Alex pushed open the large double doors. The silence was broken by the noise of grinding stone. How the kobolds could possibly open this door was still a mystery. Dust fell from the ceiling, caught in the light rays from the dimly lit torches along the wall.

 

With the doors opened enough, Alex and Persephone filtered through. On the other side of the doors was a set of stairs descending for some distance. The walls had a kind of glowing moss, sporadically growing along them. The darkness swallowed the bottom of the stair. Even with Alex’s night vision, she could only see so far.

 

Alex shifted her grip on her large battle axe. Luckily the stairway was big enough that she could swing it with ease. She then turned her gaze towards her companion. Persephone swallowed with anticipation and nervousness. No words were said, but they each knew what the other was saying.

 

Alex slowly started descending the stairs, followed by Persephone. The chanting grew louder as they walked, becoming a loud noise-cacophony. After what seemed like hours, they reached the bottom of the stairs. Meeting them was a massive ornate archway for what could have been an underground tomb or temple.

 

Broken pillars were strewn about, with some of their counterparts still in the thirty-foot ceiling. The room looked like it was used for ceremonies in the past, making it most likely a temple. In the center was a massive circular design drawn on the floor with several bound humans at its center.

 

A small army of kobolds stood around the circle’s perimeter and chanted. The other thing that Alex quickly noted was the five large purple crystals placed in intervals inside the ring’s edges. They emitted an unknown energy that distorted the air around them.

 

Standing at the head of these kobolds atop a raised dais was an old-looking kobold wearing robes akin to what a priest would wear. On either side of him stood two heavily armored kobolds. Alex sucked in her breath once she saw the opposition they were up against.

 

Alex quickly grabbed Persephone and pulled her into a nearby shadowy corner. “Here,” Alex said as she used her inventory to summon several items. “These are potions and a few bombs. These are in case we get separated. I suspect those crystals are important. Use those bombs on them.”

 

Persephone nodded and placed the items in a small satchel on her waist. “Ready?” Alex asked as she pulled out two flasks. Her partner confirmed, and Alex lobbed the two items at the circle. Alex then grabbed Persephone and faced them both away from the room.

 

Moments later, a loud explosion could be heard, followed by a bright light. Shrieks of kobolds could be heard from the room. The two women turned around and charged into the room. Alex willed another item into her hand and threw it at one of the crystals. The thing detonated, destroying the crystal in the process.

 

With her axe in hand, Alex quickly became a frenzy of death as kobold parts littered the ground and air. Taking this opportunity, Persephone followed suit. She threw one of the explosives at another crystal. However, her aim was not trained well, and she under threw it. The explosion destroyed a big chunk of the crystal, but it was still there.

 

Some of the kobolds quickly recovered their eyesight and noticed the meek girl. Persephone could only grit her teeth as she readied her weapon the best she knew how. She promptly went in for a lunge on one of the kobold acolytes. Its only defense was the scales on its body. She used her foot to help pull the blade from the corpse and readied another attack.

 

She swung the blade down at another kobold, ending its life. “Alex was right,” she thought. “Kobolds are not trained very well.” Taking a moment, she glanced around the circle. She found her father, mother, sister, and brother bound up with the other villagers.

 

“Mama! Papa!” Persephone desperately called out to her family. They looked at her in shock as she was busy fighting two more kobolds who came to their senses.

 

“What are you doing here! I told you to run!” Her mother yelled out. Persephone didn’t have the luxury to continue this conversation as she was focused on not dying. Due to either luck or inexperience, however, she had managed to trip one of the kobolds, allowing her to go in for the kill.

 

However, she was not all lucky, as she had her own wounds. She had just enough training to avoid getting killed, not wholly avoiding getting hit. She quickly reached into her satchel to grab a potion but was hit with a large shield from one of the armored kobolds. That caused her to throw the whole bag across the room, landing next to another crystal. The contents of it broke, resulting in a thunderous explosion that rocked the room a bit and annihilated the crystal.

 

Alex felt the room rumble and saw Persephone was getting overwhelmed. Alex tried to make her way to her, but she had problems to contend with, especially since this kobold knight wanted to join the battle. It expertly parried or blocked all of her blows. She had her rage skill she could use, but the aftermath of that skill would leave her weaker than she is now. That was a last resort.

