“Uruvi, catch!” said Rambha, as she tossed a wooden object her way.

  Uruvi switched her axe to her other hand before catching the object by its handle. Her eyes sparkled on seeing that the wooden object was, in fact, a crossbow. “Whoa!” It looked marvelous with the stem and handle made of dark mahogany wood with a metallic limb. The first shot had already been loaded and locked into place.

  She turned to face the Pisacha, who hovered in the sky above her, having just recovered from the hit by the robot. Its focus seemed to have shifted towards the robot that was lying on the floor. Seizing the window of opportunity, she lined the crossbow with the monster’s giant wings before holding her breath and firing it.

  The bolt tore through the Pisacha’s left wing, causing it to plummet to the ground.

  “Score!” shouted Rambha, as she appeared beside Uruvi.

  “Rambha! Keep it grounded! I will help out Ashwin,” said Uruvi.

  “Aye, aye, captain!” replied Rambha.

  She spun around and dashed towards Ashwin. Just as she appeared beside him, the Bhootha backed away. “What’s the plan?”

  “It’s protecting the real body with a shield that is immune to physical damage, but weak to magical damage. But is using another shield to block magical damage,” he said.

  “A double whammy.” She got another good look at the Bhootha. Its massive body took the shape of a woman’s corpse, draped in a white and cream saree. Its skin was withering away, revealing its rotting teeth and hollow eyes, while its hair resembled hay more than real hair.

  It pulled itself back further and let out another loud, ear-piercing scream. However, Ashwin was prepared this time. “Shield of heavenly light!” A gold dome appeared around them, blocking the sound waves.

  “Oh, thank god!” she said.

  “I will lift the shield, you jump it,” he said.

  She simply nodded and rushed towards the monster. As she reached the edge of the dome, the shield vanished. The Bhootha swiped its hand through the air. An arc of energy appeared before it and shot toward her at lightning speed. She leapt into the air and over the arc and brought her axe down onto the Bhootha. Her axe slammed into the shield and bounced off, taking her with it.

  A beam of light shot past and struck the Bhootha in the abdomen. The beam cut through the shield, penetrating its body. It let out a bone-chilling scream as its body began to implode.

  “Uruvi! Cast a shield!” said Ashwin.

  Uruvi landed on her bottom before rolling back onto her feet. “Barricade!” she said just as the Bhootha exploded into a spectacular ball of light. The shield shattered and sent her and Ashwin flying into the air.

  She landed on the floor hard, losing her sense of herself for a brief moment. Her vision was blurry, and her mind went blank.

  “Guys! A little help? This thing is much tougher than it looks!” said Rambha.

  She blinked hard, and the blurry light began to take shape once again. “Coming… coming…” She pushed herself off the ground with both her hands and staggered backwards as she got back up on her feet.

  She saw that the Pisacha was pinned down to the ground in a bundle of wires but it was cutting them one by one. Rambha’s army of robots was trying their best to keep the monster at bay by smashing into it.

  “You, okay?” asked Ashwin. He shook his head violently.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Manageable.”

  “We have to make do. Let’s go.” He rushed forward, sword in his hand. The Pisacha broke free from the wires and leapt into the air. He swung his sword, trying to cut down the monster’s wing. However, it managed to escape in the nick of time.

  ‘Into the air again? Well… that is no problem now.’ She switched over to the crossbow and prepared to fire when she made a glaring discovery. “Hmm… Rambha. How do I reload this?”

  The Pisacha turned towards her and flew straight at her.

  “Oh no! I have the bolts!” said Rambha.

  The monster had covered most of her vision. It spread its arms wide as it prepared to swoop her into the air.

  “Time to improvise!” she shouted and threw the crossbow right at the monster’s face. The throw was powerful enough for the crossbow to smash its face and send it tumbling onto the floor.

  A red aura covered her as her health dipped into the red.

  “Warning! Health below 50 percent. Warning! Health below 30 percent!” said Arya.

  “Rejuvenate!” She shouted and rushed forward.

