White.

It spread out in every direction for as far as Nina could see — no sky, no horizon. Just White. She could feel a solid plane beneath her feet, and yet when she looked down all she saw was the same void that was spread out above her.

“This,” she said, looking down at Max.

The man had tears running down his face and he was running his fingers through his thick, brown hair. Occasionally, he would mutter a name, clutching at the small orb in his hand. What was he saying … Samantha? Sandra?

“Max,” she said, “You can’t trust her. That bitch Cassandra is scary. I’ve seen her pull off some amazing, and terrible things, but she can only be in one place at a time. There’s no way they would have time to go after your friends.”

“I know that,” he said, flaring his nostrils, “but they knew enough about me to threaten my ex. That … that classer didn’t seem like the squeamish type, you know?”

“We can’t help her from here, Max. We certainly can’t help her if we’re dead or carted off to some company black site.”

“I can,” Max held out the orb, “this can take me back. Once she has it, perhaps she’ll have no reason to go after the people I know.”

“Doesn’t work like that, Max.” Nina shook her head and crossed her arms. “She’ll still go after anyone with even the slightest chance of knowing anything. Besides, are you really willing to sacrifice yourself for an ex?”

Max grunted noncommittally, but Nina recognized the look of resolve that was slowly growing on his face. Even his posture was beginning to straighten as he regained his confidence. If Nina didn’t intervene he was likely to do something foolish.

She could deal with the hero type. They always wanted something, just like anyone else. In most cases, what they wanted was to consider themselves the good guy. Righteousness. Offer it to them and they’d follow you like an obedient hound.

“Listen, Max. George’s mother died trying to get him away from those people, and I need to keep him safe. I need your help to do that.”

Nina could see the anger begin to grow on Max’s face, but it was gradually replaced by confusion. He was less sure of what to do. Now to drive it home.

“Listen, Max,” she rested a hand on his shoulder, “there are two ways out of every dungeon. Out …” She swung her arm behind her.

“And in,” Max finished. “We get to the heart.”

That’s it, Nina thought. Let him think it’s his idea.

“If we can reach the Dungeon’s heart,” Nina said, “we can sneak past that icy bitch. Even I’m not sure I could take her head on. I wouldn’t want to try without my Quad.”

“Alright,” Max said. “I don’t like it, but I don’t think we have much choice.”

“Thank you, Max,” Nina said, “I don’t like running either, but we need to choose where we make our stand. If we let Cassandra or my brother choose, we lose every time.”

“Sound like something Gramps would say.”

“Then he’s a wise man,” Nina said. “Can you tell me about this place? I’ve never seen a dungeon like it.”

“This isn’t the real dungeon,” Max smiled, wrapping his fingers around the orb. “This is more like … a training area. Watch!”

He tossed the orb in front of him, but it gently glided down and came to a rest at Max’s eye level.

“Eve, initiate training program: subterranean; mission: camp defense, beginner.”

“Training initiated. Please wait …”

Nina heard a feminine yet mechanical voice reverberate out from the empty white void. It didn’t sound completely unlike the translation AI she had on her phone, and yet Nina couldn’t help but feel ill at ease. Something about the voice seemed more … alive.

The light faded until Nina could see nothing but darkness. Her other senses, however, were less deprived. She could hear flowing water, gentle susurrus that was far away and difficult to pinpoint. The temperature dropped, and the air was filled with scents of rotting wood and mold. Nina shivered.

“Max,” she said, stepping back. “What is happening?”

A beam of light cut through the gloom, and Nina looked towards its source. Max was holding a flashlight. At the other end of the beam was the rough curvature of natural stone. As Max turned around, Nina could see that they were in a wide-open cavern.

As her eyes adjusted they were drawn to the faint blue glow coming from high above. Around her feet grew sparse, woody plants and a blue grass that was dotted with pallid white flowers.

“I’d hold your questions, for now,” Max said, grinning. “They’ll be here any moment …”

“Who?”

An echoing roar drew Nina’s attention and she spun to meet it. Her saber instantly appeared in her hand as she slashed through two crude arrows bound with vine and tipped with stone. A third arrow struck her shoulder but failed to pierce her armor.

“Max!” she yelled in waring.

The fool was already charging towards the attackers. In one hand he carried an ornate dagger, but he had left his revolver tucked into his belt. Idiot, she thought. This was not the time worry about conserving ammo.