 

The kobolds, not in combat, continued their chant with the priest figure leading them. The remaining crystals started to glow, with black energy condensing around them. The screams of the villagers echoed throughout the chamber. Slowly one by one, each villager turned to dust as a glowing orb left their bodies and flew to one of the crystals.

 

Alex was now getting desperate. It was now time to rage. She let out a loud bellowing roar as red energy coalesced upon her. Her muscle bulged out, and she grew much larger in size. Her armor threatened to snap under her new body size. Her hate-filled pupilless white eyes landed on the kobold knight before her.

 

She swung her axe at the creature while it defended itself from her attack. A loud clang was heard as the axe head embedded itself in the shield. Using her axe, she ripped the shield from the kobold. Alex rushed in and punched the kobold in the face, shattering its jaw. Not missing out on this opportunity, she grabbed the creature by its legs and torso and screamed as she ripped it apart.

 

A scream reverberated around the enclosed room. Alex shifted her attention to the center and saw a wounded Persephone screaming as she held a young disintegrating male. Rage took over again, and she barreled through the blockade of kobolds, trying to get to the priest. Blood and entrails littered the ground as Alex murdered her way through Kobolds.

 

She finally reached her target as the kobold priest stared up in fear at the hulking woman covered in blood. Alex grabbed the priest and punched it in the face, causing its head to explode. She continued to pound away into the corpse turning it into a bloody mess.

 

The other kobolds watching their leader die in such a fashion caused panic and discord in their ranks. Screaming, the survivors fled the room to escape the monster in the shape of an elf. Alex calmed down, exiting her rage status. The backlash hit her as she felt weaker than before the rage. Her body ached everywhere; Alex was out of breath. She felt like she ran a marathon and then got hit by a truck afterward.

 

“Algea! Ple…ase. H-elp me.” Alex turned toward the voice and saw Persephone sitting alone in a pile of ash as her skin started to crack and flake away. The ritual was still in full tilt, even with the priest dead. Alex wanted to run to her, but her body refused to listen. She still had the immobilized debuff for another twenty seconds. Alex could only watch in horror as Persephone disintegrated, and following that, the remaining crystals lit up with power. A beam of energy connected the two crystals, and they shot a thicker beam where Alex and the dead priest were.

 

The beam hit Alex in the chest, and she felt her whole body float several feet in the air as strange energy coursed through her body. A painful scream erupted from her mouth as purple cracks, reminiscent of Lichtenberg scars, ran throughout her body.

 

Everything went black. There was now silence. Alex spent what felt like an eternity just floating in dark silence. Eventually, her senses returned to her. She noticed she was on a rocky mesa. Everything in the background was in flames. The temperature was excruciatingly hot.

 

A voice that sounded deep, gravelly, soft, and effeminate echoed from behind her. “A wanderer visits me unintentionally while the one who wanted my power lies dead before her.”

 

Alex turned around and saw a gargantuan dragon with five heads. Each head seemed to be a different color. She couldn’t help but feel fear and helplessness in front of such a creature. “Fear not. You are worthy of my legacy. If you weren’t, you would be dead already. That weak creature you killed sought to steal my power for itself.” The dragon’s voice boomed out.

 

“Your courage and strength deem you worthy. I am dying so you will inherit my legacy.” The dragon said with a tired sigh. A small glowing orb flew to Alex and entered her chest. Before she could say anything to the dragon, she was interrupted by it.

 

“I know you have questions, but I don’t have the time to answer them. My legacy will answer everything for you in time. For now, there is a greater power that requires your attention.” As the dragon said that, a black portal opened. Without much choice, Alex walked through the portal.

 

Arriving on the other side of the portal, Alex was greeted by several figures. One creature looked like a giant gorilla with tentacle arms. Another was a tall skinny, floating creature with tentacles coming out of its face. And the last creature was a large, round, floating creature with several eye stalks and a large round eye in the center of its body.

 

“Welcome, Alex. Our mistress bids you welcome.”