My (Monster?) Hero Life

Josh sprang forward, suppressing his weariness to reach Brenden, "Get out of the way! Let me through!"

Josh continued to roar at the crew as he shoved them aside. The guardian had shattered into tiny pieces as soon as its energy ran out. Leaving Brenden to collapse to the ground gasping for air. The broken bones in his chest had pierced his skin and were now fully visible for all of the eyes upon him to see. 

Josh kneeled down and placed a hand on Brenden's chest as he assessed his condition. 'He won't last much longer at this rate.' Realising that there was no time to lose, Josh went into action. He began to summon his reserves of mana and forced it to congregate in the palm of his hand. The crew stared on with worried expressions as they hoped that the Captain would save Brenden's life.

A dull blue light began to emanate from Josh's palm as he ran it over the broken bones and ripped skin of Brenden's torso. Dense ice began to spread across Brenden's body, absorbing his blood to turn a deep crimson colour as it sealed his wounds closed. 'This is only a temporary measure. It's not enough.'

"Brenden, do you trust me?" Josh asked his loyal lieutenant as a heavy frown crossed over his face.

"Do… what you have to… Captain." Brenden wheezed with a fire in his eyes.

Josh nodded at the man's faith in him before pouring more mana into his spell. The ice began to spread faster, moving to overtake Brenden's entire body. The crew gasped as Brenden became frozen solid in a block of ice. It was like peering into a glass coffin that captured the deceased's exact moment of death.

"Don't worry," Josh said to the small crowd as he got up on his feet. "He's still alive. Once we find a suitable body for him in the Necropolis, I'll set him free."

The crew wore relieved expressions at Josh's words. Their own faith in his abilities ratcheted up by a couple of notches. At that moment, the grinding sound of rock rubbing against rock could be heard. Everyone turned to look at the carved doors with an ugly expression plastered upon their faces.

'This place doesn't want to give us a break at all!' Josh cursed as he watched the doors swing open to reveal another passage. 'How many more of these damned tests do we have to go through!'

"You guys, carry Brenden. We're not leaving him behind!" Josh growled as he pointed his sober towards three hapless crew members. 

None of them complained about it, though as they respectfully lifted the block of ice onto their shoulders. The sight became reminiscent of a funeral procession as Josh took the lead and solemnly marched into the newly revealed passageway. Tensions began to run high again amongst the crew. The last passage that was like this had housed its own terrifying test.

So it was apparent that they were not too keen on proceeding. However, they knew that their path back was cut off to them. The silent and invisible killers in the path that had led to the guardian's room would not allow them to return that way. How could they fight something that they were not even sure existed?

Their footsteps echoed off the rocky walls as they fell into the familiar sensation of marching for hours as their stomachs growled. A few mumbles of complaints about needing water also began to arrive at this point. 

'We're all reaching our limits.' Josh thought as he considered the possibility that these tests were actually meant to tire them out until they died. 'Maybe there's actually no way to pass them into the Necropolis unless you have some kind of permission to be here.'

Josh was unaware that a few of his men were beginning to have similar thoughts. They were cursing their foolishness for risking what they had already gained for just a little more. Silence ensued as the long march into the depths of the passage continued.

"Do you hear that?" Someone called out.

"No, what?"

"Listen!"

Josh stopped in his tracks as he listened to the conversation between his crew members. He perked his ears up, curious to hear for himself what one of them had discovered. A familiar sound gently waved through the air, stunning the entire crew.

"Running water!" The crew shouted as one.

Josh had to agree with their statement. There was no mistaking that soothing sound! Josh picked up the pace, and he could hear the crew eagerly keeping up with him. Ten minutes passed as the scenery hardly changed. That was until they spotted signs of moss growing on wet-looking rocks. The excitement practically erupted from the crew, but Josh kept his own emotions in check.

"Careful boys! There's a good chance there's another of these trials up ahead! Keep on your guard!" Josh called out as he drew his sabre from his waist. 

They proceeded slowly with their weapons drawn. Nobody wanted to be caught with their pants down. There was too few of them left to survive a trial that turned out to be too difficult. Only Josh would have a chance of escaping with his life in that scenario if it came to pass. The sound of running water grew louder as they peered around a bend.

In front of them, there were the ruins of a city suspended over a lake of water. Five waterfalls cascaded down from so high up above that nobody could make out where they began. A ruined bridge connected their passageway with the ruined city. Josh studied the scenery before them. Eventually, he came to a conclusion.

"Boys! I think we've found the Necropolis!" Josh leaked a bit of excitement into his tone, which quickly became infectious.

A loud cry of joyful triumph resounded from the small group! Everyone had believed that they were walking towards their potential deaths for the second time in their lives! Nobody could believe that they were not having another trial being thrown at them!

Josh had to admit that even he found it strange. If they did not want this place to be located, then why only throw those two trials at them? 'Then again, I guess even being able to get here in the first place could be considered a trial in itself.'

To be honest, just the journey under the sea to find the entrance would have defeated them if they did not use what could have been considered a cheat by already being dead. 'Or was it set up so that only the dead could make it here?'

Josh had no idea why he suddenly had that thought, but he had to admit that it sounded suspiciously plausible. Why else would a defensive measure have been prepared to give them temporary living bodies? In fact, Josh did not know of any living sentient creature that could have travelled to those depths without being crushed by the water pressure!

Josh cursed as he realised his crew were already crossing over the bridge as he was lost in his thoughts. 'There's something more to this place! This city is a fucking trap!' Every instinct he had was screaming a warning at him after he began to connect the dots. It was almost like this place had actually been set up to draw in those lost souls who had escaped one of the many realms of the dead. 

After all, the lure of gaining a powerful living body would be too much for almost any undead to bear! Josh quickly raced after the crew as his eyes darted back and forth. He was waiting for the first signs of the trap closing in on them! He had no idea what form it would take, but he was confident that it would be geared to hit them harder than anything before!

Anguished shouts came from the crew as they scouted out the buildings only to discover that they were empty shells. There was no treasures housed within, no bodies that they could claim as there own!

"Fuck I hate it when I'm right!" Josh cursed as he noticed the waterfalls turning a violet colour over their heads. "Men! Gather up! We've been tricked!"

Panic ensued as they all rushed towards their Captain. Others began to notice the sudden change in the water's colour around them. The eerie violet glow immensely unsettled them. Suddenly, his crew began to fall flat on their faces one by one before they could reach Josh. He was the only one that seemed to be unaffected by whatever was happening.

"Where's the enemy!" Josh exclaimed as he spun on the spot. Searching for whatever was responsible for whatever had happened to his crew. As he wildly stared around the place in bewilderment, he suddenly felt the cold bite of steel as a sabre passed through his stomach! He spun around to see who was responsible! Only to come face to face with one of his crew! The others had all gotten back up on their feet and steadily marched towards him. Their weapons pointed directly at his heart! 

"Oh fuck…" Josh gasped as he noticed that every one of now had violet eyes that stared hungrily at him.