“Hey, Esham-shams,” I said, realizing as the words left my lips that I must have been delirious with fatigue and blood loss — I would normally never have acted this friendly with her, a devout member of the clergy! “I could use some of that magical healing you got stashed away in you…”

But she remained motionless between me and the dying man.

“Eshami!”

My loud cry seemed to pull her back to reality, and she turned to face me, suddenly sensing my critical state. “My Hero!” she gasped in panic.

She looked back to the man that had been enveloped by the blood monster, then back to me. She pulled herself out of her daze and rushed over to tend to my wounds.

“You have nearly drained yourself to death, Devon!” she said, examining me as the two of us slinked away behind a corner. She pulsed her palms over my forehead and then my chest, and I began to feel much better.

“You are too reckless with your life, my Hero,” she sighed, reaching to her belt and producing a small red vial. “Until I can pray again to recover my spells, this potion should cure your wounds. Use it wisely,” she stated with motherly enforcement.

“Thanks. Hopefully, I won’t need it, with you around,” I responded kindly with a disarming smile, pocketing the vial. I was still a little embarrassed over that drunken pet name I called her just moments ago!

She rushed back to the blood-soaked man, pulling him around the corner with me. Her eyes glazed over as she used her magic to detect his vitals. “Can you hear me?”

The man — probably human — was in a bad state. I looked to Eshami but she solemnly shook her head. Saving me had surely cost this man his life.

Shakily, he drew me near with his trembling hand, now a red stump missing several digits. He spoke in a language I didn’t recognize — but Eshami’s eyes widened in surprise.

“This man is speaking in Celestial, the tongue of the angels!” she whispered, surprised as much by that fact as the fact that all those years studying in the convent may have actually been worth it! “He said not to trust… Olear. Whoever that is.”

The man coughed up his final labored breath before falling silent.

She whispered a short prayer for the man’s fallen soul. “What shall we do now?” she asked, lingering emotional pain still in her eyes.

I plotted the route in my head. I could walk around aimlessly in the hopes of stumbling upon an alternate route — but Eshami was almost out of healing, and I was no cleric myself!

“Ketal,” I called out, “Is this the only route to the Control Room?”

Immediately, the sharply-dressed Ketal spun up out of the metallic floorboards. “This corridor is the most direct path to the control room. There are two other paths that will require considerable backtracking — ”

“Got it, thanks,” I was already waving the apparition away. He quite deliberately rolled his eyes as he melted away into the floor. Maybe I should try not to aggravate the one thing not trying to kill me, I mused cheerfully.

“We’ve got to get by that blood monster, but I don’t want you to get too near! Stick to ranged attacks,” I practically scolded Eshami. She seemed to understand my words were not meant to be hurtful, and she nodded, revealing a hand crossbow from her shoulder bag.

I nodded back.

Guess that’d have to do.

I drew my sword once more, reciting an arcane phrase that caused it to emanate an icy blue aura, chilling the floor with frost where I stood. No more playing around!

“We run, and we don’t stop until we reach the control room. Do you understand me? We stop for nothing!”

Eshami hesitantly nodded, her crossbow clutched nervously to her chest.

I gathered my strength and gripped my sword tightly. This blade has many tricks you haven’t seen yet, I thought to myself, picturing the blood beast that blocked our path.

“Charge!”

I dashed around the corner and dove headlong toward the dripping mass of red tendrils. It was slow to react to me — perfect.

Eshami was only a few steps behind me, managing to rapid-fire two small bolts from her crossbow as we both closed the distance.

I raised my icy sword and brought it crashing down onto the creature in my way, slicing a large portion of its upper body as I passed by.

The physical damage it could deal was irrelevant — as a secondary effect, it slowed any who were hit by its icy blade.

The now lumbering beast was now practically immobile! It would be unable to affect a chase so easily.

“Now, Eshami! Run!”

The two of us broke into a sprint down the long corridor. It ended in another door — like the ones in the first hallway — with a handprint on the wall beside it.

“Open the Control Room doors, Ketal!” I yelled at the ship as I barreled towards a stubbornly closed door.

Ketal spun up from the floor right beside the door. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Fine.

I grabbed Eshami’s hand and thumbed a hidden trigger on the hilt of my sword — which jumped me and my companion through the door and into the Control Room!

It was an uneasy teleport, and I surmised that the ship had defenses against such travel, but, thankfully, we both made it that short distance to the other side intact.

I breathed in deeply and surveyed my new location:

The room was roughly circular, with large apparatus that hummed with energy. Arcs of electricity zapped one another back and forth across the room, and occasionally sparks flew from one or more of the machines.

Two similar creatures made partly of flesh and partly of mechanized parts, moved stiffly about the room, occasionally getting hit by the electricity, though they did not seem to be adversely affected.

They immediately halted when we appeared. They each made a whirling, grinding noise for a brief moment, then turned to attack us.

“Devon?” Eshami asked, horrified.