Matt sat in the cage for a moment, wondering what he had just heard.

“Stoffel?”

“Well who else would it be?”

Matt squinted but was unable to see him. A shimmering mirage moved in front of him then, and a moment later the man was visible. “You look like me.” Matt cleared his throat. “I mean, you look like my avatar.”

Stoffel laughed. “Yeah, well, I switched bodies with you. Nothing personal of course. Just--”

“Nothing personal?!” Matt shouted back. “You left me here to get tortured! Have you any idea what that’s like!?”

Stoffel nodded. “Actually, I do.”

“Oh... you know what? @#$%!” Matt grunted as the auto censor zapped him with a bolt of energy that coursed through his entire body like lava through his veins and hornets stinging their way across his skin.

“Yeah, I would have thought you’d know better than to try and curse in here,” Stoffel said.

“Bite me,” Matt shot back. “I’ll go all Shakespear on you if I have to.”

Stoffel laughed and folded his arms. “You’ll what?”

Matt cleared his throat, looked Stoffel dead in the eye, and said, “Listen here you thorned devil of a soggy fop. You might have outwitted me once, but you’re still little more than the viscous sludge dripping from a syphilic dog’s nose.”

Stoffel cocked an eyebrow. “Right... well, I fooled you twice, actually. If we’re keeping score. And, before you go much further with your archaic attempts to sound smart, perhaps you should consider that the only reason I am here is to help you escape, and more to the point, I am your singular way out of a years-long sentence. So... want to keep going with the insults or should I let you in on the plan?”

Matt stared at Stoffel, blinked a couple of times, and then finally huffed a resigned sigh and sat down. “Why would you even come back for me?”

Stoffel gave a knowing nod and sat on the table next to Matt. “Listen, I’m sorry about the torture, but I had to be sure. You see, if they didn’t torture you, then I’d know your good cop routine was just an act.”

Matt shook his head. “They could have tortured me for a while just hoping you’d be watching.” Matt closed his eyes, instantly regretting the words after he spoke them. Planting doubts was not what he needed to do now.

Stoffel nodded. “True. Maybe for a minute or two. Perhaps they might have gone so far as to do it for an hour in the hopes that either I’d somehow watch the torture or return to see what had happened. Thing is, I’m good at what I do. They had no idea I was anywhere near the city, let alone in the same room with them. None of what they did was show. And, more importantly, none of your words were for show either.” Stoffel pointed to the cage. “Spending years in there, getting your head chopped off every few days only to be transported to another city and repeat the fate over and over. Now you see what they’re like.”

“I already knew a little,” Matt said. “I told you about the ten year contract.”

“True, but look at it from my perspective. You could have been making that up. I had to know whether you were honest.”

“So, you’re gonna make me invisible and help me find that backdoor then?”

Stoffel nodded. “Something like that. Just remember, I need things from you first.”

“And how do I know you won’t double cross me again?”

Stoffel shrugged. “Well... you don’t I suppose. Except for the fact that I’m here now helping you escape. I wouldn’t risk that unless I saw value added from your help.” Stoffel smiled and pointed to Matt. “First things first though. We need to change your looks. I can’t have you in my avatar. It’s too powerful.”

Matt scoffed. “I don’t even have a user interface. This avatar sucks.”

Stoffel shook his head and wagged a finger. “No, good cop, your avatar sucks. Truly an underwhelming NPC. Why’d you ever choose such a boring character?”

“I didn’t have a lot of options,” Matt said. He scowled at the floor as he remembered the scant list of choices the man in the lobby had given him. “I didn’t really take the entrance exam seriously.”

Stoffel scratched the back of his head. “You aren’t... always this stupid are you?”

Matt balked and narrowed his eyes on Stoffel. “I was just excited about the job.”

Stoffel slid off the table and held his hands out to the sides. “Never be so hungry for a job that you’re willing to take a screwover as a deal. Always take care of yourself and have at least a baseline of self-respect.”

“Easy to say when you already have a job. E.M. Games was my dream job.”

“Yeah, well, dreams rarely pan out. It’s like chasing a rainbow. The angle always changes - usually right after it leads you down a sketchy alley or two. Listen, I need my body back. It may not be useful to you, but in my hands it’s quite a powerful weapon. I mean, just think about the time I zapped you, or stole your body.” Stoffel was grinning wickedly now. Matt could almost sense Stoffel’s hunger for the avatar, and the ensuing destruction he’d cause with it.

“Do I need to do anything?” Matt asked.

“Hold still.”

A bright, silvery flash erupted and a faint sting ripped at Matt’s forehead. An instant later he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He blinked twice and sucked in a breath once his collapsed lungs obeyed his mind’s commands to breathe again.

