Before she spoke the word to bring up the menu, a small window appeared in the corner of her vision. She focused on it and found each of her resources placed next to a bar. The numbers were listed as well as a color for each that reflected the number. Red for health. Yellow for stamina. Blue for mana. She was right about being low.

Health

14/300

Stamina

16/390

Mana

153/320

Ha. Sounds about right. She looked at her bloody feet and then to her bloody shoulder. I’m pretty sure any human back home would be long dead by now. This life link really is something...or whatever it is keeping me alive. She dismissed the window and it retracted into the corner of her vision again.

The Torusinth turned to fully face her, horns and head covered in blood, deep wounds visible even from this distance. Kass looked around and found herself too far from any exit to run. Not like it matters. I’m finished. “I’ll not go down easily beast! Come get me!” She laughed at her own words, realizing the conflicting emotions.

Don’t want the beast to know I’m an easy meal...ha. She smirked and the sword dipped low in her hand, becoming awfully heavy. “Just a little more K...just a little more.”

Kass had always been afraid of death. Her whole life she dreaded even thinking about it. When her mother passed away it had torn her apart, and for many years she kept to herself. Only running had allowed her an escape from the sadness that had plagued her mind.

It wasn’t until college that she finally felt she could move on. But by then it was too late to rekindle lost relationships. Even her father had distanced himself from her. She found it funny that now, on the verge of death, she wasn’t scared of it anymore.

Instead, she was having some sort of Mexican standoff with a colossus bull, holding an ancient talking sword while completely naked. Can’t say I didn’t have an interesting death at least. “Just waiting on you, ugly.”

The Torusinth stomped its back foot into the ground and snorted, shaking its head side to side. After another stomp it started forward, quickly picking up speed. “Same as last time K. You’ve got this.”

The head of the beast dipped low as it neared, looking to gore her. In the last moment Kass lunged to the side, much like the last time, sidestepping left. This time, however, the beast was expecting her move and adjusted its head, its tusk headed straight for her.

With a split second reaction Kass dashed the only direction she could. Up. She bypassed the monsters tusk and leapt with all her might. Her momentum carried her through the air, and in less than a second she landed atop the head of the beast. She stumbled slightly, unsure of her footing, and then slipped on the slick, bloody fur.

She landed hard and immediately began sliding off the beast, down its neck, the edge coming up fast. Kass twisted as she slid and dug the blade into flesh in an attempt to arrest her momentum. Instead the blade cut clean through and she kept sliding, slowing slightly. The beast yelped in pain and began bucking, trying to throw her off.

The only thing Kass focused on was her hand on the sword. She knew if she lost hold of it she would fall to her death. The hot blood of the Torusinth splashed over her though as she cut through, compromising her grip. She held on better than she thought she would considering the circumstances. But it couldn’t last.

Another frantic buck from the beast sent her soaring, her wet fingers pulled from the hilt of the sword. She saw the thin line of the wound she had opened up on the beasts neck, reaching a good halfway down. There the blade stayed, bathing in the lifeblood of the monster that gushed and sprayed.

The Torusinth sagged, falling to the ground, its strength waning. I did it. It was the last thought Kass had before she slammed into the ground with a crunch. Blood erupted from her mouth as she clung to life, somehow still breathing. She took in the scene one last time and then closed her eyes, feeling oh so tired. A few seconds later the girl’s ragged breathing slowed and her head listed to the side. Her heart stopped.

Kass died.

Deep under the earth something stirred. It was sudden, unexpected. Long had it been forgotten. Tossed aside and left to rot. Ages had passed, and still it was ignored. Lost then. Lost.

It continued in the endless battle. Darkness swirling around the destroyed arena. There. On the far side. There was the enemy. The Primal. Shrouded in crackling shadows. The demon was powerful, growing for some unknown reason. The monster of darkness had even been victorious in the last skirmish. Strong. Powerful.

But... It too was growing, expanding. Now. Now it was found. Life returned. Power began to replenish. Slow. Very slow. It drank. Quickly. Power surging, controlled. Found. It was found. A human. A girl…

It would not lose this time. Not again. It charged in fury at the Primal Demon.

Whisper awoke in a sea of red. The world around was dark, but he knew it to be red. He could taste it. Savor it. It drank more, quenching its thirst. How? A pulse of energy left the blade and then it could see. It found itself sunk to the hilt in a dark beast, the source of the power.

The creature still lived, breathing. Bleeding. The sword drank more. High on the power that coursed through it. How wondrous it was to feel this way again. It had been too long. Far too long. All thanks to that human. That girl. The girl! Clarity. Suddenly it remembered.

“Kassandra! Are you there?!” The blade waited for an answer but none came.

“Human?” Another pulse expanded from the blade and it took in the full scene around it. The cavern, the rocks. The other beast...cold...dead. There! It spotted her body, unmoving. Cold…

“No, it cannot be. The lifelink...I still exist.” Confusion spread through the ancient sword, not understanding this turn of events. “Your time isn’t over yet young hero, you must arise.” The blade spoke, but nothing listened.

It didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Whisper had thought it destiny that the girl found him, that she possessed the hero class. If it were destiny, then why is the child dead? No. I will not accept this. I am still here. I can do something.

Yet what could it do? The blade needed a wielder to do anything, to be powerful. I am powerful...I was powerful. What am I now? Soon it would be lost again, it knew, maybe to never be found again.

“NO!” A shockwave of power burst from the blade, traveling like lightning through the cavern. It crackled as it sped along, arcing from time to time. Whisper watched as it hit the human’s body and suddenly felt ashamed to have damaged it further.

Anger was not something it was used to. Any emotion really. It was that damned girl. She did this to me. Made me feel. Made me...care. It surprised itself then. Never before had it felt much of anything...except loneliness. But it knew now...It cared for that girl.

“No! No! No!” It yelled in frustration. “Don’t do this to me! I should not feel!!!” Another shockwave exploded from the blade, twice as big as the last. Again the sword felt ashamed, wasting energy wasn’t going to do anything. Even if it could get more. You protected me from these beasts of darkness. I will not forget that human.

The lightning passed over the body once more, and again, nothing happened. But then…the fingers…a twitch. Then another. Suddenly the girl’s eyes shot open and she opened her mouth to breathe.

Kass lived.