As I march up the staircase, my hollow armor clanking all around myself in the small passage, I come to a sudden realization. I forgot my pole-axe up on top of the bridge. Turning my helmet back around, I look down the long stretch of staircase I`ve already gone up. Well, I suppose it`s too late for that now. That`s okay. I`ll just try to keep things peaceful this time around. Productivity is the name of the game today, apparently. The dungeon-master wants me to find the stairs, so I guess I can do that for them. I feel kind of bad, I don`t think they like me that much. But& for some reason, I want them to like me?

　　I`m not really sure why. But it just feels like something I want. I don`t want someone to not like me. Then again, I guess a lot of people don`t like me. The rat-queen doesn`t like me, which, up until now at least, I feel wasn`t justified. The hero is a nice guy, but he didn`t like me once he saw my menu, same for the rest of the party I guess. Ah, why does it make me feel bad? That they don`t like me? Do I care? I guess something inside of me cares.

　　My metal rattles as I ascend further.

　　I wonder where the thief was in my last life. Guess she took the day off. Fair enough, I`d do that too if I could.

　　Shaking my helmet, I clear my mind and look up to the looming light shining in from above. The subtle glow streaming down into the darkness from atop, as a gentle heaven-sent sign that this is where something brighter is.

　　I step out over the last step of the secret-staircase and look out ahead of me.

　　It is dark. The stream of light that seemingly has no source now gone, dissipated the moment I stepped over. Did it lure me in?

　　Huh? Where am I? I step forward out of the secret passage and listen as a moment later something sloshes behind myself, something wet. The wall is sealed off, but I can`t see anything. I run my fingers along the wall behind myself, it`s closed now. Stones having come into place the moment I looked away, in order to seal me in on this side.

　　What is this feeling? This& dread?

　　I turn towards the darkness and step out into it, not sure what awaits me. Nothing happens, save for the clanking of my metal armor as I breach forward. There are no lights, there is no ray of light from any fire or torches, no fake glowing sound, no ethereally glowing dead-light. There is nothing. It`s just& dark.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　Something skitters off to my side and I turn to face the direction, at least the direction I think the sound originated from. But I see nothing and I stand there in silence for a moment, listening to the sparse noise around myself come from the perpetual darkness. The air is filled with a low drone, not like that of being underwater, but like that of wind gently pushing through a cave. Somewhere off in the distance, there is a trickling sound of water hitting a stone from some great span and here, up close, there is&

　　Skittering.

　　I listen as the sharp, pointy legs skitter around the darkness all around myself.

　　"Hello?" I ask the darkness, but it doesn`t respond. Rude. All I hear are more excited steps and clicks.

　　Shrugging to myself, I step into the void. It`s not like I have a meat-body or can feel pain, so what`s the worst that can happen? In truth, there are a lot of bad things that could happen. We all know how this goes, guy. But&

　　Nothing happens. So I take another step, then another, then another and soon I am walking with long strides through the seemingly entirely empty ether. At first I expect to fall down at any moment, to trip or to spiral downward into some hole that I walked straight into. But there is simply nothing. It`s like a perfectly flat, entirely lightless room with just me walking through it. Just me and whatever skitters after me in the darkness.

　　I call out to it again, but it doesn`t respond. Is it an it? Or is it a they? I can`t tell if the thing following me is one, singular thing or many smaller things. I just know that there are a lot of legs. A lot of sharp, little legs that make clear clicking noises as they follow me. Okay, uh& creepy, but that`s okay. The dungeon is full of creepy things, tell you what. The dungeon-master worked hard to make all of us, it would be rude of me not to acknowledge their efforts. So& good job dungeon-master, very creepy.

　　It skitters and I keep walking ahead, wishing I had a torch or a fireball or anything that could light up the world around myself. I`d even take the dead-light at this point, hell, I`d take the hero`s strike. As long as he swung it the other way.

　　How am I supposed to find the secret stairs here? It`s literally pitch black. I saw more underwater when I was a serpent than I do here. I saw more as a slime than I can here, and I didn`t even have eyes the- IAAH!

　　I swing around at full speed, swiping at the darkness just behind myself, striking nothing to my surprise. Suspiciously I try to stare at the empty, but my eyes` find nothing to focus on. If I had hairs on my neck, assuming I had a neck, I`d swear they`d be standing on end. I felt something come close to me, I felt something almost touch me. I felt it skitter.

　　The darkness is quiet.

　　Lowering my arms, I turn around and keep walking down the way. As soon as I start walking however, the skittering continues behind myself. The gentle tickle of the little feet over the surface of the floor beneath us. It`s following me, whatever it is. Whatever thing is out there in the shadows, i-

　　DAMN IT!

　　I swipe around behind myself again, as something brushes my back, my heavy metal fist swings around into the shadows but meets nothing but air. Nothing but darkness.

　　I stand there and I listen to the little legs skittering all around myself. The tapping of the thousand sharp feet surrounding me, like the sound of falling rain.

　　I hear a gentle voice call out from the darkness.

　　"There you are!"