  The Pisacha tried to get back on its feet. It began to flap its wings, gaining altitude when it was struck by a beam of light. She leapt over it, with the axe above her head, before bringing it down onto it. It parried her attack with its claws and replied with a slash. She hopped backwards, just out of range of its attack, before leaping forward once again.

  The two engaged in a series of hits and counters, while robots took turns smashing into the monster. Every time the monster tried to gain the upper hand by flying into the air, it was quickly struck down by a beam of light or by a robot’s sacrifice. They slowly chipped away at its health bar until it reached red.

  “Thunderclap!” she shouted. A ball of energy erupted from her and smashed into the Pisacha.

  “Warning! MP critically low!” said Arya.

  ‘Come on, the final blow!’

  She lunged forward as a mix of gold and red flares enveloped her. She smashed the axe into the monster’s neck, separating its head from its body.

  She could hear Rambha cheer her from behind as she fell back onto the ground. ‘I am cooked…’ Her body finally gave up as she landed onto the ground with a dull thud.

  ***

  Uruvi felt cool drops of water touch her hot face. The euphoric sensation woke her up from her deep slumber, and as she opened her eyes, she saw Ashwin and Rambha looking at her.

  “Hey, guys. Wassup?” She asked.

  “Feeling good, babe?” asked Rambha.

  “Better. But still very tired…”

  “Well, your health was in the red… actually, it is still in the red,” said Ashwin.

  He helped her sit up straight while Rambha held a green bottle to her face.

  “Here have this.”

  She took a closer look at the green liquid inside. “What is this?”

  “A health potion,” said Rambha.

  She cocked her eyebrow.

  “We both already took a shot,” he said.

  She took the bottle and opened the silver tab that covered the lid. There were no fumes or suspicious haze coming out of it. She took a sniff of it, but it had no smell.

  “Are you going to drink now or next year?” asked Rambha.

  “Hmm…” She drowned the small vial in one go. Bitter taste flooded her mouth, almost making her puke the medicine out. “Yup! Definitely tastes like medicine!”

  Her health bar shot back up into the sixties. “No XP from the monster battle?”

  “Nope. But walking out of the Dungeon should fetch us a hefty amount,” said Ashwin, as he pulled her up.

  She took a second to adjust her balance. “I am okay.” She looked around the empty grey space and found the cute robots missing. “What happened to the robots?”

  “They got taken out in battle,” said Rambha.

  “You made those?”

  “I did. Though I can only make one at a time. However, I found a bunch of Golden crystals called Synthize Stones. It boosted one of my skills temporarily, and with that, I was able to make a bunch of them,” explained Rambha.

  “Crystal?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Power Stone. “Something like this?”

  “Oh yes! But mine were gold.”

  “Damn. Seems like I missed out on a lot of loot,” said Ashwin. He wore a deep frown on his face.

  “Don’t worry. I got lucky and found only one,” she said.

  “What were you guys doing? There was one hiding in every corner,” said Rambha.

  “I took the most optimal path to reach the end. I planned to circle back and find you guys, but got stuck with the final bosses,” said Ashwin.

  “I managed to find a Gopuram (Tower). I was able to see the end and basically cheated my way,” she said, with a smirk on her face. “Speaking of which. Did either of you come across a monster called Astaya Deva?”

  The two of them shook their heads.

  “What is that?” He asked.

  “Arya described it as a malevolent spirit that pretends to be the voice of God. It tried to trick me as well. It made me think a tower was a temple too. Luckily, I saw right through its illusions, and it fled without putting up a fight.”

  Ashwin looked back at the maze they left behind. “Hmm… That definitely is a creepy monster. But I am sure there are more such monsters we left behind.” He looked back at the giant stone doors. “We shouldn’t worry about them now.”

  “Shall we?” asked Uruvi.

  “After you,” said Rambha.

  The stone door opened on its own as they walked upto it. Blinding white light shone through the doorway, hiding the outside world. They quietly stepped into the light as the doors closed behind them.