“A bit jarring, I know, but we won’t need to do that again,” Stoffel said. “Trouble is, the invisibility spell isn’t something I can use on you. So... you’re going to need to sneak out of here.”

Matt sat up. His arms and legs ached as if he’d been through a heavy deadlifting session. He’d never done much lifting in his life, he was more of a keyboard master, but he’d seen videos of strongmen on Iron Games, and he figured the way he felt now was how those men must feel after deadlifting a thousand pounds. He struggled to his feet and looked back at the doorway.

“You want me to sneak out?” Matt asked, “Wouldn’t that have been easier if I had kept the little imp body and you had retained your invisibility spell?”

Stoffel flew up from the table and hovered in front of Matt’s face. “No,” he said flatly. “I only had the one shot with the spell while in your body, and once I used my powers to loose your bands, I wasn’t able to keep it up for long. My imp avatar is much more powerful though. Don’t worry. You do your best and I’ll keep the enemy off our back. Just try not to catch the eye of an auditor. I’d rather not tangle with them until I switch your character.”

“Switch me?” Matt asked.

Stoffel stared back blankly. “Well, yeah. You didn’t think I’d leave you as a town executioner forever did you? Wouldn’t be much use to me as a spy if everyone knew what you looked like. Besides, you need to be able to defend yourself.”

Matt started to catch on, and for the first time since entering the game there was a small well of hope springing up within his chest. “What kind of character?”

“Let’s focus on escaping. After-- or if-- we’re successful, then we can chat about it.” Stoffel flew toward the door. “Let’s get moving. The NPC guards in the main dungeon will leave you alone. I put a charm on them before entering the torture chamber, but we only have another ten minutes before that charm loses effect.”

Matt steeled his nerves and checked his inventory. His axe was back in place. He quickly equipped it and pulled the door open.

“Fine night for a stroll,” a guard said as he passed by the opening door. Once Matt collected his breath and managed to bring his heart back to a normal rhythm he moved out into the hall, then up the stairs.

“See? The charm works well,” Stoffel said with a chuckle as they ascended the stairs. “You should have seen your face though. Man, you were dumbstruck. I thought for sure you were gonna wet your pants.”

“I don’t think my character can do that,” Matt replied dryly.

Stoffel only chuckled and flew ahead up the stairway. His silent, leathery wings propelled him far ahead, but Matt didn’t mind. He liked the idea of Stoffel scouting ahead, and possibly absorbing any spell or arrow aimed at them as they made their escape.

He needn’t have worried though. True to Stoffel’s word, none of the NPC guards gave either of them a second glance. They reached the secret door that connected the dungeon to the regular palace and then Stoffel turned and held a finger to his lips.

“This is where we need to be stealthy. Once we open this door, everyone could be an enemy.”

Matt took in a breath, readied his axe, and then gave a nod. Stoffel prepared a small orange spark in his left hand, then he turned back to the door and extended his right hand. The door opened to Stoffel’s magical call, silently allowing them passage into the palace corridor. Stoffel bent forward, his body still hovering as his wings beat softly, and peeked out from the doorway. Seemingly satisfied, he moved into the hallway and gestured for Matt to follow.

The two stole their way through the corridor and then down to a door leading out into the courtyard. Just as Stoffel extended his hand to open the door, it swung inward and a large man dressed in a finely polished breastplate entered. The man looked up, his blue eyes falling upon Matt, then darting to see the flying imp before him.

Before the man could speak, Stoffel grew his spark into a fireball and sent it through the man’s head. The warrior slumped against the wall and then slid downward.

“To the prince!” someone shouted from outside.

“Ah, crap!” Stoffel muttered. The imp turned around and waved at Matt. “We gotta move, NOW!”

Matt and Stoffel rushed out the door as a group of seven warriors sprinted toward them. Stoffel threw a flurry of lightning bolts out at the group. Two warriors clutched at their throats as blue bolts snaked across their bodies and crumpled them to the ground.

Two arrows flew through the air, zipping by Matt’s head close enough he could feel the wind. A third struck his shoulder. Fiery pain ripped through his arm, but he knew he couldn’t slow.

Except he could.

Matt used his one power that his avatar had, slowing time for this battle. He dashed ahead, dodging another two arrows that appeared nearly to stand still in the air as he ran past them. He cut down the first warrior with a chop to the neck. By the time the head had reached its apex in the air, with slowly expanding blood spatter trailing behind, Matt was already burying his axe deep into the chest of the second warrior.

Meanwhile Stoffel, who apparently wasn’t affected by Matt’s power, soared to the right and hurled two ice spikes. The first impaled the third warrior through the heart and the second blasted apart the fourth warrior’s left leg at the knee.

