Judicial Heart

Chapter 1 Cor Iustitiae

It all happened so quickly, one moment the feeling of confidence filled Bell's rookie heart. The next dread, unlike anything he had ever felt, flooded all of his limbs forcing him to run at a speed his level-one status shouldn't be able to manage.

He could feel the small stones that peppered the dungeon crunch and crack underfoot as he ran. He was doing his best to keep moving in random patterns, as the massive hand of the monster chasing him flew by, missing him by less than an inch. The monster had already clipped his shoulder causing blood to flow freely from it.

His advisor's words rang clearly in his head as he continued to move, 'Remember Bell, no matter how confident you might feel. Never let your guard down in the dungeon. Otherwise. You. Will. Die.' He could remember how much emphasis she put on the last part. Bell wished that he had followed his advisor's warning. 'Never again.' He swore mentally as another fist flew by so close the air breaking around it seemed to burn his skin.

The notion seemed impractical, when a dive was going smoothly how could one not feel confident? Still, he ran, he did his best to avoid paths that others might be traveling. 'If I'm going to die. I at least don't want anyone else to risk the same fate. Hopefully, the other rookie adventures I pulled the minotaur from will be smart and leave to let the guild know.'

A minotaur, Bell absentmindedly remembered the story of Argonaut that his grandfather had told him when he was a child, the story of how a hero of old killed one to rescue a princess. That thought, that tiny absence of focus caused him not to notice the jagged rock that poked out of the ground, his foot slammed into it sending his body flying to the ground.

His cheek burned as another sharp rock pierced his cheek, and blood started leaking out freely. On instinct, he rolled to the left as a fuzzy leg stomped on the ground where his chest had been not even a quarter of a second prior.

He rolled backward and started to rise back to his feet, as the minotaur's fist connected with his chest, cracking several of his ribs and sending him shooting backward into a wall. His beginner armor shattered at the impact, the shards seemed to dig into his chest before they clattered to the ground.

He watched the minotaur approach, his back flared in pain as the blood leaked out of his mouth. 'Not... good...' he thought, he was having trouble breathing. 'Maybe a... punctured lung...' his mind raced to tell him.

He couldn't move his legs anymore, they were encased in imaginary stone from all the running he did. He smiled knowing this was the end, but that didn't stop him from crying out. Without conscious thought, he grabbed the rookie starting dagger and threw it with all the force he could muster.

The minotaur grunted, raising a hand, and slapped it out of the air, sending it careening into the stone wall shattering the weak weapon. He forced his left arm to twitch in an attempt to do anything, but the pain blinded him for a moment, nearly causing him to black out.

The minotaur took its sweet time approaching, as it knew as much as Bell knew that he couldn't move anymore.

The minotaur was only two feet away, he could smell the musk it emitted and the feted breath that it released in great gasps. The combination of scents made him want to vomit.

A wave of blue haze, then the hot blood splashed over him. The warmth disgusted him, but he was so relieved that he didn't care. The minotaur's body split into two separate halves. 'It... it had been cut through from the shoulder to the hip with a single swing!' His mind gawked at the bloody mess.

He saw a stoic warrior standing still, a wooden sword already placed at her hip. The ears of an elf, with sharp glowing sky-blue eyes to match. A green leaf-shaped cloak and mask hid any other details.