A Dream

A Dungeon

"Please!" You begged as you were staring at the hunting team leader, Asher. You had been wanting to participate in an upcoming dungeon but had been declined multiple times before. This was your last shot. "I promise I'll stay away from the boss! You won't even notice me there, just please let me participate!"

Asher groaned as he was given puppy eyes. "Fine." He said, "But you're staying with Lisa to protect you. I can't have you dying." You started jumping in joy with the confirmation and immediately accepted his terms.

The dungeon challenge was finally beginning as you, Lisa, Asher, and a large group of hunters walked into the portal. The inside looked like the a deep cave of a volcano, deep red rocks surrounding us with drops of magma falling from the ceiling and instantly melting through the ground. You could feel the warmth radiating from the ground as you and the group continued to walk to the boss room.

Finally, you arrived. The boss room was a big cavern, with multiple mineshaft rails that hadn't been completely melted yet, but close to it. It made a T shape when connecting to the cave, both long ends being on the left and right. The group searched for the boss with you remaining towards the back, then they found it.

It was a large 20 meter tall red ogre, with a fat belly, tusks coming out of its mouth, and wisps of heat leaving its openings. It was clear it was a fire type, though that could already be deduced from the environment. When looking closer, it seems it's feet had a special mutation that allowed it to travel on the rails. The boss was on the left far side of the cavern, but then it seemed to jump on the rails and speed towards us.

"Get out of the way!" Yelled Asher and we all jumped away as the ogre flew by attempting to grab one of us. The group then began to race after the boss while firing magic at it. You tried to follow but due to your weak stature you quickly fell behind. Of course, Lisa stayed beside you for protection as you both watched the main group get farther away.

Lisa looked and you and sighed, "Let's rest here for a bit, you seem tired." You agreed and you both hid at the edge, between the walls and the rails. You watched the hunter group continue to chase the boss as it went back and forth. At times, you would send bursts of fire, your element, at it in an attempt to help. Suddenly the boss sent out continuing sprays of flame and Asher ran to us to evade.

Asher looked at you and got an idea, "Hey, hit its head with a fireball would you? I need a distraction to stop that annoying flame." You looked up at him and nodded. You waited for his signal as he was creeping closer, and once it came threw the fireball, successfully hitting it in the face. This gave Asher the moment he needed and he baited the boss away yet again. "Thanks!" He yelled as he ran past you guys.

The fighting continued again, with you feeling continuously more useless until something unexpected happened. The boss seemed to split into mini versions of itself, each about 5 meters tall. The main group split into three, fighting the ogres. But then you realized something. There were four smaller ogres, not three. As you remembered this you could feel a large shadow come upon you, both you and Lisa looked up to see the fourth ogre standing right in front of you with a smirk. You two began to run, you blasting fireballs at it in an attempt to slow it down, but to no use. It caught up then, to your surprise, it grabbed you.

With its eyes it stared at you, scared, you sent another flame but it didn't seem to have any affect. It smirked and nodded to itself, and it started to walk in the direction the main boss had originally appeared from. Your fear grew in even more and you yelled "Help! Help me!", catching the attention of Asher and some others but meanwhile also angering the ogre. Its hand began to burn up and caused you to scream from the heat as it continued to walk.

Asher began to run after you, leaving the smaller ogre he was fighting to his group members. But no matter how fast he ran, catching up with Lisa who was also chasing you, he couldn't seem to catch up. You were slowly being carried further and further away, tears pricking your eyes as you reached out to them. The ogre finally stopped, arriving at its destination at the left end of the cavern.

There seemed to be a throne on one side, it was completely black as though made for an evil king. On the other was something that frightened you even more. Prisons the exact size for humans with fire surrounding them but never entering. Almost like hell. The ogre stomped towards the prison and dropped you inside one of them as you landed with a crunch. It seems one of your legs had broken, as it was laying at a weird angle. Not as though you could've run anyway. You could feel the flames licking at your skin as your body temperature slowly got higher. Sweat was sliding down your skin as though you were a waterfall.

Who knows how much time has passed? The thumping of the three smaller ogres could be heard off in the distance and the footsteps of two others could be heard coming closer. With drooping eyes from the heat, you could see Lisa and Asher fighting the last ogre with the fury of a death knight. Your head was getting lighter and now you couldn't tell if those two were yelling for you or if you were just hallucinating. Everything was burning up and your body couldn't take it anymore. Right before you began to faint you caught a glimpse of someone looking down on you.

You had fallen into a deep sleep, one that may end in death. Never knowing the amount of time gone past was grueling. Being left with simply your thoughts got you thinking. And sometimes, that just isn't the best idea. Sometimes you felt manic, sometimes you felt zen, sometimes you just wondered if you were already dead and this was the afterlife.

But thankfully, one day, you could feel your consciousness coming to. You opened your eyes, but immediately closed them from the flash of light. Gasps could be heard around you and some people started to sob in joy. As you finally got used to the light you could see Asher, Lisa and a few others looking down upon you.

Lisa was crying with a smile on her face, Asher was reprimanding you on wanting to come to the dungeon and himself for letting you. Others were just sighing in relief as they looked at you, glad you woke up. Looking at all these people who cared for you, you promised to yourself you wouldn't try something so dangerous in the future and from now on will live life enjoying the small things. As you watched everyone, and they you for a reaction, you just smiled and laughed.