She was surprised to find he was such a miser. It didn’t bode well for his survival.

Nina crouched down before sending herself into a spinning leap, just as another volley of primitive projectiles drew sparks from the stone beneath her. At the top of her jump, she reached into her belt pouch and withdrew a small crystal orb.

It released a soft mist and left a shimmering tail of golden light when she threw it towards the direction of the archers. The orb landed just before she did and filled the cavern with blinding light. She felt the edges of the kinetic blast, but it was barely enough to ruffle her skirt. Hard feet slammed into cold stone as she landed in a roll. She slashed at thin legs.

Three were dead before she ended her roll with a thrust to the back of a pale, grey head. She could sense several more of the creatures moving behind her, already spreading out to surround her. Stun pellets were generally more effective. Perhaps these creatures are blind? she thought.

Nina jumped again, this time launching three daggers behind her. Two clattered across rock, but the third struck flesh eliciting a high-pitched wail. She landed on a single leg, lifting the other behind her to preserve her momentum as she began a series of forward flips.

With each turn, she struck out at another creature, pale limbs disappearing as they fell into the shadow that clung to the stone floor. The creatures would try to surround her, but each time they charged she would pause her rotation and pirouette. Daggers and clubs will narrowly miss her as she removed the offending hands or slashed at exposed backs.

Arrows rained around her, mostly missing, as she danced in quick, erratic movements. Occasionally, a curved blade would deflect an arrow and at other times she relied on her armor to stop the blow. The entire time, her blade never stopped moving and it quickly grew heavy and slick.

She quickly fell into the meditative state that all warriors sought in battle. Her blade was one with her arm, and her mind focused only on the stances. Rock flows into water. Fire rushes the brush. She made her way through all seven of the combat stances. Again, and again.

Then, she stopped.

The darkness was still and silent. No more of the creatures charged her and she could no longer hear them moving through the shadow.

“Max?”

She spun around looking for his flashlight but finding nothing. She came to stop as she heard the clatter a body falling onto stone. Max or …

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Nina sighed in relief.

His voice echoed and seemed distant. She was surprised how far away she had moved. The creatures were weak, but there had been many of them and they had never broken in retreat. Nina had seen such tactics used before and knew how dangerous they could be in large numbers.

Had Max been fighting these things?

Bending down, she grasped one of the severed heads. Its face was eyeless and covered in thick leathery skin. Rows of needle-thin teeth poked through open lips, and two long ears curved back behind its head.

No wonder the stunner didn’t work, she thought.

“They’re called Dark Fey,” Max said, still slightly panting.

“How do you know that? Just what kind of place is this?”

“That’s hard … well, let me just show you.”

Max held out his hand and a beam of light cut through the cavern as the orb appeared in Max’s hand.

“Eve,” he said. “End training program. Setting: Neutral, exterior.”

“Session ending … calculating. No XP awarded, the challenge was insufficient for current level.”

Nina watched in amazement as the head in her hands quickly disintegrated into blue light. The cavern began to grow brighter, and the walls expanded until they disappeared completely. Nina spun around as she found herself surrounded by knee-high grass.

A bright sun hung above her in a clear blue sky. She could feel it’s warmth seeping into her, driving out the chill of the caverns she had just been in. A single tree rose above the horizon to the west, the only thing breaking up the monotony of the endless sea of grass.

“Max? Is this … can you?”

“It’s a simulation, as best as I can tell. The real dungeon is that way,” he pointed west, towards the tree.

“Are there limits to what you can summon?”

“Yeah, I only have access to a few beginning level programs. Eve says to unlock more I have to progress through the dungeon, but I haven’t even been able to get past the first level. Yet.”

“Max, this is amazing. I’ve never heard of anything like it … and my family has records going back as far as the second Cohort. This … is just.”

“Will it be enough?”

“To hide? Maybe,” Nina shook her head. “My brother and his assassins won’t stop trying. If we’re going to defeat him, we’ll need allies. But first, we need to conquer this dungeon.”

“Conquer? I don’t know if you heard me, but I can’t even get past the first floor. Who knows how far it goes down?”

“That might have been true, before,” she smiled, “but before, you didn’t have me.”

A chirp drew Nina’s attention to a small black head peering out of her pouch.

“George will help too.”