Morning came like it always did in the Spire—not with light, but with the slow awareness that you'd survived another night. Kai opened his eyes to the same dim glimlight, the same cold stone, the same damp air. But this time, he wasn't alone.

  Novick sat against the far wall, already awake, watching the entrance to their small chamber. The man moved his gaze to Kai for a moment, nodded once, then returned to his vigil. No words needed.

  In the corner, Ran slept curled in on himself, his usual chatter silenced by exhaustion. He looked younger like this. Softer. The bravado that coated everything he said during waking hours had peeled away, leaving someone small and tired and far from home.

  Kai sat up slowly. His body ached from yesterday's fight—the ambush, the nets, the charge through monsters to reach their leader. Muscles he didn't know he had screamed complaints. He ignored them.

  Novick's voice came low, barely above a whisper: "He talks in his sleep."

  Kai glanced at Ran. "About what?"

  "Food, mostly." A pause. "Sometimes running."

  Kai nodded. He understood the running dreams. The feeling of something chasing you through endless corridors, never catching up but never falling behind. He'd had those dreams every night since waking. Except for the one night with her face.

  He pushed that thought away.

  Ran stirred, groaned, opened one eye. "Is it morning already? It's always morning. How is it always morning when there's no sun?" He sat up, rubbing his neck. "This floor is trying to kill my spine, I swear."

  Novick reached into his pack and pulled out a strip of dried meat. He held it out to Ran without comment.

  Ran stared at it. "Where'd you get that?"

  "Killed something. Took it."

  Ran accepted the meat like it was a religious offering. "I could kiss you."

  "Don't."

  Ran laughed—a real one, not the nervous kind Kai had heard in the early days. "Fair enough. But seriously, thank you." He tore the strip in half, offered some to Kai.

  Kai shook his head. "I have moss."

  "You and your moss. Eat like a goat, you will." Ran shrugged and ate.

  They packed in silence. The chamber had been good to them—dry, defensible, empty of monsters. But it wasn't home. Nothing was home anymore.

  ---

  Floor 3's corridors stretched endlessly, each one looking like the last. Same stone. Same glim patches. Same carvings on the walls, though here the carvings had changed. Not battles anymore, but processions. Lines of figures walking toward something in the distance. Toward a shape Kai couldn't quite make out no matter how long he stared.

  Ran pointed at one. "Cheerful decorations. Really brightens up the place."

  "Warning," Novick said.

  "Warning of what? Boring architecture?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Kai ignored them, studying the carvings. Something about them tugged at the edges of his mind, like a word on the tip of his tongue. Familiar, but not. He'd seen this before? No. Couldn't have.

  They walked on.

  The chamber opened suddenly—a wide space, larger than any they'd seen on this floor. Pillars lined the walls, each one carved with the same spiral patterns. The ceiling vanished into darkness above. And the silence...

  Kai stopped. Held up his hand.

  Ran froze mid-step. "What?"

  "Too quiet."

  Novick moved closer, eyes scanning. "Ambush."

  The nets fell from nowhere—heavy, coarse, tangling. Ran went down with a shout, wrapped and struggling. And from the side passages, they came. Small things, fast things, dog-sized with too many legs and too many teeth. Not rats. Something worse.

  Kai moved before thought. Dagger out, into the first creature, twist, drop, next. Three in seconds. But more kept coming.

  Novick fought three at once, his short sword taking one, his fist crushing another, his shoulder taking a bite that made him grunt but not fall.

  Ran thrashed in the net, blade out now, cutting through rope but too slow.

  Kai reached him, slashed the net open, hauled him up. Ran's eyes were wide, scared, but his blade was steady.

  "Together," Kai said.

  Ran nodded.

  They fought back to back, Ran covering Kai's blind spots, Kai taking anything that got close. Novick moved toward them, bleeding from the shoulder but still standing, still fighting. The three became a triangle, each watching the others' angles.

  Minutes passed. The creatures kept coming. Not smart, but relentless. There had to be dozens.

  Kai saw it then—a larger one at the back, different from the rest. Bigger head, strange markings, watching instead of attacking. Directing.

  "Leader," he said. "Cover me."

  Novick grunted. Ran said, "Go."

  Kai went.

  He moved through the swarm like water through rocks—not fighting, just flowing, slipping between claws and teeth, using the creatures' own bodies as shields. Three steps, five, ten. The leader saw him coming, screeched, tried to retreat.

