I ran in after her, cursing Dev with every step.

  THE FIRST CRADLE – A LITRPG ADVENTURE

  The Sun is dying, and there's no saving this world.

  THE FIRST CRADLE – A LITRPG ADVENTURE – NEW CHAPTERS EVERY FRIDAY!