10 Minute Tales, Part 2

Sep 7 - A Moment's Respite

She sighed as she slumped against the wall, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. She knew the monsters in this area would have been vicious, but this was far beyond what she was expecting. She was resting in a small treasure chamber now, two looted chests beside her. Thank goodness for her bag of holding. She looked up a long shaft in the ceiling. At its top was the passage she had come from; a looping, spike-filled path that she had gracefully worked her way through. Or, at least, that's what she would tell others. She sighed as she brought some dried food out of her bag and dug into it, grunting slightly. It was salty as anything she had eaten, but it would keep her alive. She ate quickly and got back up, adjusting her helmet.

"Better get going." she commented, climbing up onto the first platform. It rumbled and shuddered gently, but she was confident it would hold firm. All the rest had, thus far.

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She proceeded through some chambers with spikes, some with spears, one or two with fireballs, before she came across a large chamber with multiple pillars. She glanced at the floor. It was coated in spikes, enough to make her swallow nervously. The pillars were set at various heights, and the nearest was low enough to jump on. She jumped up, wobbling a little for balance. The door behind her slowly rumbled closed. On the other side of the room, a sort of forcefield snapped into being, enveloping the doorway. She frowned slightly as she drew her sword, looking around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what looked like a dense fog collect on itself, forming a large skull about the size of her torso. She turned to face it. A spirit. The spirit floated towards her with an ethereal howl, but she cleaved through it with the sword. It was able to reform, but its momentum had taken it behind her, and she knew it would be a while before it could loop around. A second dose of hissing revealed that a second was forming. She jumped to a second pillar, then a third. More spirits were forming and started to swarm her. She growled as she sliced through them. One dissipated fully, but the others were still going strong. She needed to take them out faster. She sighed as she gripped the runic circle she wore beneath her shirt. Carved in stone, it held great power - power she now allowed to flow through her. She shuddered and groaned as the change was quick to overwhelm her. Her skin grew into a rough, leathery hide as her arms grew longer, stronger. Her legs merged together and formed a powerful tail as she flapped her new wings down, pushing her into the air.

"Let's see you haunt this!" she wanted to taunt, but the only sound she could make in this form was a loud roar. She roared.