“Only one more to go,” Matt called out as he added the four to the first two felled by Stoffel’s lightning.

Time caught up with them then as Matt’s power finished its cycle. The last warrior came in hard, swinging a club at Matt’s side. Matt blocked with his axe, but the blow was powerful enough to knock him back. Matt’s stamina bar dropped by half, and his HP took roughly a ten percent hit.

Stoffel flew in from the side. His left hand went into the air as a red and black cloud swirled around him. A wickedly curved, serrated dagger appeared in his hand just a moment before Stoffel reached the warrior and plunged his dagger through the man’s eye.

The final warrior dropped to his knees, then toppled forward.

Matt looked up and saw one of the two warriors that Stoffel had electrocuted was getting back to his feet. “There!”

Stoffel, his back to the man, flung his right hand out nonchalantly and sent a straight bolt of green lightning through the man’s neck. The warrior made a show of gurgling and thrashing as he fell back to the ground. “We need to keep moving,” Stoffel said without so much as a glance at his handiwork. “Follow me.”

Matt had to sprint to keep up with the imp as he soared through the courtyard and out around the main gateway. The poor guardsman standing there never saw the diminutive imp as it dove down with its claws out. The guard went stiff as ten ebony dagger-like claws drove into his neck, then he fell backward against the wall without a sound.

Matt made it through the gateway and then was forced to stop as his stamina was spent. “Stoffel!” Matt called out in a muffled yell.

The imp turned around and gestured with his hands. “Come on!”

“My stamina bar, I can’t run.”

“They can’t have gotten far!” a female voice shouted from far behind.

Matt tried to force his character to run, but the best he could manage was a grunting stumble that was somewhere between walking and jogging. Two seconds later he bent over, heaving for breath. This really isn’t the time to be winded!

Heavy footsteps were approaching the gatehouse from the back.

Stoffel swooped in. “Hold still!”

Matt looked up as a white wave emanated from Stoffel’s palm. A moment later the imp was flying straight up, disappearing easily into the night sky.

The footsteps were in the gatehouse now.

“Another body!” the female voice exclaimed.

“The murderer must be around here somewhere!”

Matt stood and turned, axe ready in his hands. He might be wounded, but he wasn’t about to go back into a cell to be tortured. Much better to die on his feet.

A female captain and three male guards rushed out from the gatehouse.

The captain eyed him and then approached. “You there, guardsman, did you see them?”

Guardsman? Matt glanced to either side, but the captain was speaking to him.

“Guardsman, did you see them?”

Matt raised a trembling left hand and pointed in the opposite direction. “They went that way.”

The captain nodded, spun on her heels, and then ordered the others to follow her as she sprinted into a side street, running northward.

Matt kept his eyes on them until they disappeared in the shadows, and then he turned and ran south as fast and far as his stamina bar would allow. Only when he crashed into a pile of crates in a dark alley did he really stop to think about what had happened with the guards.

“I disguised you,” Stoffel said in a quiet whisper from above.

Matt looked up and saw the imp descending from a nearby roof.

“I can’t make you invisible, but I could make you look like one of them for a brief time.” Stoffel sat on a nearby crate and rubbed his hands together. “You fought well, and you held yourself together under pressure.”

“Barely,” Matt said.

Stoffel shrugged. “Barely or by a mile, a victory is a victory.”

Matt checked his stamina bar. “I need ten more seconds to refill my stamina.”

Stoffel nodded. “Your instincts are good. We just need to reclass you with a useful avatar. Once we do that, you’ll have an easier time of things, trust me.”

“Where are we going to go?” Matt asked.

Stoffel smiled. “Just around the corner. Think you can run that far?”

Matt nodded and stood up.

Stoffel led the way as the two sped through the rest of the alley and then took a sharp left into a side street. The imp flew to a spot between two buildings where there was a small gap. The imp then waved Matt on excitedly.

“We’re here.”

Matt frowned and examined the space. “That’s too small for me to fit through.”

Stoffel laughed. “Not through, but down.” The imp pointed to a red brick set in the cobblestone. “Ready for a trip?”

Matt cocked his head to the side. “Is this a joke?”

“Take my hand.” Stoffel held out his left hand. Matt hesitated, glancing from the brick to the imp. “Come on, we don’t have long before the auditors realize we escaped.” Matt took the imp’s hand and they both reached down for the brick.

“What is this going to do?”

Stoffel ignored him and seized the brick. A red glow reached up and swallowed them both. Matt felt his body compress, and then the very air around him seemed to contract and push him through a tunnel of sorts. The city was above them now, shrinking in the distance as they coursed through the tunnel into what seemed to be never-ending darkness.

Matt could only hope that the end destination would be more pleasant than Falchor’s dungeons.