  Too slow.

  Kai's dagger found its throat. Once. Twice. The thing went down. The others froze, confused, then scattered into the side passages.

  Silence.

  Ran was breathing hard, leaning on his knees. "That was..."

  "Good," Novick finished.

  ---

  They found a corner, bound wounds, caught breath. Ran had a deep gash on his arm—not life-threatening, but painful. Novick's shoulder was worse, a chunk taken out that would take days to heal. Kai had cuts, bruises, nothing serious. He'd been lucky. Or fast. Or both.

  Ran looked at him while Novick tied a strip of cloth around his own wound. "How'd you know about the leader?"

  Kai considered the question. "Pattern. They acted like they were waiting for something. The big one watched instead of fought."

  "And you just... knew that?"

  Kai didn't answer.

  Novick spoke without looking up from his shoulder. "He's done this before."

  Ran's eyes stayed on Kai. "Have you?"

  "I don't remember."

  The words hung in the air. Simple. True. And somehow heavier than anything else they'd discussed.

  Novick finished his binding, met Kai's gaze. "Doesn't matter. You fight. We follow. That's enough."

  Ran let out a breath. "Yeah. That's enough."

  They sat in silence. Not the uncomfortable kind, the kind that made you want to fill it with words. The other kind. The kind that meant you didn't need to talk because you already knew where you stood.

  After a while, Ran spoke again. "You know, back with Marek, I thought I'd die alone in this place. Just another body on some floor somewhere, nobody knowing my name, nobody caring I was gone." He laughed, but it wasn't bitter. "Now look at us. Three idiots sitting in a hole, bleeding, no idea what's next." The laugh softened into something smaller. "Best decision I ever made, walking away from that bastard."

  Kai said nothing. But something in his chest shifted. Something he hadn't felt since waking.

  ---

  Later, when the wounds had stopped bleeding and the rest had done its work, they talked. Really talked, for the first time.

  Ran asked Novick: "You really remember being a soldier?"

  Novick was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Pieces. Standing guard somewhere cold. A woman's face—she might have been... I don't know. Wife? Sister? The picture's blurry." He paused. "Fire. There was fire. A lot of it."

  "She might still be out there," Ran offered. "Somewhere."

  Novick shook his head slowly. "She might be dead. Everyone might be dead." Another pause. "Something happened. Before this. I don't remember what, but I know it was bad."

  Ran didn't have a joke for that. He just nodded.

  They both looked at Kai.

  "What about you?" Ran asked. "Any pieces?"

  Kai considered lying. Said the truth instead. "Nothing."

  "Nothing at all?"

  "Just... emptiness. Like there should be something, but there's nothing. A hole where memories should be." He touched his chest without thinking. "Sometimes I feel like someone's missing. Like I'm missing. But I don't know who."

  Novick's voice was quiet. "Maybe that's worse."

  Kai didn't answer. Couldn't.

  Ran broke the silence with a grin that almost reached his eyes. "Well, I remember nothing too. So we're all blanks together." He spread his arms. "Blank slate squad. Sounds like a terrible band name."

  Novick almost smiled. Almost.

  And Kai felt something. Not warmth exactly—he wasn't sure he remembered what warmth felt like. But something close. Something that said maybe alone wasn't the only option.

  He didn't know their names a day ago. Well, he knew their names now, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that when the creatures came, he'd moved toward them instead of away. What mattered was that when Ran went down, something in Kai had screamed louder than the battle.

  What mattered was that he'd kill for these two.

  When did that happen?

  ---

  They stood. Bodies ached, wounds pulled, but they stood.

  Ran stretched. "Floor 4 next?"

  "Yes," Novick said.

  Kai shook his head. "Supplies first. Food. Better weapons if we find them."

  Ran perked up. "There was that chest back there. In the ambush chamber. Didn't check it."

  They returned to the wide room. The bodies of the creatures lay scattered, already starting to dissolve—the System reclaiming its own. In the corner, half-hidden behind a fallen pillar, a wooden chest. Old but intact.

  Ran opened it.

  Inside: dried meat wrapped in cloth. Two glowing potion vials. A short sword, plain but well-made, which Novick took with a nod of thanks. Nothing else.

  They found the stairs at the far end of the chamber. Worn stone, leading up. Leading to Floor 4.

  Ran looked at Kai. "Ready?"

  "No."

  Kai climbed anyway.